A Call Back

This is a repost of an article published in the Last Mountain Times and the Wynyard Advance/Gazette.

When you start a job, you are trained and left alone. What is the first thing you do? Usually there are options, so priorities must be set. You can tell a lot about someone from how they begin. Sometimes people get so overwhelmed, they do not know how to begin. I think we can see this in the disciples after the resurrection.

In the gospel of John 21, we see some disciples go fishing. Not a pole and rod affair, but using a boat and net, a commercial setup. Peter was overwhelmed, and he went back to his prior profession. The past few days were so amazing. He had seen Jesus tried, crucified and buried. He then had met him alive and well. It would be a bit too much for many people. So he went fishing. Then he meets Jesus again.

The patience of Jesus is beyond compare. After working for years training Peter, here he is wandering from his calling. Yet there was no shouting match. No berating. No exasperation. What we see is Jesus patiently showing Peter there is a better way. Helping Peter to stay true to his calling.

This is no less true for any of us. I write this with Easter freshly gone by. As a holiday it becomes a reminder of Christ for all people. Perhaps you have been reminded of the need to be at church. Do not overlook such feelings, they are the call of God. In the fellowship of church, we can grow more than on our own. We will become better people because we are with fellow believers. The world wants us fishing. slipping away from our call to follow Jesus. It is a temptation for everyone.

It is together that we are at our best. Even in individual sports, without coaches and others to train with we do not reach our peak performance. So it is in the faith. We need others to help us and for us to help them. We are meant for community, that is why Jesus had 12 disciples and why Christians form churches.

I know that many people will say that the church has flaws. This is true. Even Jesus had a disciple betray him, but that did not deter him or his disciples. Truly, it is a reason to continue on in the church. This is to help the church carry on. To help her to cope, fix issues and become better. Any one church may have significant issues such that you may need to walk away, but there are others. Many Christians are trying every day to be faithful. Join them in that daily struggle.

Let this Easter be a call to live for the Lord like no other. As you have received grace by the cross, graciously join together. Be part of a church and let the grace of God flow even more freely through you today.

Photo by rishi on Unsplash

The Miracle of the Tomb

A reflection on Mark 16:1-8

An empty tomb stared at them. Worry flowed through their bodies raising their anxiety.

The fear in them increased as they saw the young man. Other gospels call him an angel, but Mark’s ‘young man’ would reflect the panic of the moment. We really often fail to properly understand what is happening once panic sets in.

The angel said to not be afraid, but that never works. How the ladies remained standing is a grace of God.

We always think a miracle would be great to see, but the problem is we have an impoverished view of miracles.

We like to think of a healing that confounds a doctor. Perhaps our imagination fixates on an improbable set of actions that are unlikely and nearly impossible to reproduce. Think of a car accident where vehicles collide in absurd ways, yet no one is hurt. At least no one precious to the observer.

The actual reality is that miracles are God reaching down and doing something amazing. We are willing to settle for a healing. Cancer disappearing in a fine miracle, yet we seem to miss the wonder in the immediate joy. The women met that wonder in the empty tomb.

Miracles are at face value an absurdity, something happening that cannot occur. The first thought in meeting a miracle would be to find another explanation, we do live in a real world. Were they thinking the Romans were having a perverse game with his body? Perhaps the Pharisees were wanted to insult him in death? Did they have other concerns that I cannot fathom?

When the mundane is ruled out then the miracle is realized. This is the resurrection. It is a miracle that exceeds our understanding. People do not simply set up after dying, especially the way Jesus died. A violent and brutal death, do not believe the Hollywood images. Those are lies to get around censorship. Jesus died and it was gruesome. The resurrection was a divine work indeed.

The Father reached down and raised the Son that we might have adoption into the kingdom of God. The faithful are grafted into the holy tree and not pruned away. An act of love like no other. Sacrificial. Redemptive. Restorative. Life giving.

The miracle was greater than any other. Indeed, all other miracles serve to emphasize this miracle. Its scope is universal, even if many will turn from it. It affects the world even today and will continue throughout eternity. I wonder how long it took those women to realize what the empty tomb truly means. If they understood in the tomb, could they have not fainted?

Maybe that is another miracle of Easter morning.

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash