Today is what is known as Easter,
a day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For
others, it is a celebrated tradition of ushering in Spring by the Easter
mascot, the Easter Bunny. It is an opportunity to gather as a family and enjoy
fun traditions such as coloring, hiding, searching for, and finding eggs. It’s a
time to enjoy chocolate and other candy. Grandma had a tradition of giving us those chocolate Easter Bunnys and I looked forward to them (and Peeps). For many, Spring represents new life
and renewed beauty. Things begin to turn green again. Flowers begin to show
their colors. Animals begin to scamper about. Temperatures start to rise as the
sun warms the air anew.
Long before Easter was a thing,
the writer of the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy references new life as
opposed to death; prosperity and blessing as opposed to disaster, destruction,
and curses. It is interesting to me that in verses 16 and 17 of Deuteronomy 30, loving God is equated with living, and turning away from God essentially equals
death.
Friends, let’s be honest for a
moment. Death intrigues us. As morbid as it sounds, there is a natural
curiosity surrounding death and the dead. As a child, when you see a dead
animal, you want to look at it and you want to get others to see it as well.
When a dead whale washes up on the shore, crowds gather to observe. When a
tragic human death occurs, barricades have to be erected in order to keep
people away.
I have already posted a blog about
my hometown cemetery and the fact that I visit there when I go home. I’m not
sure I told you I also visit cemeteries in other places, A Hot Summer Day at the Zion Church Cemetery There is a beautiful
cemetery in Idaho Springs, Colorado situated on the side of a hill with a
rustic path one can drive their vehicle on and take in the view. There are
several old cemeteries
in Central City, Colorado with old tombstones for the
curious to see. On the east coast of the US, there are lots of places where one
can see where families gathered to lay to rest Civil War soldiers and others. When
I visit these places of rich history, I never go to look for living people. I
go to see the markers and imagine the dead, sometimes as they were when they
were alive, and honestly, wondering what state the body is in now. You’ve
wondered that yourself.
When those that deeply loved
Jesus went to the tomb on that Sunday morning, they were not going looking for
anyone living. An odd thing about loving someone so much is that we want to go
to the place where their dead body has been laid in order to
honor them. Imagine the
disappointment the Christ-followers felt the Friday Jesus died, and how lost they must have felt on Saturday, and the grief that had set in by Sunday. As
far as they were concerned, nobody had lived like Jesus had lived. Yet He
seemingly chose death willingly. They must have been so confused. Yet they
loved Him so deeply that they honored Him anyway.
What they did not yet understand
is that when Christ, who was fully man yet fully God, chose to show God’s love
and freely choose death, He was actually choosing life for every single person
who would choose God. When He said “It is finished,” what actually came to an
end was the plan God devised to show His love to all He created to take care
of the separation between God and man completely. What came to an end was
eternal death for anyone who is willing to choose life by choosing God. In
order to prove His power over death, that Sunday morning, Jesus came back to
life, as the prophets had foretold, conquering the power of death once and for
all. His followers just didn’t understand that they should have been looking
for the risen Christ instead of a dead man in a tomb.
This is the most important moment
in history, the moment Jesus stepped out of the grave, and showed us what it
means to truly live. If you are reading this, you are physically alive, but many people are spiritually
dead. We all want to appear to be loving life, yet some of us are carrying
around a corpse inside. In Deuteronomy 30: 19 - 20 NLT we read, “Today I have
given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now
I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would
choose life so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this
choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing
yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.”
I want to identify something that
bothers me so intensely and something that I feel keeps people from choosing
life as I have described it. I believe with all my heart and soul and mind that
Jesus is NOT dead. But so many Christians act like He never lived. What do I
mean by that? I have found some Christians to be most unloving towards others.
I am horrified by that. I am baffled by the words and actions of those who
claim to be following the teaching of the Bible yet consistently act in
unloving ways towards fellow human beings. I have to say here that I am not
saying I am perfect and I fall short of my expressed standard too often. I have
been working on my tendency to be judgmental and unbiblical in my thinking. It is impossible to follow Jesus' example perfectly. But
here is what I now attempt to filter every word and action through. “Dear
friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone
who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love
does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending
his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through
him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:7-10 NLT).
I continue to see examples of
Christians deciding it is most important for them to tell someone how they
should live their life, what gender they should identify with, what political
party they should subscribe to, who they should be in a relationship with, what
denomination is correct, what school they should attend. In doing so, they fail
to act in a loving way towards this person or group of people. What if
Christians minded their own behavior and went overboard showing love to
everyone around them, regardless of their behavior. The Bible is full of
examples of people whose lives were changed, not by others telling them how
wrong their behavior was, but by LOVE. Elijah was suicidal. Job was bankrupt.
Moses had a speech impediment. Gideon was full of fear. Samson had sexual
purity issues. Rahab was a prostitute. The Samaritan Woman was divorced. Noah
was an alcoholic. Jacob was a cheater. David was a murderer. Jonah simply ran
away from God. Peter denied God. Martha was a worrier. Zacchaeus was a thief.
The Disciples lacked discipline. Paul persecuted Christians. The list goes on
and on. As I reviewed these characters in my mind, I don’t recall God needing
Christians to be unloving, cruel, unkind, and abstinent in order to give them
life. It was LOVE that made all the difference.
Maybe I am being too judgmental
in pointing out my frustrations. I just cannot blame those with
unloving examples or experiences with unloving interactions with Christians
for not wanting to choose life by choosing God. I acknowledge that I am equally
as frustrated with those who reject God without having considered the life of
Christ for themselves. The only way to perfectly know the love of God through
Christ is to read about it in His Word. Yet many reject God without honestly
considering what the Bible has to say for themselves. On that note, it would
likely be helpful for all of us to consistently be reading the gospels
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and reminding ourselves constantly of the
loving attitudes and actions of Jesus.
“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice
between life and death, between prosperity and disaster” (Deut. 30:15). You
will find that trying to keep up the illusion of being alive will cause you to
grow weary. You likely know in your heart of hearts, that though you are
physically alive, you are dying inside. You may have watched me or talked with
me and have heard unloving things come out of my mouth or observed unloving
actions towards you or others. You may have had Christian family members or
friends who have not been the best examples of the love that God supposedly has
for us. You may not even feel worthy of reckless, unconditional love from
another person, not to mention the Creator of the universe. Today, Easter 2021,
take a few minutes to start reading the gospel of John in the New Testament.
Take a look at the love of God for yourself, as firsthand as you can, by
reading God’s word. See if it is time to choose life. If you are a Christian,
commit with me to ask God to show you when you are being judgmental, when you are unloving, and stop judging, stop being unloving, and choose love.
Your faith may be deep. Your hope may be in salvation and heaven. But is your
love the love of God in Christ being shown to others? 1 Corinthians 13 says
that love is the greatest of the three. Let’s practice love!
Thanks for reading,
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