April 10, 2024

Resurrection is Hard Work

Have you ever thought about resurrection?  Really sat down and thought about it?

I think for most of us, myself included, we go through Holy Week experiencing the somberness of Maundy Thursday, the trauma of Good Friday, the hopelessness of Holy Saturday, and the ultimate joy of Easter without really thinking about resurrection.

Sure, Easter comes and we have the celebration.  The church is decorated with flowers.  The hangings have been changed to white.  The crosses are unveiled.  The Paschal candle stands bright.  We say or shout, “Alleluia!” and sing hymns of joy.  Christ is risen!  The tomb is empty.  These are all good and joyful things.

But resurrection is hard.

In both Luke and John, Jesus asks for some fish which he eats in the presence of the disciples.  On the one hand, this was done to prove that he wasn’t a ghost or some other apparition.  These stories were also used to combat the Gnostics, but that’s another topic.  Besides proving he was real, I’ve always thought one reason for eating the fish was because resurrection was hard work and it took a lot out of him.  Consequently, Jesus was hungry.

But resurrection is also hard for us.  In baptism we say that we are buried with Christ in his death.  By it we share in his resurrection.  Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.  We say that we are cleansed from sin and born again.  We believe that we are being changed from glory to glory.  And we agree with Paul who said, “our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin.”

But actually living into that resurrection life is more difficult than we sometimes think.  During the Easter season we proclaim a life of resurrection, but we still treat others badly, we still refuse to be gracious to those who have offended us in some way, we still commit sins of omission and commission, we still insist on acting in selfish ways because we only see limited resources, and the list goes on. 

The tomb is empty.  Christ is risen.  We are living a life of resurrection.  But that is, apparently, not as easy as it sounds.

This Easter season, may you find ways to do the hard work of resurrection.