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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

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