PRACTICE RESURRECTION

 APRIL 19, 2022

1 Peter 1:3-9

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

What drives your life this week? Your SMART phone? The busy schedule? The pressure of a friend? Worries and fear about the future?

Guess what…Christ is Risen!

 

 And that means your life doesn’t have to be driven by things that are secondary to the greater priorities God has for our lives. Resurrection level priorities.

We must look for signs of resurrection, where do you see Resurrection around you, your neighborhood, our world? The signs of new life, a fresh movement of God’s spirit, a place of transformation. I have been thinking since Sunday’s talk that maybe we should start praying each day as we begin our daily routines, God give me the eyes to see your work of resurrection around me.

I wonder if we prayed a prayer like that if the outcome might be an ability to see two things, where resurrection is happening, but also where resurrection is needed. As we saw in the Gospel story on Sunday, sometimes we see but we don’t see. In other words, we have our stones that need to be rolled away to, so that our spiritual eyes are open.

I believe this will take on different looks depending on who we are and the circles we move in.

Maybe it is praying for or with a friend who is hurting or taking time to read with a child; shine Light in that darkness.

Maybe it is something more “global” as reading up on what is happening to the Christians being persecuted and praying for them; or the concerns and desperate needs for refugees, praying for peace in our messy shaken world, shine Light in that darkness.

How about telling someone today how your life was encouraged by Christ’s presence during Holy Week; practice resurrection.

Or call someone you haven’t reached out to in a while, just check in see how they are doing, shine some light in their loneliness,

Could there be a situation with someone that we need to forgive and just say: “I’m sorry for holding the grudge. I was hurt but I want to encourage our friendship much more than I want to hold onto the past, practice resurrection.

Offer grace where it is totally undeserved and unexpected, practice resurrection.

Look at the person sitting across from you at the table. Ask them how their day went. Listen. Practice Resurrection.