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
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