Post date: Apr 29, 2013 7:51:05 PM
Spring and Easter and Death and Resurrection
"We are witnesses to these things." - Acts 5:32
Spring has sprung. What spring means to me is new life. All around me my senses are beginning to be overwhelmed with springtime. My nose fills with the dirt and grass aroma of spring. The spring breeze blows warm air over the lake. In the woods next to our house, yellow daffodils are blooming, tulips have opened up, trees are beginning to blossom, and beautiful little purple flowers pop up everywhere.
Think back to what nature was like before spring sprung. Where smells and sights and sounds of life now surround us, months or even days ago it seemed like death was all around. The ground once was covered with snow, and before the snow, we watched plants wither and die in the fall. The wind sent a cold chill throughout our bodies. The air was filled with the dry coldness of winter.
Like springtime, life springs forth for us as people of faith. Particularly this time of year, in this Season of Easter, we hear and read stories of resurrection, of Jesus being alive and bringing others to new life as well. This is our hope as individuals, and it is our hope as a community of faith.
Just like nature moves from winter into spring, in faith, new life comes from death. Jesus was dead. He died. Three days later he was resurrected and was alive. There is not new life without death. We sometimes have a difficult time with this reality because we do not like to acknowledge death. But death is real. We all know this truth; some of us quite intimately as we grieve the death of those who we love and who loved us.
Death preceeds resurrection. Without death there is no resurrection. We believe that the new life that springs forth after death is more powerful and awe-inspiring and whole than our life before death. Even though it seems contrary to how things seem in this world, life gets the last word.
Perhaps you can tell that spring is a hopeful time and it gets me thinking about new life. As the church we are a place of new life, of renewal, of resurrection. These things are not easy, but they are hard to go through. Think of the giant changes that nature goes through each spring to bring about new life. So it is in the church.
As I think about new life in the church, I first think once again about earth and resurrection. It is with this background that I ask you about both of these things this spring. What ideas, perceptions, and things must die for new life to spring forth for us as a congregation and community of faith? And what types of new life are you hopeful for as a result of this death?
Death and resurrection go hand in hand for us as Christians. We cling to the promises of new life as we struggle with death. Hope and joy do come. We are witnesses to these things. Do you believe this is true for us as a faith community? For you personally? For the world?
Living in the midst of death and resurrection,
Pastor Adam