Death and Resurrection

Today is Easter Sunday.  Usually, I'd be in church but circumstances won't really allow for it.  It just occurred to me that I am most likely on a plane full of Muslims and Atheists as I go from Prague to Istanbul.  Someone explained to me once that to be Turkish was to be Muslim.  Add to that I think the majority of Czechs are atheists and I highly doubt we're going to break out into a Hallelujah chorus on this plane.

I love Jesus.  I love everything about Him.  Something I struggle with on occassion though is this idea of a resurrection of the dead.  It's the point of the Good News though, right?  Jesus wasn't just some moral teacher as people make Him out to be.  No, He was the Son of God.

Death and resurrection are seen in the world around us.  Perhaps that's on purpose as God's way of pointing the world to Himself.  Seeds fall to the ground and die in a way, are buried and then are resurrected.  Many people end their old careers and have a new beginning in a new career.  Some might even say they are reborn in their new career.

It's also seen in relationships at times.  A couple gets married, one of them breaks trust somehow with the other.  Later, they are hopefully reconciled and their relationship is resurrected.  I have prayed a few times for a couple I know who split earlier this year but are trying to get back together and work it out.  I pray their relationship is raised from the dead.

If Christ wasn't resurrected, then the Christian faith is useless and null in void.  If Jesus did in fact raise from the dead though, as I sincerely believe He did, it changes a person  when they come to realize that.  There are countless arguments backed up by evidence on both sides of the debate as to whether or not Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  There is a time and place for apologetics but often I think the people who get wrapped up in those arguments miss the point.  

In my limited experience, I have yet to meet anyone who was argued convincingly into the Kingdom of God.  Usually it's a matter of the heart.  Something traumatic occurs in their life and their heart is softened to the distinct possibility that perhaps there is something more in this life.  Cancer strikes or they're hospitalized for any number of reasons and face the brevity of life for the first time.  Are there any true atheists on a death bed?  I would have to think they're at least agnostic at that point.

Even secularists know there is something wrong in the world.  The difference is their hope lies in their ability to think through problems and find solutions.  Oft times solutions just cause a different set of problems altogether.  The internet is a classic case of this.  Now we can communicate in real time with almost anyone anywhere in the world.  That can be a beautiful thing.  At the same time, there are things on the internet like kiddie porn and how to make bombs.

If you ask me, secularists simply have a different god whom they worship.  For some it's nature, for others it's technology.  Christians worship a God who says He is reconciling all things to Himself.  We worship a God who turns all things into good for those who love Him.

It's human nature to want to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself.  I believe that desire comes from God and is His way of getting our attention.  Worshiping anything else can satisfy for a time being, but ultimately it will come up short.  A philosopher/mathemetician whose name escapes me currently once said there's a God-shaped hole in all of us.  Maybe it was Pascal?  I could be way off base there though.

It occurs to me that I don't spend enough time in prayer for non-believers.  Contrary to what they say, prayer really works.  I just watched the movie Noah and there's a scene where the antagonist yells at God and says, "Why won't you answer me???"  It's a moving scene and one I think everyone is familiar with.  We pray and it seems as though it falls on deaf ears.  We have to remind ourselves that the Bible says He does hear our prayers.  He also wants us to persevere.  Did you know God actually asks us to nag Him basically?  There's a parable about a poor woman who comes to a ruler day after day and brings her case over and over and Jesus uses it to teach us how we should approach God.  Winston Churchill had the right idea when he said, "Never, ever, ever give up."

If we aren't bathing our relationships with non-believers in prayer than we won't get very far.  The Holy Spirit is the one who causes the seed to grow.  We can plant it or water it, but God causes it to grow.  We must remember this and rely on the Holy Spirit's counsel as we seek to share the gospel.  That does not in any way excuse us from sharing our faith, but it may take the pressure off when we consider that it's ultimately up to God as to whether or not He's going to turn someone's heart to Himself.

I once heard someone say, I believe it was Shane Claiborne, that their community was in the process of practicing resurrection.  They would take abandoned houses and fix them up for other people.  Or plant food.  It's certainly an interesting way of viewing things, isn't it?  Perhaps the best way to practice resurrection is to reflect on Christ's resurrection and live a life set apart from the world around us that is compelled to live the vision of Christ in our everyday lives.