"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
-C.S. Lewis
Written on Good Friday...In all my thirty-five years, I'm not sure I've ever felt or seen a more vivid picture of God's kingdom on Good Friday than this one today. When Jesus gathered in that upper room with his disciples the night before his crucifixion, he knew the darkness that was about to unfold all around him. He knew he was about to be mocked, beaten, and nailed to a cross. He knew that his final days on this earth would be filled with fear, pain, and isolation. But he also knew what waited him on the other side. I'm quite certain he looked in the faces of those disciples that night and saw the faces of generations of people who would get the opportunity to live if he would fulfill the ultimate sacrifice for us. And not only live, but live to the fullest. Live a life of hope, joy, love, and the promise of a forever home in Heaven. And I am pretty sure, 2000 years later, He's watching this world he created and the people he's made, and he's smiling to see that promise shining in just the way he envisioned it.
Hope in a weary world.
Joy amidst uncertainty and loss.
Love that knows no boundaries.
The promise of forever home with him.
Every where I look these days, I see glimpses of God's beautiful kingdom. I see it in the sweet elderly man singing Amazing Grace outside his wife's nursing home window. I see it the car parades lined up outside retirements homes, birthday parties, and final chemotherapy treatments. I see it in teachers standing outside windows with white boards teaching math. I see it nurses and doctors making patients laugh or praying with them when their loved ones can't be by their sides. I see it in the neighborhood dance parties, grocery store lines, and family backyards around a fire at sunset.
Hope in a weary world.
Joy amidst uncertainty and loss.
Love that knows no boundaries.
The promise of forever home with him.
Every where I look these days, I see glimpses of God's beautiful kingdom. I see it in the sweet elderly man singing Amazing Grace outside his wife's nursing home window. I see it the car parades lined up outside retirements homes, birthday parties, and final chemotherapy treatments. I see it in teachers standing outside windows with white boards teaching math. I see it nurses and doctors making patients laugh or praying with them when their loved ones can't be by their sides. I see it in the neighborhood dance parties, grocery store lines, and family backyards around a fire at sunset.
It's not lost on me that when Jesus rose from the dead, he didn't celebrate by gathering hundreds of people. He didn't inspire his early church by sharing visions for a building or a particular service he had in mind. He cooked a small, intimate breakfast on the beach for a few of his closest friends. He cooked fish and shared what it meant to truly follow him. Give grace. Serve freely. Love well.
God never promised an easy life, but he did promise to never leave us. And on that Easter morning, when he conquered sin and defeated death for eternity, he left us with the power to continue his work on this earth. To be his hands and feet, to flood dark spaces with light, and to link arms with others and share the good news.
We may not be able to gather in a church on Easter this year, hear a special message, or sing the same hymns we love year after year. But we can still be the church. We can still gather around the table, cook a little breakfast and live out what it means to truly follow Christ. We can give grace. We can serve freely. We can love well. We can be witnesses to the greatest act of love and let it fill us until we overflow. Because we are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.
Happy Easter. Easter at home - a temporary one we're so grateful for and a forever home we have to look forward to all because of the cross.
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