In one of his recent books, Bishop Tom Wright bemoans the one-day celebration of Easter. After such a long Lent, he says, we need days of "morning prayers and champagne" to celebrate the magnitude of the Resurrection. Mark D. Roberts agrees (though I have never heard him suggest the champagne) when he writes about recapturing of the liturgical tradition of Eastertide.
And both of these friends have convinced me to spend some time lingering in the wonder of the Resurrection.
Eastertide, the 50 days following Easter until Pentecost is the perfect time of the year to linger in the wonder of the empty tomb. During this time, we can sing the Resurrection hymns that we couldn't quite fit into the Easter services. We can ask some hard questions without worrying about putting a damper on Easter dinner. Like, what does the resurrection mean?
Jesus is risen, therefore, there is life after death?
Jesus is risen metaphorically in our hearts but we all know not literally, therefore, the world is fresh with possibilities?
Jesus is risen, historically, and factually, therefore we know he is God?
Jesus is risen, therefore...we should go to church once or twice a year?
And even more significantly, we can plumb the most important theological question about the resurrection: "So, what?"
If Jesus is risen, then what does that have to do with me? Is it only something about Jesus or about the "afterlife"? Or does the resurrection mean something that has to do with this world and this life?
In Surprised by Hope, Wright (who argues persuasively and in scholarly depth for a literal, historical, bodily resurrection of Jesus) asserts that the bodily resurrection when clearly understood leads inexorably to the church's mission. Indeed, the mission of the church is to implement the victory Christ won on the cross and revealed in the resurrection. But until we understand what resurrection meant to the first Christians, we'll never understand what it is supposed to mean, for present-day Christians, and through us, the world whole world. "Once we get resurrection straight, we can and must get mission straight." (p.193).
So, for this Eastertide, I want to spend some time lingering in the wonder and hope of the resurrection, so that I might better understand the call and hope of the church's mission.
Note: At SCPC, starting tomorrow evening, I will offer a four-week discussion of Surprised by Hope on Wednesday evenings in the Sanctuary, at 6:30. On Sunday, the theme of our Worship services will be "Easter Faith" and we will celebrate receiving 25 junior highers' confirmation of faith and entering into membership. Then, starting on the first Sunday of April, I will begin a four-week series on 1 Corithians 15, called "Wholly Saved", which will take us through Eastertide. I'll blog along with those themes here.
And what did the first Christians mean by "resurrection" anyway?
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