die

Our Hope in Christ

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By Linda Rex

April 20, 2025, Resurrection of the Lord | Easter—He is risen! He is risen indeed! As we come to this Resurrection Sunday, we enter into this new season with joy and gratitude for all Jesus Christ has done for us in his life, death, and resurrection. We look forward to celebrating the ascension of our Lord, and at Pentecost, the giving of his Holy Spirit from our heavenly Father.

In our first New Testament passage for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 15:19–26, the apostle Paul reminds us that the hope we have in Jesus is not just for this life, but is also for the life to come. This begs the question—what is most important to us? Are we focused on what we can get out of this life? Are we focused on what we can experience right now? Or do we understand there is much more to real life than just this current human existence?

When God created this cosmos, he made wonderful, amazing things beyond our ability to count or fully measure. He gave us intricate, marvelous bodies and minds, which enable us to do tremendous things, especially when we work together in community with others. Our world is full of beautiful, and ugly, and strange, plants and animals, fish, and birds. The huge variety of insects blows my mind, not to mention the intricate and delicate creatures that are so small, they cannot be seen with the naked eye. But every one of these creatures and people will one day die.

We have given much to enjoy. And what a wonderful planet we get to live on! How marvelous that we have air to breathe and water to drink—when we don’t, it becomes a tragic problem. Apart from the grace of God, though, human beings have no way of ensuring that our life on our precious earth will outlast our human proclivity for self-destruction. I was looking at the Doomsday Clock, and according to Google’s AI, in 2025, the Doomsday Clock was set to 89 seconds to midnight. Our human efforts to avoid this catastrophe seem to be limited, and apart from God’s grace, we really have no hope for tomorrow.

The reason we struggle is because we really are very much like the biblical first man, Adam, who set aside his freedom to walk and talk with his Creator, in order to go his own way. He and Eve could have chosen to eat from the tree of life and all the others trees and plants in the garden of Eden. But instead, they chose to reject God’s invitation, and to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By choosing to decide for themselves what it means to truly live, humans brought death into their world.

How often do our choices as human beings bring about death instead life! Think about your own personal history—have you made some choices in your life that took you down the wrong road? Have you experienced death to your plans, death to your dreams, even the death of those near and dear to you? If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that in our own lives, we are not much different than Adam. Death is a natural part of our human existence, and coming to the place of annihilating ourselves in some manner is not that strange a phenomenon for many of us.

This is why the apostle Paul says that if our only hope in Christ is in this life, we are pitiful creatures. Our hope is in the One who lived our life, died our death, and rose again. Jesus Christ’ bodily resurrection means that you and I not only have hope in this life, but also for the life to come. Death is the natural outcome of our human existence, but because of Jesus, we have hope that one day, we will live again. When Jesus returns in glory and ushers in a new heaven and earth, we will be given what the apostle Paul calls spiritual bodies. In that day, we will live a brand-new existence in an even more marvelous environment, in the presence of our Triune God. What a hope we have been given because Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed!

This life becomes fuller and more wonderful when we recognize and begin to live in the reality that, in Christ, we are God’s own adopted, beloved children. When we realize that we are forgiven, accepted, and included in the life and love of our Triune God, our whole existence changes. When we open ourselves up to reality that we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, all of a sudden, we are met with the comfort and peace of a divine personal Companion and Friend, who never leaves us, but is always with us. We discover that we have a heavenly Father who adores us, and wants to be with us from now on, into eternity.

Life in this world, becomes richer, as we participate in our spiritual family, the Church. And our hope for eternity grows brighter, for we know that these relationships will not come to an end, but only grow deeper and healthier and happier in the world to come. We have great reason to hope, not just in this life, but in the life to come, because Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!

Our heavenly Father, thank you for loving so much, that you determined from the beginning to include us in your life and love. Thank you, Jesus, for sharing our human existence, so that one day we may share in your life with your Father in the Spirit in the new heaven and earth. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for not only breathing life into us, but giving us new life in and through Jesus. May we ever celebrate our participation in Jesus’ death and resurrection, with gratitude and praise. Amen.

“If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”   1 Corinthians 15:19–26 NASB

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed. They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, and their descendants with them. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,’ says the LORD.”      Isaiah 65:17–25 NASB

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First We All Die

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By Linda Rex

February 23, 2025, 7th Sunday in Epiphany—I was sitting at a table the other day, and we were talking about the one reality we all face at some point in our lives—death. Its seems that no matter where we are in life, we have to come to grips with the truth that physical death is currently part of our human condition.

The good news is that Jesus Christ entered into death, bringing it into a new place. In Christ, we find that death is not an end or a terror, but rather, a necessary step to the fullness of our eternal life. In the New Testament passage for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 15:35–38, 42–50, the apostle Paul uses the concept of putting a seed such as a piece of grain in the ground, to picture our death.

What is interesting about putting a seed in the ground is that the planted seed ceases to be itself. In one sense, it dies, though in reality it simply begins to change. In that seed is all the information that is needed for the formation of an entire new plant. The seed could contain what is needed to grow a giant sequoia tree, or simply a stalk of wheat. In any case, what goes in the ground does not really resemble what eventually will grow from it. And what is produced through this small seed is often even more seed, such as the several cobs of corn produced on one cornstalk, grown from a single kernel of corn.

The thing most of us resist is the idea of dying. This is because we are created for life—to live. The tree in the garden of Eden the first humans were encouraged to eat from was the tree of life. God’s heart for each of us is that we choose life. He wants us to live—and to live in right relationship with him and one another. But often our attempts to choose life end up leading us down the road into death. Our ways of living our lives may make sense to us, but they often lead to spiritual death, death of relationships, and death to our blessings and joy.

This is why Jesus came—in order to bring to an end the control death has over us. As God in human flesh, Jesus lived a truly human life, even to the point of dying our death. Jesus entered into the realm of the dead, ransacking that place, and bringing us all up into new life. When God tells us to choose life, he does so by coming in his Son Jesus Christ and decidedly making that choice in our place and on our behalf. Jesus goes first, enables us to follow, and by the Spirit, we can now choose life as we should. Instead of choosing to live according to our human ways of doing things, we are given Jesus’ heart and mind by the Spirit, and we are able to live and walk in Christ, rather than in our human ways which eventually lead to death.

One of the hardest journeys for any of us is the journey of dying to self. There is a death we must die in this world and it is a death of self-will and self-centeredness. This is what Jesus meant when he said that his followers are to deny themselves, pick up their crosses, and follow him (Matt. 16:24). Our stubborn willfulness and insistence upon independence from God takes us down the path to death, specifically spiritual death. God does not want this for us. He created us for life—life in relationship with him and one another, life in self-giving sacrificial love. But the only way to get to this place of life is through death—the dying of self. And this does not come naturally. It is a gift of the Spirit.

In our culture today, life in the Spirit as we follow Jesus is not necessarily considered healthy or realistic. When we read the New Testament passage, Luke 6:27–38, we hear Jesus preaching a way of life that is truly countercultural and difficult. In order to live it out, one would need to die many deaths day by day as they sought to follow Jesus in this way. But Jesus himself said that he came to bring life, life in abundance (John 10:10). Jesus’ call to life brings with it a need to die to all that does not agree with the truth of who we are in him. Jesus defines who we are now, and we find our true life in him. We are challenged to embrace our death in this way, and to find our new life in him.

Here we find in more than one way that death is really not something for us to fear. We need not fear dying to self, for Jesus has already made the path straight for us, given us his Spirit, and he stands ready to intercede for us in each moment, enabling us to leave behind old ways and embrace new ways. And when we face our actual physical death, we find there is nothing to fear, for Jesus stands in our place on our behalf, interceding for us even in that place of death. Death is a new adventure for us now, a hopeful place in which a new life begins and lasts on into eternity. And we can embrace our physical death when it comes, as simply the first step on a new journey.

Thank you, Father, for giving us new life in your Son. Thank you, Jesus, for caring for us and for meeting us in the depths of our darkness to bring us into your life. Help us by your Spirit to live in the truth of who we are in you, for we share in your death and in your resurrection. Amen.

“But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?’ You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. … So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, ‘The first “man”, Adam, “became a living soul.” ’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”      1 Corinthians 15:35–38, 42–50 NASB

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Offered Once For All

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By Linda Rex

October 27, 2024, Proper 25—As we have been touching down here and there in the book of Hebrews, we have been learning about Jesus Christ serving as our high priest now that that he has risen from the grave and ascended into heaven. We’ve looked at Jesus and his intercessory role in our lives, and how he ever offers our worship and praise to our Father, and offers the Father’s gifts, his Word, and his love and grace to us in the Spirit.

Perhaps you’ve heard that old phrase, “There’s nothing so certain as death and taxes.” In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, Hebrews 7:23–28, this book’s author notes that in the original tabernacle which we read about in the book of Exodus and Leviticus, the high priest was appointed according to the law. This high priest would eventually die, and another would be appointed in his place. This meant that as time went by, the role of high priest was continually being filled by different people. Death limited the ministry of those who offered this service of high priesthood to God and the people of ancient Israel.

Jesus Christ, on the other hand, while in his human flesh did die, but then he, being the Son of God, rose from the grave. Because he remains both God and human, Jesus lives forever and will never die. Jesus has been appointed our high priest according to the Father’s promise, which will never be broken. We can take comfort that nothing, not even death, can separate us from Jesus and his love for us (Rom. 8:38–39). There is continuity in Jesus’ ministry to us in the Spirit, and we can rest assured that he will always be there for us, offering us grace in our time of need, as we draw near to him.

As our high priest, Jesus offered up the perfect sacrifice—himself. He does not need to continually offer up new animal sacrifices like the ancient high priests were required to. No, he simply offered himself, in our place on our behalf, just once, and offers himself continually on our behalf, in every moment, on into eternity. Jesus has no sin in himself that needs to be dealt with through sacrifice as the ancient high priests constantly had to concern themselves with. Rather, Jesus is without sin, holy in character, and flawless and undefiled. So what he offers—himself—is the perfect sacrifice. Not only did his self-offering only have to be done once, it also was an offering that includes all people, and all that God has made in and through Jesus, and it lasts forever.

Because of who Jesus is as the Creator and Redeemer of all things, his sacrifice has tremendous power to redeem, restore, and renew. We celebrate the wonderful gift of new life that Jesus gives us, and we rest in his faithful intercession in our place on our behalf before his Father in the Spirit. Jesus is constantly at work making all things new—this is his word to us through the apostle John (Rev. 21:5; 2 Cor. 5:17). And we look forward to when Jesus will return in glory and renew all things as he ushers in the new heaven and earth. What a glorious hope we have in Jesus!

Now, if you thought that is good news, just consider how wonderful it is that we do not have to try and work things out with a distant, uninvolved, uncaring God. This Jesus Christ who we trust in is the Son of our heavenly Father, with whom he lives in close relationship in the heavenly Spirit. There is an eternal relationship of love and grace that Jesus brought humanity right up into. And within that relationship of love and grace, we get to share by the Spirit in Jesus’ own sonship, in face-to-face oneness with his Father. We are not left trying to figure out some way to make ourselves right with God, or trying to make ourselves good enough or acceptable enough to be worthy of God’s love, attention, or grace. Instead, we are simply able to rest in and revel in the joy of participating in Jesus’ own oneness with his Father in the Spirit, as we trust in Jesus’ finished work. This motivates us to live a life of gratitude and obedient service to the Lord who both created us and redeems us. Praise God!

Dear Jesus, thank you for the amazing gift you have given, in giving yourself so generously and freely in our place on our behalf. Thank you for ever interceding for us and for bringing us home to our Father to be with him forever in the Spirit. We praise you for your glorious work! Amen.

“The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.”       Hebrews 7:23–28 NASB

“The fact that there were so many priests shows how frequently they died and had to be replaced. But there will be no successor to the Priesthood of Jesus because he remains forever. Through him mankind’s approach to God is forever secured; he continues to communicate the full accomplishment of their salvation. As our High Priest he towers far above every other priestly system in conspicuous prominence and in holy character. His guileless, flawless life on earth was never compromised by sin, and he himself was exalted above the heavens where he occupies the highest rank of authority in the eternal realm. Unlike the previous high priests whose system of daily sacrifices was a constant reminder of their own failures, he had no need to sacrifice on his own behalf. The sacrifice he offered was himself for all; a sacrifice never to be repeated. Under the law, men were appointed as high priests regardless of their weaknesses. The word of the oath, which succeeded the law, appointed the son in perpetual perfection.”     Hebrews 7:23–28 Mirror Bible

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Working Together with Christ

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By Linda Rex

June 23, 2024, Proper 7 | After Pentecost—When we talk about the topic of grace and the forgiveness we have in Jesus Christ, a lot of times we focus on what this does for each of us in our own individual life and circumstance. We often neglect to talk about the implications of this—in what does our acceptance of God’s grace result?

In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 2 Corinthians 6:1–13, the apostle Paul reminds the members in Corinth that God’s grace is a wonderful thing. We don’t want to underestimate God’s grace or make it less than it is. What God has done for us in Christ, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and in the gift of the Spirit, is wonderful, powerful, and effective. God has opened the way for each of us to share in his life and love. In Christ and by the Spirit, each of us is welcomed home, and has a place at the Lord’s table. But Paul warns us that we are not to receive this grace in vain. There’s a response to this grace Paul calls us to—a self-offering which reflects the self-offering of Jesus Christ. Because of what Jesus has done and is doing, we want to actively respond with our own service to God and others.

Paul draws attention to the reality that we are each called to be co-workers with Christ. This was our original calling in the garden of Eden, and God has redeemed us in Christ for this very purpose. Our lives are a participation in Christ’s life. Our fellowship with God and others is a participation in Christ’s own fellowship with our Father and one another. Because we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we are caught up in the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in this world. There is a message of good news, of God’s grace for us in Jesus Christ, which is available for all, which the Lord wants us to share with everyone.

This labor of love, of sharing the good news with others, is our participation with Christ, and it means we will face some challenges. The apostle Paul speaks of the many difficulties he faced: “much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger.” Although we may not experience challenges as difficult as these, we have our own struggles that we go through as we seek to live out the truth of God’s amazing grace at work in our lives. When we share the good news of Jesus Christ with others, these challenges may become even more complicated and difficult.

The blessing which goes along with these struggles is that the grace of God in Christ means we have available the gift of the indwelling Spirit of God. This means that our participation in Christ’s ministry and mission in this world are not something we do on our own or under our own strength. Indeed, Paul reminds us that we are given divine spiritual weapons (“weapons of righteousness”) for us to use for both offense and defense (“the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left”). By the Spirit, we have genuine love for others, and have the word of truth upon our lips. Paul says that we are filled with patience and kindness by the power of God, so that we are able to present the gospel and live our lives in a way in which God’s ministry will not be discredited or cause unnecessary offense.

The apostle Paul then mentions certain paradoxes. When we look closely at these, we begin to see how our participation in Christ and his mission and ministry is reflected in our own life of faith. Paul writes that he and his co-workers show themselves commendable servants (NKJV: ministers) by “by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” As we look closely at this list of paradoxes, we see much that resonates with the life of Christ. The Son of God left the riches and glories of heaven to join us in our poverty, that he might make us rich. The Son of God came to die that we might live forever, and he became a man of sorrows, that we might together rejoice, now and forever, in his heavenly kingdom. The One who gave up everything, so that we might one day share all things with him, is the One who is in us, with us, and for us—Jesus Christ. As we participate in Jesus’ mission and ministry in this world, we can be comforted that we go through nothing alone—he is ever with us and in us. In Christ, we have great hope, and we want to share that hope with others, no matter the cost. Our ability to bear that cost, whatever it may be, is given to us by our heavenly Father, through his Son Jesus, in the Spirit. This is why we want to be open-hearted toward others, because God has been so open-hearted toward us in Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Trinity, thank you for the love you have shown to us by making a place for us in your divine fellowship, that we may share in your life and love. Thank you for the grace which is ours in Jesus. Grant that we may faithfully share this good news with others as you have shared it so generously with us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says, ‘at the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’—giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also.”     2 Corinthians 6:1–13 NASB

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On Behalf of Others

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By Linda Rex

June 16, 2024, Proper 6 | After Pentecost—As part of my morning routine, I often read a chapter out of a book on theology or the Christian faith. My most recent book has been Hidden in Contradiction by Jeff McSwain, which I am rereading. In the chapter I read this morning, New and Old, Jeff talks about our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 2 Corinthians 5:6–10, 14–17.

Jeff shows how we often read the last portion of this passage, “the old things passed away; behold, new things have come”, and assume that this means that when we come to faith in Christ, we are made new, so we will never repeat the old ways we were caught up in before. This doesn’t wholly reflect the reality of our walk in Christ, for any of us who are honest with ourselves and others, and are truthful before God, know that our thought-life and daily walk very often do not fully measure up to the goodness and glory of God we were created to reflect.

Jeff’s point in this chapter is that because all persons died with Christ and rose with Christ, we are all caught up in the reality of the already-not-yet of God’s kingdom. By faith we walk in the new life which is ours, which is “hidden with Christ in God.” But in our broken flesh, we still find ourselves at times walking in old ways, those ways which Jesus crucified on the cross and buried with himself in the grave, those things we are dead to. Just as Jesus is now fully God and fully man, right now we live daily in that place where all that God created us to be and redeemed us to is true, but we are still having to experience and live in the false self, the “old man” as the apostle Paul calls it. We are growing up in Christ, maturing in our faith, becoming more and more who God created us to be, but we will never fully reflect the divine nature until Jesus returns in glory and we are changed. Then all God created us to be will be fully revealed.

This is the paradox which we find difficult to understand or live in. This may be why the apostle Paul said that he would rather be “absent from the body” and “at home with the Lord”. If you are like me, there are times when this life, and our tendency to drift towards the things of this passing temporal existence, grieve us, and we long to be freed. We want to be with Jesus forever, living in the glorious, joyful bliss of God’s heavenly kingdom here on earth. The good news is that even though we will continue to live in this broken existence for a time, not only is our future life with Christ certain, but we can begin to experience moments of God’s kingdom joy and peace even now in this life by the Spirit. We participate in God’s life and mission on this earth as part of our everyday existence, even when it seems that we cannot get it right and we find ourselves breaking faith with God and others.

What holds us together and keeps us moving forward in hope is the precious gift God has given to us in his Son and in his Spirit. It is God’s love which drives us on and compels us to not only live out his kingdom life in this world, but also to share it with others. God’s love for us is so profound, so great and wonderful, that we find we want to share this good news with others. We don’t want to keep it all to ourselves.

And that is truly the heart of God, as Father, Son, and Spirit. This triune God, who for all eternity, lives in other-centered, self-giving love, was willing to do something tremendous and unthinkably amazing on behalf of his creatures and his creation. Indeed, on behalf of all of us, for our sake, the Son of God set aside the privileges of divinity for a time to join us in our humanity, in order to bring us home into the inner fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit. And in Christ, that is where we are all today.

Our hope is in Christ, in his finished work, in what he has done, is doing, and will do. God’s motive of other-centered, self-giving, sacrificial love is what motivates each of us to be other-centered, self-giving, and sacrificial. When you see this kind of love being expressed, God is the source of such love, whether the person knows or understands it, or not. As we see God’s love being expressed in these ways, we are called to bear witness to it—to testify to the beauty and wonder of God’s love. And, as we respond to the leading of the Spirit, we will find ourselves living and serving, on behalf of others. And by doing this, that we reflect the glory of God, and his Son, in the Spirit. We live in the truth of who we are as his beloved children. Praise his holy name!

Heavenly Triune God, thank for all you have done on our behalf. By your Spirit, enable us to live, not for ourselves, but for you, Lord Jesus—you who died and rose on our behalf. Grant us the grace to live our lives as you have, on behalf of others. In your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.

“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”     2 Corinthians 5:6–10 (11–13) 14–17 NASB

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The Pearls We Are

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By Linda Rex

June 2, 2024, Proper 4 | After Pentecost—In the New Testament passage for this Sunday, 2 Corinthians 4:5–12, the apostle Paul shows how God the Light-Giver, is the One who shone in our hearts, enabling us to see God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. It is Christ in us by the Spirit, who enables us to live despite the death we constantly experience day by day as those who serve Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul inevitably experienced some sort of suffering or death for the sake of the gospel. But it was amid this and through this that the life of Jesus was made manifest to those around him. Indeed, as Jesus taught us, when we die to ourselves, to the things of our flesh, that is when we truly live. It is when we are broken as followers of Christ and are living in union and communion with our Triune God, that the light of God shines most brightly in and through us.

Paul describes the indwelling presence of God through Jesus by the Spirit as “treasure in earthen vessels” (NASB) or “treasure in jars of clay” (NIV, ESV) or “treasure in earthen vessels” (NKJV). These translators used a picture of a treasure being placed in a clay pot or earthen vessel which was fragile and could be easily broken. Word Studies in the New Testament points us to the story in Judges 7, where one night, Gideon took his army out against a massive Midianite army. Gideon’s army had been reduced by God down to only three hundred men, and they were facing an army which the writer of Judges described as numerous as locusts, without number.

According to this story, at the critical moment, they surrounded their camp on all sides. Note—there were only three hundred men who had clay pitchers with torches in one hand and a sword in the other. When signaled, these soldiers broke their clay pitchers, allowing the light to shine through, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” As the story goes, the enemy was put into disarray and the enemy soldiers turned against one another, so that in the end, they destroyed themselves. Gideon’s army needed only pick off the stragglers. As you can see in this story, the broken vessels provided the light by which the enemy was defeated, even without Gideon’s army needing to raise their swords in battle.

There is something powerful about light penetrating a dark space. Indeed, it can be almost blinding when breaking in unexpectedly. God has poured out his Spirit, inviting us to open ourselves up to his indwelling presence, allowing the bright light of his divine presence to penetrate the inner darkness of our false selves, to illuminate us with the reality of our true selves, hidden with Christ in God. The Spirit’s presence and power at work in and through our broken, flawed human flesh is a beautiful reflection of God’s glory revealed in Jesus Christ. When we allow this light to shine into us and out through us, Jesus Christ becomes manifest to those around us. The darkness of this world is penetrated by the light of Jesus through us as broken, fragile vessels in whom the Spirit dwells.

The Mirror Bible gives another nuance to this picture. Where the other translations focus on vessels or jars of clay, the Mirror Bible indicates this particular Greek word ostrakinos has its root in the word ostracon, meaning “oyster”. In other words, the original Greek gives the sense of treasure in a shell or oyster, which gives us an entirely different picture to consider. When an oyster has a piece of sand or sediment enter its shell, it can be destructive or damaging to the creature. But it slowly wraps the errant item in a special substance, and over time, the oyster forms it into a glorious pearl. What is meant for death becomes a new creation, one that is beautiful and of great value.

As human beings, we often avoid pain, suffering, and seek to avoid death at all costs. We especially do our best to avoid dying to our sin, our self, and our own will. But Paul uses these pictures to show us that God is always at work in and through us by his Spirit. What is meant for our death and destruction God redeems and transforms into that which is glorious and beautiful and which will last forever. It’s all in realizing and receiving the magnificent gift God has given us in Christ and his heavenly Spirit. When we daily allow God to wrap up our death to self and dying to sin and self-will in the life of his Son by the Spirit, we become a light to the world around us, a gift as precious as a pearl to those whom God draws himself through Christ in the Spirit. This gives a whole new direction and meaning to our daily “deaths” we must die for Christ’s sake. For suddenly, we as broken, fragile humans, find ourselves as valuable and treasured participants in God’s redeeming work as he restores, renews, and transforms his world. And all we can do is give thanks.

Dear Father, Jesus, Spirit, thank you for including us in what you are doing in this world. Grant us the grace to die each day to self that you may live more fully in and through us, for the sake of others. Enable us to glow brightly with the glory of Christ our Lord, that your light may more fully penetrate and illumine this darkened world, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.”      2 Corinthians 4:5–12 NASB

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In the Dying We Live

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By Linda Rex

March 17, 2024, 5th Sunday in Preparation for Easter or Lent—When I was growing up, one of my favorite places to visit in the backyard was the avocado tree. Each summer the sun was blazing hot, and its big limbs and large leaves provided a shady place to play. When the tree was laden with avocados, we delighted in eating the fruit with a spoon like a special treat.

Because of this happy memory, a few years ago I took the pit of an avocado I got at the supermarket, and put it into a small glass of water. When it finally sprouted, I planted the little seeding in a small pot. Since then, the spindling tree has grown to be about three feet tall, bearing leaves about the size of the sole of a shoe. The original seed became part of the root of the tree, and soon there was little evidence of the avocado seed the tree had come from.

In the New Testament reading for this Sunday, Hebrews 5:5–10, the writer points out that the Son of God isn’t the one who decided to be our high priest, but he was chosen by the Father for this task. As the Son of God in human flesh, Jesus Christ experienced suffering, but through prayers and supplications, trusted that his heavenly Father would deliver him. Having been perfected in his trust and dependency upon his heavenly Father in the midst of acute suffering and death, Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for us, serving as our high priest. Elsewhere in the book of Hebrews, we read how Jesus, because of all he went through, is the perfect high priest for us now, interceding on our behalf, offering our prayers and supplications as well as our worship to the Father, and receiving from the Father and giving to us all that he desires for us to have.

The process of coming to be our high priest through suffering and death is what Jesus describes in the gospel reading for this Sunday, John 12:20–33. Jesus clearly saw his upcoming crucifixion and death, and knew what he was facing. He described it to his listeners as being like when a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies. The process of dying, for a grain of wheat, isn’t really a death so much as it is a radical transformation. The grain of wheat ceases to exist in its present form—in effect, it dies. But it is still very much alive, though, beginning to take another form as it puts down roots into the soil and the sprout pushes up out of the ground, reaching into the sunny sky.

If the grain of wheat were to lay in the ground and never make this change, it would be because there was no life in it. The grain of wheat would simply rot away and become part of the soil in which it was placed. But when it come to Jesus, in his crucifixion and death, there was every reason to expect that what came up out of the soil was going to be new life. The One who was buried in the tomb was the Son of God in human flesh. Even though the human body died, this was not the end. Out of the tomb arose Jesus in glorified human flesh, ascending to his heavenly Father, to serve as the high priest on our behalf—the One who is uniquely equipped by his suffering and death to intercede for us, to advocate for us, and to help us.

The process of growing and developing, whether for trees or for people, involves both positive and negative aspects. To gain strength and durability, a person, or a tree for that matter, must experience challenges, opposition, or suffering. The negative aspects of one’s existence, when given to God and borne in union and communion with God in Christ, can actually become the means by which God strengthens us, grows us up into Christ, and forms his likeness in us.

One of the things our culture today doesn’t seem to embrace well is the idea of suffering, difficulty and struggle. To feel pain or loss is often seen as something to avoid, rather than being seen as something that, when embraced and accepted and learned from, may actually be a means by which we may grow and become more like the humans God always intended us to be. Yes, it’s probably good to avoid or ease pain and loss when it occurs, but it is also good to ask the Lord what it is we are needing to learn in the process of dealing with it. Perhaps we may even ask the Lord, as Jesus did with tears and supplications, for God to remove the ordeal from our lives. Indeed, Jesus pleaded with his Father to that end. But ultimately, the true solution was and is in Jesus’ surrender and submission to the will of his Father. As Catherine Marshall likes to say, this is the one prayer which is always answered: “Not my will, Father, but your will be done.”

It is in this place of dying, of surrendering our will and our control of the situation into the hands of our loving Father, that we find our true life. Indeed, it is in this place of dying that we begin to rise into new life. Our true life is not in what is right before us, but in the person of Jesus Christ—in our union and communion with our Father, through Jesus, in his Spirit. It is in this place, as we go through the challenges of this life that we discover eternal life, now and forever.

Our heavenly Father, sometimes life can be really hard, painful, and frustrating. It is difficult for us to understand why you allow things to be the way they are, especially when we have to experience pain and loss. Grant us the grace to, in all honesty and authenticity, pour out our hearts to you, but to also yield to your perfect love and grace in submission to your will, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.

“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’; just as He says also in another passage, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”     Hebrews 5:5–10 NASB

“… And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. …. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.”      John 12:20–33 NASB

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The Comfort of Our Hope

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By Linda Rex

November 12, 2023, Proper 27 | After Pentecost—Today as I write this blog, my neighbors and friends are celebrating All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween). Here in America, this celebration has become a big deal, and is promoted vigorously by stores and other commercial enterprises, who sell anything from costumes, to food products, and of course, a wide variety of Halloween candy and toys.

Personally, I believe we do not want to celebrate or venerate evil or death. But we do want to be realistic about our human condition, which involves death and dying. In my life, lately, I have had to grieve multiple losses, and some of those losses have involved losing dear ones to death. Death is an evil that has been allowed into our human existence, and is something everyone of us has to face at some point. For some of us, death is something we’d rather not talk about or face. For others of us, it is something we have had to deal with more than once, and is a normal part of our existence.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the members at Thessalonica, he was answering questions about what happens to people when they die. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, Paul wrote that he did not want the believers to be ignorant of what happens to people who are dead, whether spiritually or physically. He did not want the believers to feel hopeless or face death without some sense of comfort. So he reminded them of the central foundation stone of their faith—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Using the euphemism of sleep, Paul showed that death was no longer their master. Because Jesus Christ took on our human flesh and died the death we all will one day die, death became something new. Jesus went into death and out the other side into new life, bringing our human flesh with him into a place of eternal life in face-to-face union with his Father in the Spirit. Death, then, is powerless in the face of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Death has lost its sting. It has no hold on us.

We find hope in the reality that all of humanity has died in Jesus and risen in Jesus. Because of this, as Jesus says in John 5:28b-29, “an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” Because of Jesus, there will be a resurrection of every person.

What happens then will be determined by Jesus, for he has born all our sins and is offering to every person eternal life—knowing and being known by him and his Father, in the Spirit (Jn. 17:3). The writer of Hebrews says, “And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb 9:27-28 NRSV). Jesus has already dealt with sin through his death and resurrection. Now he is drawing all men to himself.

As we trust in Jesus, in the reality of our inclusion in his death and resurrection, we participate in his own face-to-face relationship with his Father in the Spirit. This means we begin, by faith, to experience eternal life in the Spirit even now, as a foretaste of what we will experience for all eternity. This union and communion with God through Jesus in the Spirit which we participate in even now by faith in Christ is what we will live in for all eternity—this is a gift. It cannot be earned.

And as a gift, our participation in Christ’s own relationship with his Father in the Spirit, is not automatic. As Paul explains in 2 Cor. 5:18-21, God has reconciled every person to himself in Jesus Christ, therefore each of us needs to, by faith in Christ, be reconciled to God. It is a relationship which requires participation by both sides. God has done all that is needed on his side. Now we embrace the gift given to us in Jesus and begin living it out by faith, participating in the reality of all he has done for us in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, and in the gift of the Spirit.

We stand with open hands, receiving this incredible gift given so freely, and begin living in the truth of it. And we live in the truth of that life now and on into eternity in Christ. Death has, indeed, lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55). Death has no power over us any longer. In Christ, we have hope, and this is our comfort when faced with death and dying.

Heavenly Father, thank you for delivering us from death through your Son Jesus. Thank you that by your Spirit, we can live in the truth even now of the eternal life in face-to-face relationship with you offered to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We receive, by faith, your gracious gift and ask for the grace to live in the truth of who you have declared us to be—your very own beloved adopted children, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”     1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NRSV

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Beyond the Grave

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by Linda Rex

November 6, 2022, PROPER 27—Lately I have been learning a lot of new things about the apostle Paul and the culture in which he lived as a missionary, sharing the good news of God’s love in Christ. One thing that I have seen in a new way is how Paul so often paid close attention to where people were in their understanding with regards to God, met them where they were, and then worked to bring them closer to the truth as he understood it.

In Paul’s writings, we can see him agree with his opponents, but then, as he explained where he actually stood on a topic, he taught what was in exact opposition to what his opponents taught. This makes reading Paul’s writings challenging, because we have to follow him through his entire thought process before we decide exactly where he stood on a topic.

In our gospel reading for this Sunday, we see the same method at work. Apparently, Paul used the same method as Jesus, in reaching out to opponents by beginning where they were to bring them to where they needed to be. What Jesus did in totality (joined us in our darkness to bring us into his light), he seemed to do even in everyday conversations with those who stood in opposition to him.

When approached by the Sadducees of his day, Jesus took into account their cultural background and religious beliefs. These men were from a wealthy, aristocratic class of people who believed that the only part of the Old Testament scriptures they should pay close attention to were those in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They also rejected any idea that there may be supernatural forces at work in the world, and this included angels or miracles.

When they saw the Pharisees and scribes were silenced by Jesus, in spite of the clever ways in which they attempted to trap him, the Sadducees pulled out their best weapon, a story which usually succeeded in shutting up their opposition. This story involved levirate marriage—a practice which many Americans would not be familiar with, or would consider strange and maybe even offensive.

Levirate marriage makes a lot of sense to people in cultures and times when the death of a spouse would leave a woman vulnerable and without any means of provision. It also guarantees that a family’s property would remain within the ownership of the family and would not become a part of some other family’s possession. When practiced, a woman who lost a husband and had no children to inherit the property would be given to the man’s brother as wife so he could give her an heir to inherit the family’s property.

The story these Sadducees told involved a woman who lost a husband, but then was married to his six brothers, one after another, who each died without giving her an heir. Then she died. Honestly, I feel sorry for the poor woman—I would have died too, just to get it all over with. But it is just a story and meant simply to be a means by which the Sadducees could ask their penetrating question in hopes of trapping Jesus: “When they rise in the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”

First off, Jesus knew who the ones asking the question were. He knew that what happened to their family’s wealth when someone died was important to them. He knew that marriage did not mean to them what God intended it to mean—a sacred space which revealed the reality of God’s presence and nature as two persons were brought together and made one. And Jesus knew their hearts, that they simply sought to discredit him and shut him up.

Jesus started where they were, and worked to bring them into a new point of view, pointing out to them their mistaken way of looking at God, the resurrection, themselves, and others. The common understanding of many in the Jewish culture of that day was that life would simply continue in the resurrection, meaning that married life would continue beyond the grave. Jesus didn’t attempt to clarify every detail regarding life in the resurrection, but did make some significant points.

The first thing Jesus pointed out was that our existence in this life is much different than what our existence will be when we are resurrected. Those who rise in glory will be like the angels in that they will not be performing marriages or be married to one another like people do in this life. Contrary to so much of our popular media images regarding the afterlife, humans do not become angels when they die—their existence simply resembles that of angels in that it does not involve marriage and procreation in the same way it does nows and they no longer die. And there is no reason to believe we will lose our gender identity in the resurrection, but that is a different topic all together.

Getting back to the story, we see Jesus continuing to meet them where they were to bring them to a new place. The Sadducees believed that there was no resurrection, and used Moses in order to prove this point. So Jesus brought up Moses himself, pulling from the prophet’s initial encounter with God on the mountain where he spoke from the burning bush, and showed that even Moses spoke of the resurrection. God called himself, “I Am that I Am.” And he called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

As human beings, we live in linear time, where one event happens after another. We have a past, a present, a future, and a death. God, however, lives in a different way than we do, since he is present in every moment in all time, having created space and time for us to live within. God, in Christ, entered our time and became present to each of us in every moment in a new way. These are mind-blowing thoughts that I won’t dive too deeply into. But what Jesus was saying here was that God was present in that moment to Abraham, who had his existence in him, at the same time he was present to the Sadducees. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

This should be very comforting to us. Jesus was, at that moment, in the process of doing what was needed so that every human being could participate in the resurrection from the dead. Elsewhere in scripture, we are told that because of Christ’s self-offering, every person participates in the resurrection from the dead, some rising to life and others rising to face judgment, a judgment which is meant to purify, heal, restore, and renew, not to annihilate or destroy (see John 5:29), for God’s heart is that no person perishes, but that each and every one repents (2 Peter 3:9).

Though I am grateful I live in a culture where I do not have to marry my husband’s brother, should Ray die someday, I’m even more grateful for what Jesus has done so that each of us might live forever. What a precious gift God gives us by being present to us each and every moment through Jesus in the Spirit! We are not orphans. We are not left to do things all on our own under our own strength. No, we are each a beloved child of the Father, who in Christ by the Spirit has been given our own chair at the divine table with our own name carved on it, personally crafted by the carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus Christ.

Thank you, dear Father, for including us in your life, for being present to us in every moment, having prepared a place for us at your table, now and forever, through your Son Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.

27“Now there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection), 28and they questioned Him, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that “if a man’s brother dies,” having a wife, “and he is childless, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother.” 29Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; 30and the second 31and the third married her; and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. 32Finally the woman died also. 33In the resurrection therefore, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.’ 34Jesus said to them, ‘The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” 38Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.’ ”     Luke 20:27–38 NASB

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Waiting in Silence

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By Linda Rex

HOLY SATURDAY—Sometimes when wandering through a garden or while I’m picking berries, I’ll come across a cocoon hidden under some leaves. Looking at the neatly formed shape, I will marvel at God’s creation, and then I will wonder just what might be lying inside.

There within this cocoon a transformation is taking place. I once read that while in its cocoon, all a caterpillar was is reduced down to its elements and reformed into something new. The butterfly or moth which eventually pushes its way out from the cocoon may look completely different from its earlier form, but it is still in essence the same creature.

From the outside, the cocoon is like a tomb. There doesn’t appear to be any activity. It looks like a misshapen blob at times—something which needs to be removed from the plant or limb and thrown away. Even though something significant is going on inside, it is not obviously apparent to anyone who happens upon it.

On Holy Saturday we are reminded of how Jesus’s body was removed from the cross and laid in a tomb. Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloes, and helped Joseph of Arimathea with the burial process, wrapping the body linen and spices. The new tomb in the garden near where Jesus was crucified was blessed to receive the body of our Savior.

After Jesus was laid in the tomb, a stone was rolled in front of the entrance to close it. The Jews asked that the tomb be sealed, and it was—they hoped to prevent a rumor that Jesus had risen from the dead. They had heard that Jesus had promised to rise again, and thought it was only the vain hope of a would-be messiah. They did what they could to ensure the tomb could not be tampered with.

If we had sat opposite the tomb on Saturday, as Mary and Mary Magdalene had done the night before, we would have seen a silent spectacle. We would have had no ability to see what was going on inside the tomb. The grave would have been silent, with the only sounds being the wind rustling the tree leaves, the birds singing, or perhaps the voices and activities of people nearby.

Looking hard at the tomb, we would have seen only stillness. Considering the dead body within, we’d only hear silence. There would only be darkness within the tomb, we’d reason—nothing would be going on. When a person dies and is laid in the grave, all that’s left is decomposition and eventually dried out bones and dust. From the exterior, we would have had to assume that this was what was happening here, and that this was the end of all we had hoped and planned.

Maybe after a while, we would remember that Jesus liked talking about seeds in reference to himself and the kingdom of God. A seed, he said, must die in order for a new plant to grow and for many new seeds to be harvested. For Jesus, death never stood alone on its own—it was always accompanied by resurrection. He wanted his followers to understand that his path needed to go down the road to death, but that was never meant to be the end. Jesus’ death was only a step along the path to new life for all humanity.

This is a good thought. What if we saw the times of death, of silent waiting, not as times to grieve, but rather as times to hope? What if, instead of imagining someone going back to the dust from which they were made, we picture instead the renewal and transformation of what has been laid in the tomb? Maybe we should look at the places in our lives or relationships which appear to be dead and lifeless as being places where seeds have been planted which only need the light and water of God’s presence and power to bring about new life and an abundant harvest.

It is easy to come to places in our lives where we are faced with death and dying. The human story is one in which death occurs constantly—not just death of people, but death of dreams, relationships, businesses, or even churches. We fear death, when actually we should embrace death as the path Jesus trod in order that we might experience new life and new existence grounded within himself. Death can be a good thing, especially when we die to wrong ways of thinking or living or we die to the control of our broken sinful ways of being.

The spiritual discipline of silence in some ways resonates with the silent waiting at the tomb of Jesus. In silence, we set ourselves in God’s presence to listen and to wait, allowing ourselves to become attuned to the heart of the Father. When our attention wanders or our mind takes off on some errant thought, we need only redirect ourselves back to silence. Here we are, in this moment, with God. What does he have to say to us?

When we are busy going about our lives, caught up in the day-to-day issues we face, we may miss the growth and healing opportunities which come through attending upon God in silence. There is an intimacy in our relationship with God which grows when we slow down to pause and just be with God for a time. Perhaps we could spend a few minutes even now, picturing ourselves sitting beside the tomb, pondering what just happened this week and wondering what God is planning to do next.

Is there some place in your life where you are facing death or loss? Do you have a place in your life which feels as though it is dark and empty, with no hope of renewal? Perhaps symbolically you may take this into your hands and hold it out to God, laying it in the tomb with Jesus. And then wait for a time in silence. Allow Jesus to meet you in these moments, to remind you of his promise, which he kept in faithful love.

The seed planted in the ground often lays there for a time. The roots may be growing deep into the soil long before we ever see a sprout. Jesus lay in the tomb and all was silent—but great, amazing things were at work in God’s creation. A renewal, a turning about of all which was broken, lost, and dying was happening as Jesus Christ lay in the grave.

Holy Saturday reminds us that God is always and ever at work in our lives. As we turn to Jesus in faith, the Spirit reminds us that God loves us and has our best interests at heart even when all we see is a silent grave. Abba is a working, renewing, restoring, and healing, even though we may not see him at work. As we rest in Christ and wait in silence, we can find renewal and encouragement to hope in times of despair. God is at work and will not stop until he has finished what he has begun. We can count on him.

Thank you, Abba, that you never cease to bring new life and hope into our lives. Thank you, Jesus, for embracing death so that we could share eternal life with you. Holy Spirit, remind us anew that we are loved and cared for, and that Abba will work all things to the good, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

“Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” John 19:42 NASB

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