Reliving the story

by Guest blogger

“Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!”

Familiar words this time of year, but sometimes I wonder if we’ve heard the Easter story so many times that it makes it easier to forget that radical message . . . to forget the “shock and awe” of the resurrection.

Think about it . . .  as we journeyed through the 40 days of Lent, there is a build-up of tension that finds glorious triumph in the empty tomb on Easter Day.  But then what do we do with that?

Certainly, we have the opportunity of knowing the end of the story, so to speak, as we hear the teachings of Jesus through Scripture.  So this means that it is easier for us to understand the overall message that Jesus was bringing.  It is easier for us to read the Bible as a storybook of Jesus’ life or perhaps even a “how-to” book on good moral living.

But as one blog I read recently puts it, “For the disciples, the moments before the resurrection were steeped in fear, darkness and confusion.  For the disciples, the resurrection provided an incredible twist—in Sixth Sense fashion—that made the story come alive in a new way.”

In short, for us the resurrection story is a yearly event told in a familiar voice and with the trappings of tradition and routine.  But for the disciples the resurrection changed everything!

What would our lives look like if we experienced Easter like the disciples?  Who might we be as a community of faith if we responded to the resurrection story as if we believed it were really true and that it continues to happen in our world today?

In these days following Easter and before Pentecost, I invite you to consider these questions. Revisit the Easter story with new eyes reliving the surprise ending and reviving your identity as a child of a risen Lord.

“Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!”  Say it like you mean it . . . and then live it like you mean it!