Skip to main content

EASTER MAKES THINGS LESS CERTAIN


To get maximum benefit from this post, you will want to do the following: Think about a time when something you thought to be one-hundred percent true was cast into doubt - a time when something of which you were completely certain became uncertain.

According to the way the Bible tells it, Easter is first and foremost about that kind of uncertainty.  The people who came to the empty tomb that first Easter morning came to it certain about a part of their lives, and, after they left the empty tomb, they were more uncertain about it then they had ever been.

And what certainty does Easter seek to make less certain? 

When followers of Jesus went to the tomb that first Easter morning, they were certain that Jesus’ life was completely over.  Why else would they bring spices with them?  They came with spices that were used to embalm dead bodies so that the stench from the tombs wouldn’t be overwhelming.  They came expecting what had been their experience - that death eventually has the last word on everyone.  When they got to the tomb, found the stone rolled away, found Jesus’ body missing and heard that he had been raised from the death to a new kind of life by the power of God, they didn’t know what to think.  They were uncertain about the whole thing at that point.  Easter made things less certain and not more certain for them!

The Easter story, I believe, wants to do the same for us.

One certainty upon which so much of living in our culture is based is: Physical death is final - the very last stop in any kind of meaningful existence.  Easter says, “Not so fast!”

If we’re certain that this life is all there is, then Easter wants us to be uncertain.  If Jesus has been raised from the dead into a new kind of life (and not just resuscitated back to the kind of life we know), then the life we know is the beginning of things and physical death is the transition from one kind of life to another.  Easter wants us to reflect on that with genuine consideration.

If we’re certain death is the greatest factor in our lives, then Easter wants us to be uncertain.  Easter wants us to open the door to pondering the thought that God (the creative power which called the universe into being), and not physical death, will have the last word on us.

If we’re certain that the fear of death must, by necessity, control almost every area of our lives (and think about how many areas it does influence for so many people), then Easter wants us to be uncertain.  Easter wants us to engage the possibility that joyful expectation of divine activity could have more influence on us than the fear of death does.

Just because we haven’t experienced something yet doesn’t mean it won’t become a reality for us in the future.  I think Easter would want us to remember that. 

Are we ready to entertain at least a little bit of uncertainty about the finality of death?  This is part of what it means to celebrate Easter! 

Happy Easter and Blessed Uncertainty to You!

Pastor Blaik

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GETTING TO KNOW YOU… “Getting to know you…getting to know all about you…”   I remember hearing that song when I was young.   My mom would sing it to me.   I would make a face when she did.   Later, I would learn that it was a famous song from a musical and not something my mother made up! Now, you and I are in the process of getting to know one another as pastor and congregation.   I’ve met many of you (and am doing my best to learn your names).    If I haven’t met you yet, I hope to very soon.   That’s very important to me. I believe that Christianity is about relationships.   The Holy Trinity is a relationship.   In Jesus, God has taken on flesh, suffered, died and been raised to restore our relationship with our Creator.   We are called to live in a new kind of relationship with each other because of our faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.   It’s all about relationships! My very first goal as your new pasto...
Read more
HOPE AND CONSEQUENCES Have you ever felt that something or someone was just too far gone? I mean like when your favorite team is losing so bad that, even though the game isn’t over, it’s over.   It’s too far gone.   You turn off the TV and go to bed. Or, like when a car you’ve enjoyed for years starts to need repair after repair after repair.   You want to hang on to it.   It’s served you well.   You like the way it looks.   You like the way it rides.   You don’t want another car payment.   But your current car is just not long for this world.   It’s too far gone.   You buy another car. Maybe it’s a person.   This person keeps making the same dumb mistake over and over and over again and it’s just destroying him or her.   You care about this person, but you know there’s nothing you can do to affect a change in the person’s life.   He or she is just too far gone. Have you ever felt that a person is t...
Post a Comment
Read more
THE MOST IMPORTANT CREDENTIALS DON’T HANG ON A WALL Have you ever walked into a professional’s office – a doctor, or a lawyer or an accountant, say – and saw one wall of that office covered in credentials – diplomas, certifications and awards?   I think that’s an experience that most of us have had. It seems obvious to me that this is done because such professionals want us to know how much they know.   They want us to know that they know what they’re doing.    They want us to know that we can trust them and their expertise. There’s an old saying: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”   For me, that’s not entirely true when it comes to professionals like doctors and lawyers.   I really want to know that my doctor knows what he or she is doing.   I want to see proof of that as soon as I walk into that doctor’s office! However, I do believe that saying is 100% true when it comes to pastors. When yo...
Post a Comment
Read more