Contemporary culture seems to be grounded today in an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. We are a lot like the disciples who were hiding in a room after the crucifixion. They were afraid that they would be charged with sedition and crucified like Jesus.
When they experience the risen Christ, they are not delivered or protected from the source of their fear. In fact, they are commissioned to go into the Roman world to proclaim the gospel. The disciples thought they needed to be saved from the world. What Christ revealed is that the source of their fear was illusory.
One of the greatest errors that can be made by the Church today is to accept as true what human culture tells us truly matters, and to then be afraid that these things will be taken away. Being God's people does not mean that we will be protected and delivered from the world. It means that like the disciples in that room, we will realize that what the world tells us we should fear doesn't matter. And only by seeing ourselves and the world for what it is can we truly go into the world to bring Christ's news of salvation.
Supporting the work and mission of Caney Spring United Methodist Church and Berlin United Methodist Church, two churches partnered in the ministry of making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world, located in Marshall County, Tennessee.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Sunday, April 9, 2017
The Tone of Easter Morning
The tone of each of the four canonized gospels changes dramatically when we move from the crucifixion to the resurrection narratives. From Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to Jesus' death on the cross, everything is public, noisy, and bombastic. Things move frenetically, with lots of characters that enter the scene and exit quickly. We see evidence of the chaos of human political, religious, and social systems as Jesus is arrested, tried, convicted, and all the political posturing of the Roman and Jewish power structures.
The resurrection narratives have an entirely different tone and ambience. Things are quiet, private, and move slowly. The characters in these narratives are few. The tone is entirely unlike Handel's Messiah. The resurrection narratives in all four gospels have the feel of an epilogue.
The resurrection stories also have the feel of a new beginning rather than an ending. Sort of like the cliffhanger ending to one season of a series that leaves the viewer's attention not on what has passed, but what is to come. The reader's attention is turned not to the empty tomb, but towards what comes next: the proclamation of a new age centered in the risen Christ.
The message is clear: the fun is just getting started. The new covenant community, the Ekklesia, has been born, with a mission to transform the world and usher in a new age.
The resurrection narratives have an entirely different tone and ambience. Things are quiet, private, and move slowly. The characters in these narratives are few. The tone is entirely unlike Handel's Messiah. The resurrection narratives in all four gospels have the feel of an epilogue.
The resurrection stories also have the feel of a new beginning rather than an ending. Sort of like the cliffhanger ending to one season of a series that leaves the viewer's attention not on what has passed, but what is to come. The reader's attention is turned not to the empty tomb, but towards what comes next: the proclamation of a new age centered in the risen Christ.
The message is clear: the fun is just getting started. The new covenant community, the Ekklesia, has been born, with a mission to transform the world and usher in a new age.
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