John Vandervelde - Program Director   

The word "resurrection" has been on my mind a lot lately.  Probably because we just celebrated Easter and the resurrection of Jesus.  What's been especially powerful to me lately, as I think about Christ rising from the dead, is what resurrection means for me today, as I live and walk and talk and think and work here on earth.  For many, Jesus' life and death is simply about us getting to go to heaven some day.  Our faith is centered around the phrase, "Jesus Christ died for my sins so I can go to heaven when I die."  Okay, yes, no doubt that is so true and so powerful.  What an amazing gift of grace that Christ died for us, wretched sinners, so that we can live eternally in paradise.  I think that Christ's death and resurrection is so much more than that though.  What if your faith was centered on the idea, "Jesus Christ died for my sins so I can go to heaven when I die; but his life, death and resurrection also gives me hope, meaning and purpose here on earth.  I am an agent of the Kingdom of God." 

Christ's death and resurrection means everything for us, for our eternity, but also for our earthly existence.  The Kingdom of God is here and we, as Christians, are agents of his kingdom.  Wherever we go, whatever we say, what we think, and what we do should be about the Kingdom.  If we spend too much time just thinking and believing that Christ's life, death and resurrection was all about us going to heaven we're missing the point.  Christ came to usher in a Kingdom that's about reconciliation, renewal, regeneration, hope, healing, truth, and love.  I think that we need to not be so focused on heaven that we are no earthly good.  Don't you agree?   

Something that has helped me and encouraged me is a recent video from Rob Bell.  This video came out on Easter Sunday, so yeah, I know, it is a little "old" but I still wanted to share it with you.  I don't know what you think of Rob or his ministry, whether you love it or hate it, that is beside the point.  I think you'll see that this message is powerful and inspiring as we struggle to live as agents of the Kingdom of God here on earth.

See the video here: RESURRECTION VIDEO (or just click the picture below)

Here is the text from the video:

Jesus is standing in front of the temple in Jerusalem

the massive gleaming brick and stone and gold house of God

and he says destroy this temple

and I’ll rebuild it in three days

the people listening to him said how are you going to do that?

it took 46 years to build this temple!

but he wasn’t talking about that temple

he’s talking about himself

he essentially says, listen

I’m going to be killed

that’s where this is headed

because you don’t confront corrupt systems of power

without paying for it

sometimes with your own blood

and so he’s headed to his execution

if you had witnessed this divine life extinguished on a cross

how would you not be overwhelmed with despair?

is the world ultimately a cold, hard, dead place?

does death have the last word?

is it truly, honestly, actually dark

and so whatever light we do see

whatever good we do stumble upon

are those just blips on the radar?

momentary interruptions in an otherwise meaningless existence?

because if that’s the case then despair is the

only reasonable response

it’s easy to be cynical

but Jesus says destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it

he insists that his execution would not be the end

he’s talking about something new and unexpected

happening after his death

he’s talking about resurrection

resurrection announces that God has not given up on the world

because this world matters

this world that we call home

dirt and blood and sweat and skin and light and water

this world that God is redeeming and restoring and renewing

greed and violence and abuse they are not right

and they cannot last

they belong to death and death does not belong

resurrection says that what we do with our lives matters

in this body

the one that we inhabit right now

every act of compassion matters

every work of art that celebrates the good and the true matters

every fair and honest act of business and trade

every kind word

they all belong and they will all go on in God’s good world

nothing will be forgotten

nothing will be wasted

it all has it’s place

everybody believes something

everybody believes somebody

Jesus invites us to trust resurrection

that every glimmer of good

every hint of hope

every impulse that elevates the soul

is a sign, a taste, a glimpse

of how things actually are

and how things will ultimately be

resurrection affirms this life and the next

as a seamless reality

embraced

graced

and saved by God

there is an unexpected mysterious presence

who meets each of us in our lowest moments

when we have no strength when we have nothing left

and we can’t go on we hear the voice that speaks those

words

destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it

do you believe this?

that’s the question Jesus asked then

and that’s the question he asks now

Jesus’ friends arrive at his tomb and they’re told

he isn’t here

you didn’t see that coming, did you?

he’s isn’t here

there is nothing to fear

and nothing can ever be the same again

we are living in a world in the midst of rescue

with endless unexpected possibilities

they will take my life and I will die Jesus says

but that will not be the end

and when you find yourself assuming that it’s over

when it’s lost, gone, broken and it could never be

put back together again,

when it’s been destroyed and you swear that it could never

be rebuilt

hold on a minute

because in that moment

things will in fact have just begun