conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

an easter letter

This is the Easter letter I am publishing in the Community Church newsletter. What do you all think?

*************************************************

I know this may seem strange to many, but at Easter I always think of Christmas. In my mind, they are easy bookends to Jesus' life and ministry. He was born! We celebrate. He is arisen! We celebrate. As someone who was not raised in the church, however, I must confess that Christmas has always been the bigger celebration, the more profound experience. It is a holiday that does not simply belong to the church any longer. So, I have always celebrated Christmas. Easter was an afterthought. I often struggle with Easter. Sure, there were chocolate bunnies and pretty baskets, but it was never the profound holiday that Christmas was. It was not the huge family event. There were fewer television specials! So every year I grapple with Easter.

Is it that Christmas is easier to believe? A virgin birth. A star in the east. Wise men. Honestly, it is no more existentially believable than Jesus rising from the dead. But somehow I manage to grasp the spiritual import of Christmas more easily. They are both implausible form a purely experiential standpoint. But Christmas is friendlier, more lovely. Christmas meets me where I am. Easter, on the other hand, asks me to go somewhere I have never been...through death and into new life. That, brothers and sisters, is a challenging spiritual journey.

I believe that we sometimes undercut our own faith when we linger too long in our doubts about the Resurrection. It is not the doubt that is the problem. It is the assumption that the doubts mean a lack of faith, or a lesser identity as a Christian in some way. Faith is a journey. We are on a pilgrimage. Doubts are part of the landscape, even doubts about the Resurrection. Such faith, faith to believe the unbelievable, is something we grow into. The story of God's Resurrection is a gift to us. It is God's gift. It reveals to us, as we grow in faith, truths about humanity and the rest of God's creation. The Resurrection is a moment in time, and a lens through which all creation can be viewed, past, present and future.

So, at Easter do you have visions of Peter Cottontail like I do? Perhaps that is where you are in your journey. I still wonder if I should be buying more seersucker at Easter (Don't we all go out and buy a new Easter outfit?). Or do you have visions of the risen Lord? It is such a difficult thing to imagine. But then, maybe it should be.

Maybe the difficulty in even imagining the Resurrection is half the point. It is a place of growth for us. It is a place where our faith is challenged...and compelled to stretch. It is meant to be difficult. The Apostles had difficulty in recognizing the Risen Jesus (Luke 24:18). Who are we to expect something different? We are two thousand years removed from an event that was obtuse in the moment. It was an event that confused those who knew Jesus best of all...even his mother.

God is good. And God loves us. God will wait for us, dine with us, speak with us even when we do not recognize Him. God is patient in this way. I rest in this truth. I rest in the moments of the story where the Apostles do not recognize Jesus and instead think they are speaking to the gardener (John 20:15). There is grace in this freedom.

So, for today, I'll think about Christmas. I'll remember a baby boy and then I'll look at the tulips rising from the earth and try on an idea or two. What if this is that baby boy again? What if my neighbor's garden is the manger? What if Wilmette is the manger and at Easter the babe is being reborn here in our midst? Well, then I might be on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13) after all.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Peace and All Good Things to you.

Posted by tripp at March 29, 2007 06:30 AM