Resurrection Hope

There was no time to give Jesus a proper burial before the Sabbath began on Friday at dusk and burial preparations were not allowed on Saturday.

So, early on Sunday morning, a group of women who had followed Jesus throughout His ministry returned to the tomb to anoint His body according to Jewish custom.

You can imagine their surprise when they found an opened and empty tomb. Jesus’ body was gone.

As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! (Luke 24:4-6, NLT)

His is risen!

This is the central claim of the Christian faith.

Yes, we really do believe that Jesus is alive.

When we speak about the resurrection of Jesus, we are not speaking metaphorically about a sort of spiritual awakening.

We are talking about a bodily, flesh and blood resurrection.

Jesus conquered death and is alive in the fullest sense of the word.

This is good news!

But maybe you’re still back at Friday afternoon. Maybe you’re still back at the cross, watching from a distance with the disciples, as all of their hopes for the future died with Jesus.

Maybe you’re dealing with fear and anxiety and doubt and loss.

Maybe joy and celebration seem unattainable and even naïve.

What cause is there for joy and celebration in the midst of this chaotic world?

What we need now is hope.

That may sound trite.

After all, where has hope ever gotten us?

That’s fair.

I can hope the shelter-at-home order is lifted tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean it will be. I can hope the trip I have planned in June doesn’t get canceled, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be. I can hope I don’t run out of toilet paper, but that doesn’t mean I won’t.

But I’m not talking about that kind of hope. I’m not talking about a warm and fuzzy feeling. I’m not talking about wishing for the best or sending positive thoughts out into the universe.

I’m not talking about hope that is subject to changing circumstances or a changing world but about hope in the unchanging nature and character of God.

I’m talking about biblical hope – the confident anticipation of what God will do in the future based on what God has done in past.

The resurrection of Jesus declares that God’s work of restoration has begun.

This is what Paul was talking about when He said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

The resurrection wasn’t an isolated event. It was a paradigm for what God is doing in us and will do for all of creation.

God is inviting us to participate in the resurrection now. He is offering us resurrected lives.

Here’s the point.

No matter what happens, no matter how the coming days unfold, the resurrection of Jesus assures us that death has been defeated and that God is at work restoring His very good creation to what it was always intended to be – including you and me.

That is why we hope. That is why we celebrate.

He is risen!

He is risen indeed.

Read Revelation 21-22 and consider the promise God has made about the “new heavens and the new earth” in light of the resurrection.

Chapter One

Three weeks ago, I sat across from two of my oldest and dearest friends at my parents’ kitchen island. We hugged and laughed and caught up after months apart.

Dick told me that he missed my writing. He said that he hoped I would pick it back up again. I promised I would when life slowed down. I promised I would when I had more time.

Dick went home to be with the Lord last Friday.

I’m writing again.

Because life isn’t slowing down.

Because I’ll never have more time.

Because my friend encouraged me to write.

I’m writing again, but, today, words feel so inadequate. This morning, we gathered to celebrate this sweet man. His family and friends shared their memories and we sang “Happy Trails” in his honor.

I have so many memories of my own.

Dick donned a toga and waved a palm leaf in honor of the “king” at my father’s 60th birthday.

He asked me to be his partner the last time we were at a Barn Dance together – and he didn’t mind at all that I wasn’t very good.

He made me the first Manhattan I ever tried.

He gave the best hugs.

He could always make me laugh.

And he taught me so much.

He taught me the proper way to chop wood.

He taught me to savor friendship.

He taught me that when you love someone, you tell them - a lesson I wish I had learned so much earlier.

He was more family than friend.

I loved him so much.

I'm rambling, I know. But, I am trying to find words worthy of this man and I'm coming up short.

C.S. Lewis closed The Chronicles of Narnia with the most beautiful – and, perhaps, the most comforting – words for a Christian faced with the loss of a brother. Dick was well-acquainted with my love for C.S. Lewis, so I don't doubt that he would patiently indulge me.

“And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

I hold to the promise that, one day, we’ll step into that greatest of adventures alongside you. But, until then, my dear friend, we will miss you. And we will love you always.