Same Old, Same Old
A reading for Wednesday, April 23, 2014: Matthew 28:1-16.
On Sunday, I preached about the surprise of Easter using the same scripture from Matthew 28 that is the lesson today. It was a wonderful day filled with joy and excitement. There was a palpable sense of God's presence and the power of the Spirit to surprise us with grace. Many others felt the same...
But now it's Wednesday, and in spite of my efforts to remember resurrection on Monday and Tuesday, by now the surprise of Easter is beginning to wear off. Even the lesson today includes the verses we did not read on Sunday, 11-15. The guards, the ones who were struck with fear and appeared dead, have returned this time with another version of the story of Easter. There message: it didn't really happen but was a conspiracy by the followers of Jesus. It's amazing how quickly our surprise of grace can turn to the same old same old. By now the worries and stress of life have returned to overwhelm our sense of surprise and renewal of faith in Easter.
Remember this. Faith is believing in things we cannot see and even feel at times. It's not just an emotional perspective. Truth is emotions wear off and what we see can even be distorted by others. Faith is staying firm in the knowledge and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what others say...
He is risen. STILL! He is risen indeed.
On Sunday, I preached about the surprise of Easter using the same scripture from Matthew 28 that is the lesson today. It was a wonderful day filled with joy and excitement. There was a palpable sense of God's presence and the power of the Spirit to surprise us with grace. Many others felt the same...
But now it's Wednesday, and in spite of my efforts to remember resurrection on Monday and Tuesday, by now the surprise of Easter is beginning to wear off. Even the lesson today includes the verses we did not read on Sunday, 11-15. The guards, the ones who were struck with fear and appeared dead, have returned this time with another version of the story of Easter. There message: it didn't really happen but was a conspiracy by the followers of Jesus. It's amazing how quickly our surprise of grace can turn to the same old same old. By now the worries and stress of life have returned to overwhelm our sense of surprise and renewal of faith in Easter.
Remember this. Faith is believing in things we cannot see and even feel at times. It's not just an emotional perspective. Truth is emotions wear off and what we see can even be distorted by others. Faith is staying firm in the knowledge and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what others say...
He is risen. STILL! He is risen indeed.
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