He is Risen!
Mark 16:6
Christ is Risen!
I greet you on this Bright Tuesday sharing the sermon I gave on Holy Saturday evening, just before midnight. In this week of renewal, it is important to focus not on the journey that has ended, but using the Holy Week journey as a springboard to renewal and recommitment.
How can we know Christ? Is it possible? Is it possible to have a mind that thinks like Christ? Is it possible to have a heart that beats in sync with His? A study of Scripture says the answer is YES. Psalm 46:10 reads: Be still, and know that I am God. The first step in knowing Christ is to be still. In the world today, it is hard to be still. In fact, some of us are so busy, we don’t make time to be still, or even worse, we are not comfortable with being still. Worship affords us an opportunity to be still, at least in body. So does prayer, and Scripture reading. Slowing down the body will give the heart, the mind and the soul an opportunity to be quiet as well. Elijah encountered God, we are told in I Kings 19, not in the strong wind that rent the mountains, or an earthquake that broke rocks in pieces, not in a fire, but in a still, small voice. If knowing Christ is important in your life, you’ll make the time to be still, to quiet the self from the noise, so there is room to hear His voice.
We began this Holy Week journey last Sunday, reflecting on St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, 4:8: Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Jesus reveals Himself as THE way, THE truth and THE life. We spend our lives searching for truth and meaning—whether it is the unceasing political debate and which side is right, or whether it is always insisting we are right and not listening to others, or pushing ourselves ahead to the detriment of others. Nobility is a hard thing. Society is conditioning us that winning comes at all costs, even if you have to sell your soul to do it, and that it’s all about the scoreboard—who has more—points, money, titles, etc. On God’s scoreboard, four can be more than six, if someone starts with two and makes four, and if someone else starts out with five and makes six. God rewards effort, not necessarily what society defines as success. If we want to know Christ, the focus should be on effort, not necessarily outcome.
The Bible repeatedly teaches us that our focus should be on the present. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:34, Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the DAY’S own trouble be sufficient for the day. And Psalm 118:24 reads This is the DAY that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Each day we wake up, we have a choice—to be grateful and joyful for the opportunities at hand, or to be anxious and troubled about the big picture. Christ found time to be alone and pray, no matter how busy He was. Christ had thousands of people coming at Him for healing and teaching, and not once when someone called out “Lord,” was He too busy to answer. If we want to know Christ, we have to find the ability to be present, and take things a day at a time, to see possibilities and to see people, to take time not merely to hear, but to really listen, to not merely look, but really see.
St. Paul writes in I Corinthians 13:4-6, Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Christ was the embodiment of love. If you swap out Christ for the word love in this passage, it still reads true. Christ is patient and kind. Christ does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Does this passage read as truth if we put our own name in it? Are we patient? Are we kind? Are we optimistic? Christ is not a glass half-empty person. He wasn’t with the thief on the cross, or the sinful woman that anointed His feet, or with Peter who denied Him, or the disciples who abandoned Him. He had every reason to look away from each of these people, but instead He still saw good in them. He still sees good in each of us. Should we not strive to see the good in each other? On Holy Thursday night, I spoke about kindness. I challenged us (and I’m included in that us) to think on how we can better love others, how we can be a little more kind. We know that most of us suffer from some level of anxiety. As I mentioned the other night, anxiety crushes hope. We’ll all feel a little less anxious if we had more hope. And we’d all have a little more hope if we could experience more love and more kindness. And maybe we would experience just a little more love and more kindness if WE could be a little more kind and optimistic.
Here is the opportunity—the hymns tonight invite us to “Let us begin anew in the light of the Resurrected Christ.” This is the DAY we have—yesterday is over, tomorrow is not a guarantee. Let us then receive this light of Christ and really give ourselves a new start—let’s make plans to be still. Let’s learn what is noble and right and true. Let’s focus on effort. Let’s be present in each moment. And let’s learn how to love better, by working to be patient and kind, seeing the glass as half full and not half empty. Christ was all about new starts—there are so many times in the Bible He gave someone a new lease on life by not only releasing them from illness, but releasing them from the burden of sin, and guilt and all that goes with it. Receive the light of Christ and give yourself a new lease on life, a life that focuses not on your truth, but His. And give a new lease on life to those around you as well—by choosing kindness and optimism. If we want to really know Christ, and if we want a heart that beats in sync with His, this is the way to do it. Focus on what is noble, right and true, as Christ defines these. Be present. Be patient. Be kind. Be optimistic. And be still. And we will know Christ.
My prayer to close our Lenten journey this year is one verse, taken from Psalm 50:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a NEW and RIGHT spirit within me. Amen.
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