Posted in Spoken Word

resurrection


The dawn arrives, bursting through clouds which were
allowed their moment to shine, but now was time for revealing
All the healing now possible as Christ has become Lord
A sword piercing death right through the heart, a start of something
So much greater than the rebels had in mind
Those who thought they’d find themselves at head of table
Find the man born in a stable has now made all able to dine
On food and wine from an age which is to come
The only begotten Son, firstborn from among the dead
Crown of thorns scar still visible across His head
Reminders to we for whom He bled…of Love.

Love that submitted to the worst of our munitions
His mission finally fully revealed, All Creation healed
And we, sealed by the Spirit for a Kingdom now beginning
Done with sinning, and not looking forward to winning
But having won, sun still setting on a past we’re letting go
Nurtured seeds now grow in fields of promised land
Standing on the shoulders of those who’d come before
Great clouds witnessing not about some yonder shore
But this world transformed, where what we see is not the norm
But a storm of redemption, flooding all we’ve ever known
Kingdom seeds now fully grown and bearing fruit
Corrupted systems moot, blown away from stem to root

As New Creation takes its place even now
His whole life was spent showing us how not to bow
Any longer to the patterns of this world, He hurled His gravestone into
The middle of an ocean of status quo – rippling out tsunamis long ago
Peeling back the layers of facade, in a world creating its own god
And failing, still today to fill our deepest void, annoyed when we can’t
Be charged by our own devices, and our vices lead only to crisis
That reveal the price is too high for us to pay the cost
Nowhere to turn, we look again to the cross
We see a life laid down, and a crown not seeking to control
But seeking to take our pieces and make all things whole
Starting right now, right here, within your soul

Letting you know you’re known, and dearly Loved
And He’s less concerned with getting you “up above”
As letting you know, in Him, you’re enough
That Kingdom would come on earth as where He is
And helping others see this, is why you are now made new
Not just to do, but to be
One brought to New Life completely
One who is not only glad to Live
But quick to forgive, slow to anger
Quick to find reasons to welcome the stranger
One whose life flows from their King born in a manger
One who Loves instead of hating
One fully participating in proclamation of Life made New
Looking through the lens of resurrection
Not just some day to come
But revealed now, as all else is undone
We look to the Son, rising
Realizing in this world where so many seek to be thriving
His Kingdom has already begun arriving.

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Posted in Different Scriptures

An Eastertide Reminder…(you already know this)

Don’t put away your Easter Tree just yet!

Oh, you don’t have an Easter tree? That’s fine. Whatever your Easter décor or traditions, don’t shove them into storage at this point. We’ve only just begun our celebrations of Easter. It’s ok if your candy has run out, as we can now pursue much more celebrative ways to announce “He is Risen!”.

“Eastertide” on the church calendar is traditionally the 50 days between Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. There are many traditions and connections to this season, but notice this: 50 days is just about 1/7th of a year. So in a sense, Eastertide is like the “Great Sunday” of the year! During this season, we are invited to contemplate the Resurrection of Jesus, what that means for the ways Resurrection Life unfolds & is available to us here and now, and to anticipate the future Resurrection when God brings all things to completion.

There are so many reasons for us to spend more time than we do, talking about and celebrating resurrection life. It’s literally one of the foundations of who we are as Christians. Early believers thought it was so important, they even moved their weekly gathering of worship to Sunday – believing the resurrection to be a sort of “8th Day of Creation”, or “First Day of New Creation”. It has transformed reality as we know it!

One of the keys (I think) to embracing the resurrection as something to truly celebrate, is to become increasingly aware of the difference between “coming back to life” and “resurrection”. Many people in scripture come “back to life“, meaning they return to the way of existing before they died. But this is not what happened to Jesus. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Paul clarifies it even stronger in Colossians 1:18, “ He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.” The “coming back to life” of anyone else was something to be celebrated for that person. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything. Here we see in the person of Jesus Christ, the coming together of Heaven (where God exists fully) and earth (where humanity dwells). He was given his “resurrection body” that is able to exist both where God is fully and where humanity dwells – a way of existing never before experienced by mankind. This is a reminder to us as believers that we are not ultimately looking forward to Heaven, even though it will be great to be with God fully. Even scripture reminds us that, “..in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.” (2 Peter 3:13) We all – those of us still here on earth, and our loved ones who currently wait in the presence of God – are waiting on the coming New Creation where Heaven & Earth are united as never before.

The exciting thing is: We are not waiting passively! We join today as we are literally brought to new life from the Life of the Age that is to come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” The good news isn’t that if we accept Jesus into our hearts, we will eventually join him in Heaven. The good news is that for ALL people, when we abide in the Life of Christ (who IS the beginning of the coming New Creation) NOW, we become places and people through whom the coming New Creation is bursting forth TODAY, being proclaimed and revealed in ways that announce what it will be like fully some day!

Whew. Okay. I need to take a breath and calm down. But you can see why it would be a really big shame if we spent all that time building up toward Easter throughout Lent, celebrated with a big breakfast, pretty pictures and some candy, then went about our year as usual the next day, right? We can see why an entire “Eastertide” season is needed, and why every Sunday throughout the year becomes a miniature celebration of the resurrection. We are resurrection people.

The question then: If celebrating the resurrection means revealing/embodying the ways of Jesus and His coming New Creation – how will you celebrate this week?

Posted in Different Scriptures, Spoken Word

John 21:1-14

“Children”, you called out your men
Asking if they’d caught some fish
Did they wonder who this man was
Who told them sides to switch?

Did you say it playfully
With loving brotherhood?
Or did you try to draw their ire
As if up to no good?

Their response is telling
For they did not get upset
They responded, trying the other side
And came up with overfilled net

Peter threw his clothes on,
and jumped into the water
I wonder if you thought he’d come
Swimming naked as an otter

I’d love to have seen your smile
As he reached the shore, soaking
And the smile that came to his face
As he saw your fire smoking

I’m sure you hugged him fully
Soaking through your clothes
With the kind of compassion
Only a Father knows

I see you every morning
Awaiting me, ashore
I know that you receive me
With a gladness just as pure

I confess that there are days
I stay too long in my boat
Wanting to be productive
Thinking my role is to stay afloat

If I am discouraged
Or have moments a bit too wild
I pray that you’ll call out to me
And begin by yelling – “child”.