Awakening
April 8, 2012 Easter Sunday
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Cor 13:12, NRSV)
Yesterday I went for a brief walk, having been sick these past few days I was feeling a bit of cabin fever and I was struck by how clear and crisp everything looked. The sun was shining right overhead, the sky was blue, there were hardly any shadows, I could see the ground not covered by snow, and where it was melting and running down the road the water just seemed clear and clean and bright. The colors were bright and vibrant; it seemed the world had come alive again as another winter retreats into the past. It seemed that all of creation was re-awakening, and I delighted in it.
And then Paul’s words from the end of 1 Cor 13 came to mind. now we see in a mirror, dimly, now I know only in part. And I thought, if this is only in part what will it be like later? If this is through a mirror, dimly what will it be like face to face?
And when will that later come? That’s a big question. See, I’ve always thought Paul was talking about after death, when our earthly bodies are replaced by our heavenly, eternal bodies. And perhaps there is a small part of that idea here, but I always thought it was the whole idea. Now, I’m not so sure.
In the rest of the passage, Paul is not talking about dying. He is talking about love which is the whole theme of 1 Cor 13, and more specifically he is talking about a mature love, and growing into that maturity: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. In the chapters around 13, Paul is talking about how to live as the people of God, how to grow in our faith and in our service, how to deepen our relationships with one another and with God.
So I realized that Paul is not saying, Hey, it’s all fuzzy and partial now. But hang in there. Someday you’ll die and it will all make sense. That is fatalism, not Christianity! Instead, I think Paul is actually saying this: keep growing. Keep polishing the mirror. Keep searching and listening for more pieces, more parts. Keep desperately desiring to see more of the face of Jesus. And it will happen. We will see Jesus. We will see the parts becoming whole. We will put an end to childish ways, and mature towards Christlikeness. You will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD” (Jer 29).
When?
But again, when will that later come? When will we find that for which we seek with all our hearts? When will we grow up and put childish ways behind? When will that moment come?
And maybe that is part of the problem. We want a moment to come. An instant realization. A lightning bolt, a spiritual 2x4, a cloud-opening and mighty voice speaking from heaven. We want to wake up one morning and find the stone rolled away and everything all better all of a sudden. And my friends, that just doesn’t happen!
Oh, yes, God does speak. The stone is rolled away. We do experience God at moments in our lives in powerful, life-changing ways.
But here is the truth: those don’t fix everything, though they certainly make a difference. Even the moment the stone was rolled away didn’t fix everything. And those moments are not what we should be striving for.
I think we have a tendency to look at our spiritual lives like this: consisting of moments of feeling closeness or experiencing God in profound ways, and in-between a bunch of mundane, sleepy, normal periods of time where nothing much goes on. That type of viewpoint makes it seem like most of our lives are spent mostly asleep except for a few moments of wakefulness and attentiveness to God, after which we return to our slumber, dreaming of another brief moment of wakeful attentiveness to the voice of God. Or maybe that isn’t how we look at our spiritual lives, maybe it is just how we live them.
But I’m very convinced that God does not want us to sleep-walk our way through life on earth, hanging in until the end when finally we will see face to face. I actually believe Jesus wants to meet us face to face today, and tomorrow, and the day after that. Day in and day out, moment by moment, morning by morning. Meeting Jesus is not an instant quick-fix, suddenly filling us with power and on we go, defeating the powers of evil and rescuing the galaxy. The mountain-top moments don’t fix everything wrong with our lives. Living the Christian life is not all about problems disappearing, troubles ending, struggles vanishing in a poof; rather it is walking day by day, moment by moment, in the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit filling us so that we walk through problems, we overcome troubles, we continue to struggle and struggle until God’s Kingdom comes. It is about being awake to all of life, not sleep-walking through it. Not just being awake for a few moments and then drifting back off to sleep. Not about seeing and meeting Jesus once or twice or maybe three times in our life; it is about walking day by day. It is about deep personal friendship and intimacy, not a mere acquaintance you’ve met a couple times and definitely not someone you heard about from someone else. What kind of relationship can you have with someone at that kind of distance?
And for some of you, that is a pretty accurate description of your relationship with Jesus right now. Distant. Maybe more of an acquaintance than an intimate friend. Or maybe Jesus is still just someone you have heard about from others, and you haven’t yet started your own friendship with Him. Maybe you have been closer in the past, but you’ve drifted. Oh, yes there are reasons, even good reasons, but if we take a half-step back, none of those reasons matter at all. What matters is the state of the relationship. Are you close? Intimate?? Do you spend time with Jesus every day, do you talk and listen, do you obey, are you seeking Him with all your heart or is your heart divided? More in love with lesser things?
Today, Easter Sunday, we stand at the empty tomb. We gaze in wonder. We are flabbergasted, speechless, in awe. We see that death is defeated, love is triumphant, Jesus is risen. And it seems like in a flash, a moment, everything is different, everything made new, everything transformed and fixed. But this is not the case. Even in reading the Biblical accounts, which are brief in all four gospels, we see it is not instant:
John tells us, 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
They ran all the way to the tomb, but didn’t see Jesus. He wasn’t there. In fact, they had to wait until that evening, locked away trying to figure out what is going on, before Jesus appears. Thomas has to wait even longer; a whole week: 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
In the next chapter of John is the story of Jesus and Peter. This was probably a month later, a month Peter had to wait in guilt and shame, knowing he had rejected Jesus after swearing he wouldn’t, and it takes about a month before Jesus restores him.
Matthew tells us, 8 The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. 9 And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there. They didn’t meet Jesus at the tomb, they rushed off in obedience, met Jesus along the way, and he tells them all to go Galilee, about 70 miles (4 days walking), which they do later on and then Jesus appears to 500 disciples. But those many other disciples have to wait, only going on the words of others.
Luke tells us, 13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. 16 But God kept them from recognizing him. You recall the story. They walk, and talk, the day ends, they share a meal, and finally they recognize Jesus and what happens? 31 Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! He disappears, right when they realize it is Jesus!
And then there is the matter of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. That happened almost two months after the resurrection. We have 40 days between resurrection and ascension, then nine days until Pentecost. That is a long time!
And then there is the Apostle Paul. He meets the resurrected Jesus on the Damascus road after trying to destroy the church, and then he disappears for more than 10 years before Barnabas brings him into ministry.
Do you see my point? Even at the moment of resurrection, all was not done. It was not neat and tidy. Not all the problems were solved. There continued to be tears, and fears, and doubts; no doubt there continued to be confusion, likely arguments about where to go or what to do, and various different ideas and perspectives about what this really meant for the mission they had embraced. It was not instant.
But it was different. Instead of an instant fix, it became a very real different way of living as they walked together, day by day, moment by moment, with a growing sense of what it means that Jesus is alive. And what it meant to be His followers, and witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and the difference it makes in how we live.
And here, I think, is the key difference: it is NOT that the world all around us is suddenly puffy clouds and tasty treats and gentle entertainments. The difference is that we are now filled with the life and power of the resurrected Jesus, to walk through all of life, the good, the bad, and the ugly, awake. Full of purpose: we know we have seen the resurrection and get to tell others. Full of power: what can separate us from the love of God in Christ? Full of love: 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit. (Jn 15)
Does that describe your life? Is it full of purpose, power, and love? Awake??
Rom 13:11-14
This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is risen. Jesus is alive. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Let’s get off the fence. Stop toying with our faith. No longer push Jesus off into the corner of our lives, as if He is content to be some small part.
Let’s wake up, for our own sake, that we might walk this life with purpose and power and love.
Let’s wake up, for the sake of the world around us because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.
But above all, let’s wake up for Jesus’ sake. He went to the cross out of love for us. He died so that we could be forgiven and free. He defeated the power of death so that we could live forever. He rose triumphant over the grave so that we could live fully awake. And in response, He asks us to awaken to Him, His Kingdom, His power, His purpose, His will. And then we’ll see much more clearly, not through a dim mirror; then the parts will continue to come together towards wholeness; then we will put childish ways behind us; and then we shall see Him. Face to Face.
