April 24, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Resurrection Scars

Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal? – Elton John, Daniel

It’s funny, sometimes, how things come together.  Due to the interest of some people, I began hosting a discussion after the 10:00 service following coffee hour; I guess you could call it a “Rector’s Forum,” but it’s really a discussion covering a variety of topics.  Since we’re in the Easter season I thought I’d start with the various resurrection stories found in the four gospels and Acts. 

This past Sunday we looked at Luke.  There’s a scene where Jesus appears to the disciples and, in order to prove he’s really Jesus, he shows them the wounds on his hands and feet.  I said that, according to the gospel accounts, resurrection apparently doesn’t give you a shiny, new body, but it does allow your body to be healed of the damage that caused those scars.  My multiple scars tell a story, and that story isn’t erased at resurrection.

Last Saturday Joelene and I took a sightseeing drive and the above song played on the radio.  Sunday night those lyrics popped into my head in the aftermath of our discussion.  I wondered, “How many of us carry the wounds of scars that won’t heal?  How many of us live with the hope that resurrection will wipe it all away?”  If the gospels are to be believed, resurrection doesn’t erase the scars, but it does heal the pain.

On Monday, one of my online friends (who happens to be Jewish) posted a link to an article about Passover in which the author, Rabbi Shai Held, asks the question, “What do we do with our pain?  What, if anything, can we learn from it?” 

His answer:  The Bible offers a startling and potentially transformative response – Let your memory teach you empathy and your suffering teach you love.  I think this is actually a very Jesus-y thing to say, especially in light of how he suffered and forgave those who tortured and executed him.

Rabbi Held points out that, too often, we allow our pain and suffering to turn into rage and hostility.  “But,” he says, “Holy Scripture teaches another way, that we must allow it to teach us to forgive and care for others.”

This is the message of the resurrection:  that our scars aren’t wiped clean, but that our scars remind us of our pain so that in our resurrection we live a new life of forgiveness and love. 

May we take the first steps in the here and now to live into that life of resurrection where our scars help us to live with love and empathy.