A flood of "very important things" comes at us every day, every hour, every minute. Some of them are truly important, if not urgent. Some of them are masquerading as important and they just want to get our attention - or perhaps divert it - from something that actually matters. That's what I'm thinking about on this Easter Morning, 2018. Three things I heard, read and thought today converged in my heart and mind to bring me back to a center of importance.
In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3 (ESV), Paul emphasizes the importance of this particular section of his letter by saying, "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received" and then goes on to talk about the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus. I heard this today as part of an Easter message. It set me off taking notes and considering a couple other things that came across my desk and mind today.
Paul is emphasizing the idea that this concept of Christ's resurrection is absolutely central to the Gospel. Everything leads up to that singular event. It kicked down the door set on the two hinges of incarnation and crucifixion and forever changed the "rules". This concept equates Christ's death to the scriptural requirement for atonement under the Law. Yet it goes far beyond that temporal sacrifice that wouldn't last. It provides a permanent solution to the age old problem of persistent sin and death. It provides a completed substitutionary propitiation - a replacement of my life for that of Jesus. Paul basically "doubles down" on this statement in verse 14 where he pens a contrary statement that if the resurrection didn't happen, then all of life is vain (Solomon's chasing of the wind).
John Eldridge, in his book All Things New tells us that "Jesus Christ is the forerunner for the Great Renewal, “the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead” (Colossians 1:18). He died, as everyone has and will. But on the third day he was raised to life, leaving his grave clothes folded neatly in the tomb. (A very touching detail, I might add, as if to say, “And that’s that,” like a man putting away his flannel pajamas now that winter is past.) Easter morning Jesus walked out of the grave radiantly alive, restored, and everyone recognized him. The “new” Jesus is not someone or something else now; he is the Jesus they loved and knew. He walks with them, had meals with them—just like before. The most striking thing about the post-resurrection activities of Jesus is that they were so remarkably ordinary." I think that rather succinctly describes the one who the late Brennan Manning referred to so often as "Easter Man".
My Crooked Path means something more than a life lived well to me because I walk it beside the Easter Man, my Divine Brother Jesus. On a bright Easter morning, that ought to put a smile on my face in a very genuine way. The Resurrection ushers in the assurance of the Great Renewal. Easter Man, the ultimate "super hero" blew the doors off Death once and for all.
The traditional French Easter greeting, "L'amour de Dieu est folie!" rings true. That Love of God which looks like "folly" to those who choose not to believe looks like life to me. I can live with that ... I truly can.
He is Risen Indeed!!
These two conch shells come to be courtesy of a friend. They arrived in my friends possession via some rather unusual circumstances that I'd like to share with you. The one on the left was an answer to a desperate cry. The other was a spontaneous response accompanied by what must have been a laugh. Here's the Tale of Two Conch Shells.
My friend grew up knowing God had placed a call, you might say a deep yearning, for service. When the time came, my friend answered the call and was met with some life circumstances that would have crushed many of us. During the long journey back from those rather dark times, my friend was walking along a beach reflecting on life and asked our Father to provide a conch shell as a symbol that he was listening and knew the depth of my friend's pain.
Conch shells along the Atlantic coast do show up, but they are very often chipped and broken ... much like my friend felt at the darkest times. Coming across a perfectly formed one still in tact "in the wild" is a rare thing, especially one the size of that in the picture above. Yet our Father heard this deep, groaning for a simple but very special gift and you can see the results - one perfect conch shell.
My friend's life has taken many twists and turns to this point, but the latest adventure starts with six weeks helping out others on the other side of the Atlantic from where the first shell was given. That brings us to the second shell. It was recently acquired thousands of miles away from a man who had a bag full of them. My friend selected the one on right and, in that very moment, heard the Father laugh with delight to bring things full circle.
We all have our tales of "two conch shells" and the journeys that lead us to encounter them. Too often, we are in such deep pain or so self-absorbed that we don't look for those little miracles that our Father loves to place in our paths. We miss the miracle of the ordinary which, in cases like my friends, has very extraordinary results. We miss it because we don't look for it, we don't have time for it, and we often don't believe it exists. Yet it does! The proof is in the picture above.
The Crooked Path winds through life's ups and downs in a unique way for each of us. As you travel your own version, don't forget that you have a Father who delights in you. Ask him for a "perfect conch shell" and see what he provides. He is the Giver of all good gifts like my friend's two conch shells. Then see how he takes that simple beauty and multiplies it to lift you up and so you can help point others to him.
