Living the Resurrection isn’t Easy
Not really. We live in the light of the resurrection with assurance that God loves us and that he has conquered death. But when push comes to shove, are we really willing to risk walking on water; to trusting Christ here now? In 21st century America we have made that unnecessary. We have systems in place that make faith obsolete. We have secure careers, we have nice homes, we have health insurance, we are the most powerful nation on earth; who needs faith? We give a nod of course, but does God have access to our hearts? Are we like streams of water that He directs where He will spread His grace and love across the land through us? Or do we quietly ensure our dominance in the world through power, military power, economic power, or social power? Is our foundation, faith in the Risen Lord or is it our 401K? Which is it really?
Look around. Homelessness as a measure of the health of a society would indicate we are in trouble. After homelessness is lawlessness. People are free to go into businesses and take what they want and the police won’t stop them because it’s not worth it. They are criticized at every turn, why bother? Businesses can’t function in chaos; the point of business is to make a profit, without profit why bother.
Today everyone has rights, but wear is responsibility? When we turn away from God or worse yet only pay Him lip service, then we are in charge; we call the shots, and this is what we get as a result, injustice, corruption, deception, false, gods, and no peace. The saying is true no God no peace, know God, know peace. (I wonder if that works in any other language)?
The truth is, we don’t live in the light of the Resurrection. We no longer see our neighbor as someone we are to love as we are to love God. We do not see our neighbor, as if we were in fact all in this together. We see them as our enemy, one who is going to hurt us, or take what is ours.
This is a very uncomfortable place to be. It is a place that lacks trust, and lacks love, and lacks joy, it is full of anxiety and fear. But Christ clearly tells us that perfect love casts out fear. How do we ‘perfect’ love?
It involves submission to the one who is love, Christ our God, for God is love! We are created to love, but love is not easy if we have not first surrendered to Christ. Once we do that everything is easy; because then we have no agenda, but to love. Everything else takes a backseat. We rest in God‘s love, and we extend it as a way of being to everyone we meet; but especially to our enemies. We certainly are in this together, and even though they may not see it, or comply with it, or cooperate with it, as if were true, that doesn’t give us, Christ’s followers, license to deny it and act as if it weren’t true. If we do that, then we step out of Resurrectional living.
So the big question is, how do we incarnate Resurrectional living? Prayer! It can’t be done without prayer; even Christ went out into the desert to pray, and to seek the heart of the Father. We must ask God what to do, how to live; we must knock on the door of God’s heart, and say here I am Lord send me. Can we do that with ease, with Joy, with love? If we can, then we are living in the light of the Resurrection. Everything is easy and everything is clear. And our hearts are filled with joy. But our hearts are hard and we are divided, then we will not have peace and there will be tension and conflict in us, and this will spread to others, and we will find ourselves in the state we are today ; conflicted.
We, society, can’t reinstate or impose, Resurrectional living; but we as persons can choose it.
We choose it when we say, and mean, “Oh Heavenly King, Comforter Spirit of Truth, present in all places, filling all things, Treasure of Blessings and Giver of Life come and abide in us, and cleans us from every stain and save our souls Oh Good One. It is the essential prayer of Orthodox Christians to stay in the zone of Resurrectional living. And now we celebrate our Risen, Lord!
