"Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut" (Revelation 3:8). The resurrection of Jesus is God's wake-up call to this world. It startles both believers and doubters out of their humdrum ways. Death is no longer the final word. There is more to come. There is a place for us in God's future.
Several years ago the Washington, D.C. (National) Zoo moved from its downtown location to a new site where there was more room. Many of the animals gained larger areas in which to roam. But the rhinoceros, a fairly dimwitted creature, had lived in a cage too long. Despite the new expanses all around, it kept to its old boundaries, wearing away the grass to form an oval path that was exactly the size of its former enclosure.
We who live in a secular society can easily be trapped into thinking that our world of sight and touch is all there is. We are only interested in the "here and now." "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." "Our only certainties are death and taxes." This sort of world could not have anticipated Easter. But when Jesus rose from the dead, he gave reality a new dimension. Can we grasp that amazing fact, or are we, like the rhinoceros, caged by the limits of our own minds?
Jesus' disciples saw the world with new eyes because of Easter. That discovery gave them courage to challenge the social boundaries of their day – to reach out to lepers, outcasts and Gentiles – and to spend their earthly lives for the sake of a greater life in God. They knew that when they took those risks they were not alone. They were already living in the freedom of God's kingdom.
Easter announces new possibilities. The apostle Paul invites us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). To those who feel caught in impossible situations, Easter whispers that they are neither forgotten nor abandoned. To those who are discouraged by the difficulty of transforming society, Easter trumpets that human judgment never has the last word. To those who face death and separation, Easter speaks of life again.
When we place ourselves in the hands of the living God, we discover that the empty tomb is our own. It has become an open door.
1 comment:
I think that what is said in the Easter Possibilities is so true of today's society. I know that for myself I will tend to get caught up in the "busyness" of today's world and then I am not focusing on God and what He is calling me to do. I want to do and follow what He is calling me to do but either I don't hear Him or I am not listening to what he has too say to me. How does one know when God is speaking to you? I think that I hear him at times but I'm not always sure that it is Him. How does one know?
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