Resurrection For Today

This morning was an interesting morning as most Sunday mornings are, but today was different, it is a week until Easter. In the midst of a chaotic rush of customers and drinks, I heard a group of people whom I assume had either just come from church or were on their way to church start talking about "how great it will be when this world is done and we are in 'heaven'". This thought is usually the type of talk that happens around this time of year, Easter time that is. As Christians we have this misconceived notion that the resurrection of Jesus and for that matter this whole time is about being saved from our sins and going to heaven when we die. When I heard that, I thought of the many times that I have had conversations with other people about many of the same concepts. "This life sucks, it will be better in heaven, and so we should just hope for that day to come soon," in essence what they are saying is that we should not worry about global warming, poverty, corruption, injustice, etc. instead we should focus on saving souls so that when all go to heaven we can break the heavenly fire codes by having too many people up there. What kind of hope does that offer for today? If that is truly the ideology of so many Christians, then we have no hope, in fact we are not Christian, we are pagan! Strong words, but there is truth in there.

Let me suggest what Christian hope should be. If we are created in the image of God, then we should be his hands and feet to the rest of the world. In the words of an author that I deeply enjoy reading, we are signposts pointing to things beyond ourselves (this is a reference to N. T. Wright). Our role is to work with God, restoring the original intention of creation, to bring justice back into what was created good. A friend once told me that he does not feel as though his role in this life is to help out, humanitarian aid if you will. He is correct in a sense, because it is not his role alone, it is ours as a whole, to work together to make the world as it was meant to be, or at least move in that direction. Instead of thinking of Easter as the time when we think about being disembodied and not having to worry about what is going on now, lets think of it as a time when God worked in a drastic way, a way that started new creation, in which we are the stewards. What would the world be like if we focused on where we are here on earth instead of focusing on where we'll be in heaven, and like wise, if we focused on the person as a whole instead of their spirit?

This blog does not necessarily convey everything that I would like to say, so if you have any questions or comments please feel free to respond.