Discovering Resurrection Life! 

One of my favorite hymns is Now the Green Blade Rises. The first verse is “ Now the green blade rises from the buried grain, Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain; Love lives again, that with the dead has been; Love has come again like wheat arising green.” In very earthy images this hymn gives us the logic of Resurrection Life. It tells us clearly that you have to fall and pass through the earth in order to sprout and bear fruit. When we think of the Easter story and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we also see this same logic. It is a logic of selflessness, of Servanthood. The logic of the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep and in that giving brings life and joy to all that will join in. This logic stems from the very earliest conversations God had with humanity. In fact this logic was the core of Abraham’s original call from God before he ever left his homeland. The Lord said; I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2)  

The key to Resurrection logic is the same for Abraham as it was for Jesus, Sacrifice. Abraham sacrificed his home and his prosperity. Jesus sacrificed his life. Only the willingness to give freely of themselves, in obedience to God, freed the power of God that was contained in their blessing. This giving brought forth the new life and the many blessings of Resurrection life that were contained in the blessing that God originally granted to each of them. 

The new life, the Resurrection Life began for each of them at the moment of their blessing, not at the moment of sacrifice, for it was then that each of them aligned their lives with the life of God. It was also then that their lives began to bear fruit for the kingdom of God. Most of us, when we begin to think of our Resurrection Life feel that it begins at our death when we are resurrected to be with the Lord. Some of us may think that it begins at our Baptism when God calls us beloved, the children of God. While it is true that our potential to live a resurrection life begins at our Baptism, we do not truly begin to live a Resurrection Life until we willingly align our lives with God’s life. To do this we must learn to give, to be gracious.  

We need to open our lives to the life of God this Easter and deepen our Resurrection Life. We must pray deeply about what it means for each one of us to align ourselves with God and become a part of the life of God. This will be different for each one of us for we are all created wondrously different. As a community though, the body of Christ, we should reflect the wholeness of God in Jesus Christ. This only becomes a reality when we make God’s path our path and begin to give ourselves, our time, our money and even our church away. Our fear is that we will lose all that is dear to us if we do this. If we give up control of our worship we are afraid that our needs will not be met. If we give too freely of our money we are afraid that we won’t have enough for ourselves. Jesus and Abraham shared the same fears we have. But resurrection logic will not lead to Resurrection Life unless we like those who have gone before us face our fears and become the loving giving people, blessed by God to bless others we were created to be.  

Pastor Jim Bliss
April, 2001