Easter Meditations (alwyn)

Meditations on Easter

By Alwyn Lau

Eternal Word, New Writing “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Think of yesterday. Then the day before. Then another day back. And another. Keep thinking. Roll back time alllllllll the way back as faaaaaaaar as you can – bump! What do you get? Here’s what I think: You get Jesus. He’s at the beginning. He’s the start of time. He presses Play. In fact, this story is His. It’s grand, it’s big, it’s full of life, it’s filled with light. But it’s also been spoilt, it’s been contaminated with sub-stories not meant to be there, it’s got some bad words inserted by an enemy (and anti-story teller, if you will), it’s even been swerved away from the direction it was meant to go. Kinda like Star Wars having Anakin Sky-Walker transformed into the meanest bad guy the galaxy has seen when he should’ve been the Saviour of all. Thank George Lucas for Luke SkyWalker. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men…the true light that gives light to every man…” (John 1:4, 9) And thank God for Jesus. Jesus, the Word of God has come to set the story right again, to restore all words. He’s the author who’s jumped into His own story to repair, renew and redeem it. No way in heaven or hell (or earth, for that matter) is the Bad Guy going to emerge triumphant. This isn’t some dumb Hollywood horror script leaving a nasty taste in the mouth when the curtain descends. “(To) all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God...children born of God.” (John 1:1) Whatever your story is, the invitation is open. All are welcome to partake of God’s great story, to merge your chapters into His book. To let the Great Author Himself copy (write) His idioms onto yours. Holy Ghost(-writing) into your heart, birthing God’s vivacity into your style, your plot, your very design.

How Real The Gap “He has risen!” (Mark 16:1-8) Dead and rotting. Alive and powerful! The images couldn’t be more different, more disparate. One is filled with the darkness of nothingness, the stench of decay, the sorrow of loss. The other has the light of being, the aroma of new humanity, the joy of living loving and sharing. One exposes ultimate weakness, the other perfecting newness. Maybe we don’t draw this contrast deeply enough. Too many glorious Easter church services, too many Easter cards, too many happy-looking Easter bunnies and yummy-fied Easter eggs. We can’t feel and can barely imagine the utter dryness and complete negation of the tomb. We are worlds (almost literally) away from the first women on that first Easter morning. Jesus’ mum, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Salome set off expecting to find sad traces of a love forever vanquished only to be witnesses to undying love and incorruptible life as never before. “He has risen!” rings very differently in modern capitalist 21st century than it did in the feudal-agrarian first. Jesus has risen. Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus has risen from the dead against the odds. Jesus has risen from the dead against the odds and against every evil in the universe. Jesus has risen from the dead against the odds and against every evil in the universe so the universe is given a new birth. Jesus has risen from the dead against the odds and against every evil in the universe so the universe is given a new birth and we are re-birthed too when we accept this newness He has to offer. Action: 1. Think hard: What surprises you most about Easter? What do you think should surprise all of us? 2. What analogies or stories can you use to communicate the surprise and awe of that first Easter morning?

To Dance Again “But Christ indeed has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1Corinthians 15:20-23) I have sat by the bedside of two grandparents days (and even seconds) before they passed away. I can recall their flesh having given up on them, their strength withering away like the beating of their hearts. My weeping for them couldn’t prolong their life, my prayers felt empty. And while I am convinced their time here has not been in vain and that they have given all the love they could, a part of me wish they – and every other sufferer – didn’t have to face mortality in all its ghastly reality. Can I believe, and act like I believe, that I will see my grandmother again? In much better shape than my last memory of her? Do I dare to dream of hugging my grandfather and dancing with him and his new creation leg (replacing the one that was amputated at the knee to stop the spread of gangrene up his body)? No, the Christian faith isn’t a just-you-and-God-alone affair. Eternal life in Jesus isn’t about your ‘personal salvation’ alone. It’s really about everything. It’s your new life, your new body. A new life and body for your family and your community. A new life, even, for knowledge, for emotions, for animals, for flora and fauna, for the stars (and the quarks), for the cosmos. New! Fresh! Nothing any eye has seen or ear heard! Up-to-the-eternal-minute pristine! Thank you, Jesus. For the newness you will infuse into our souls and bodies. Action: 1. How does the knowledge that we will receive new, glorified bodies impact the way you think and treat about your body here and now? How does it change (of at all) how you perceive a situation involving the death of a loved one?

Triumphant Tremors “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and…rolled back the stone…(Jesus) has risen from the dead and is going ahead of (the women) into Galilee...they were afraid yet filled with joy…” (Matthew 28:1-8) A colleague of mine showed me an email she wrote as a challenge to a recent management decision. In the letter she spoke up for certain individuals whom she felt didn’t deserve the treatment they were receiving. She voiced a concern that should the decision be accepted, an injustice would’ve been done and that the integrity of the organisation would be in jeopardy. She signed off with a light-hearted, though paradoxically apt, phrase made famous by Kierkegaard: “Sincerely yours…with fear and trembling.” She meant, of course, to describe her own feelings about having confronted her superiors but the nuances are irresistibly abundant. Was it necessarily fear she was trembling with or could it have been anticipation and excitement? Was the fear meant only for her or also those she was addressing? Who or what would be trembling? Just her, or other people, or the situation as a whole? In the Bible reading today, Matthew writes about an earthquake, an angel, a miracle involving the supernatural movement of physical matter (what else do you call an angel pushing a large stone away?), an unthinkable, unimaginable announcement: Jesus, the One who when alive embodied symbols, worked miracles and made claims in a way one could only describe - with fear and trembling no doubt - as the Messiah of God, was no longer in the tomb. He was, in the ultimate (trans-)embodied act of Jewish redemption, risen from the dead. Jesus was right. His enemies were wrong. Jesus was favoured by God. His enemies cursed. Jesus’ message was the true one. His enemies’ were lies. God’s vindicating act is embodied in the man and message of Jesus. No wonder the women at the tomb were afraid yet filled joy – they had just been given news of an act of God. Who wouldn’t tremble with euphoria? Who wouldn’t shudder at the realisation that one is standing at the locus, in the presence, of the divine? Only those who have decided God isn’t worth taking seriously. In the presence of holiness, awe. In times of shame, stillness. When carnal meets consecrated, trembling. When death meets Jesus – resurrection. Action: 1. If Jesus’ resurrection represented a defeat of evil at its core, how can we manifest this victory in our everyday lives? What specific acts or habits or policies or attitudes must we confront with the power of God?

The Jesus Product “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20) The next few paragraphs might come across as offensive to those involved in some way with MLM companies. One pastor I know compared MLM with Mammon. A god with a life of his own, an expansion plan which has found its way into today’s churches. I personally agree, if only because with MLM schemes one doesn’t sell products. One sells the opportunity to make more money – how? By getting others to buy into the opportunity as well. The ‘product’ or ‘service’ is an enticement to greater wealth. No one who isn’t extremely naïve realises this after a while. Jesus’ most popular post-resurrection directive to his disciples was to go and make more of themselves. They were to tell people about Jesus, baptise them, teach them His commandments and instruct them to do the same. And on and on it goes. A little like multi-level marketing (MLM), except no ‘upline’ gets credited with a certain number of ‘down-liners’. It wasn’t about organising something against their persecutors, be it the Pharisees or the Romans. It wasn’t about making money or improving their self-esteem. It wasn’t about separating themselves from their context and communities in the world. It was sharing the message. It was about creating Jesus-valued and Jesus-following individuals throughout the world. What’s the pitch? What’s so fantastic about ‘signing up’? It won’t be because one gets to earn big bucks in a matter of months. It won’t be because one could earn a trip to Sydney after attaining a certain downline target. Nada. Yet the Christians grew at a phenomenal rate a few decades after the resurrection of Jesus, effectively taking over the Roman empire within a few hundred years. It was because people – amazingly, incredibly – find attractive the idea that their Maker is going to make the cosmos right, including their very lives and has in fact completed the first phase of this rescue mission by sacrificing Himself for us. And this loving Creator calls us to continue the battle until the whole world is redeemed. This message, in some uncanny Jerry Maguire sense, completes us. The idea that life might be about radical giving, about welcoming the outcast, about proclaiming freedom to the oppressed and those in bondage - maybe this is what we were made to be. Action: Compare the reasons for joining MLMs’ and the reasons for becoming a disciple of Jesus. Do you agree with the assertion that MLM is a modern-day manifestation of the God of Mammon Jesus warned about? (You don’t have to agree, of course – but it’s certainly a question worth asking, don’t you think?)

Mega(-Real) Movie As vampire movies go, Underworld is one of my favourites. It’s got just the right amounts of action, gothic style, ‘intelligent dialogue’ and adrenaline-pumping thrills. And in the second movie, Underworld: Evolution, we had a powerful vampire lord whose sole mission in life was to discover the whereabouts of his brother, a werewolf, in order to set him free from his lifelong imprisonment - how many monster movies have brotherly love as a driving force? The underlying motif of both films was the creation of a superior hybrid of either vampire or werewolf, one more powerful than the existing species. And which vampire movie fan hasn’t secretly half-fantasized about actually being a vampire and be immune to disease, have superhuman strength/agility/senses, maybe even the power to become invisible every now and then? “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Cor 15:53) Immortality. Christians believe in this, too. Except it’s not expressed in the form of un-aging, bullet-proof bodies, but as that which God’s children get to wear as their reward. Like brand new gown or tuxedo which exudes a – ooh! - splendid shine on their wearers, make them look more beautiful, newer even. Our promised imperishability reflects power over death and all that might quench true life away. For when we are decked out in glory, …then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" This is where, I suppose, Jesus has a major point against any Master Vampire. Because even thought vampire bodies are far more powerful than normal, they are not indestructible. There’s still the stake-in-heart gig (plus lots of other unpleasant outcomes) which a vampire fears. ‘Eternal life’, for these bat-people, is a matter of continued earthly existence. One would imagine such a creature fearing death even more, clinging on to life because there is nothing beyond. Disciples of Jesus, on the other hand, have nothing to fear. They look forward to conquering death. They work joyously to give their lives in labour and love, the labour of love, for their communities. “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58) Victory. Power. Everlasting life. Eternal value for all our hard work. This is no Underworld myth, but the universe under Christ. Coming soon.

Life Overflowing “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2Cor 4:16-18) It’s a prize which eludes most people, even the successful ones.

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How many multi-A students do you know who never seem to be satisfied with their grades, always in fear of the next exam (I’m a teacher, so I see this a lot…)? How many richer-than-average people are there who look and talk like they’re about to be food insecure very soon? How many prettier-than-plastic women (they’re usually women but men aren’t entirely exempted here) behave as if three new moles are about to erupt on their cheeks, even after spending bombs and bombs in the salon? How many more techie whiz kids will our society produce who never seem to enjoy his new toys for more than a week or so (this is one reason why I find repulsive the idea that I need to actually spend money to replace my 10-year-old cancer afflicted hand-phone when there are so many non-used, ignored though perfectly functioning mobiles just SITTING in many a teenagers’ cabinet!)?

It’s almost as if no matter how much one attains the symbols of success in this life, one is never gratified. It’s like the finish line keeps moving. Like the policy which never matures, the sleepdebt that’s never paid off, the sickness that doesn’t leave. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” (2Cor 5:1-4) What you can see won’t last. What can die isn’t life. What’s embodied isn’t near to God. Maybe that’s the answer. That the here-and-now life we have is also the less-than-full one awaiting us. I can’t wait to be ‘swallowed up’ by the life God wants to give me. In the meantime, I will look forward to my heavenly residency and new God-sown clothes by inviting Him spread the sweet honey of eternity over the stale bread of the present. That our time here would be deliciously full, fulfilling and overflowing with the goodness of Jesus.