Monday, April 9, 2012

Now What?

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” -- John 20:21-22

Did everyone enjoy their Easter Sunday? It was a great day, wasn’t it? We had standing room only attendance at the service I attend. Lots of new dresses and new faces. It was a wondrous day of joy and celebration. And good food. We can’t forget the food.

But today is Monday. We’re back at work or school. Life continues much as it did before. Except that it shouldn’t. Because nothing is the same. The tomb is empty. Our sins forgiven. Grace reigns. And we can never, ever live as we did before.

Look around you. What do you see? Who do you see? Because Jesus called us to care for those around us, to be Him in this darkened world. It’s impossible to do that without really seeing those around us. Not just the “pretty” people. Not just the wealthy. Jesus saw the hurting and the broken. He healed the sick and welcomed the outcast.

That doesn’t fit into our picture of Easter morning and the empty tomb. That pretty picture is for us and for those whom we love. We don’t consider sharing it with the least, the dirty, the shamed, the failure. Yet those are the people Jesus welcomed.

I am blessed with the church family I now call my own. One friend speaks of attending a church where a woman with young children was too ashamed to attended services on Easter Sunday. Her reason? She couldn’t afford new dresses for her little girls and she knew they would be teased and looked down on by others. How incredibly sad. Ever sadder? It still happens in some churches.

Do they not get the point? It’s not about how you dress, it’s about your heart. I have a friend, a dear man who is hurting in ways he refuses to acknowledge. Bitterness is growing inside. He rarely attends church anymore but he’s full of criticism and condemnation for those who do. His main point of contention? How others dress when they enter God’s house.

Jesus gave His very life for those who had nothing and no one. How can we turn our eyes away from those who hurt the most? And yet we do it every day when we fail to see those who are most in need. We cast Jesus aside, forgetting what His life and death really meant, when we refuse to change our words and actions to reflect His.

Today is Monday. Just another day -- until we remember the message of the cross and that empty tomb.