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<\/a>EASTER MONDAY, By Mike Glenn<\/p>\nI have friend who teaches New Testament at a nearby graduate school. She\u2019s articulate, well studied and insightful in her writings about the Jesus and His first century context. Over the years, I\u2019ve learned a lot from her and count her a trusted friend.<\/p>\n
Did I mention she was Jewish? While she admires Jesus for His teachings and His understanding of human nature, she doesn\u2019t believe Jesus is the Messiah and she doesn\u2019t believe in the resurrection. Needless to say, we have some very interesting conversations and challenging debates. I will give her this, she keeps me on my toes.<\/p>\n
One day, we were talking about how pastors should be prepared for their ministries and we got on the subject of the weaknesses and strengths of seminary educations. Without any warning, she turns to me and says, \u201cIf you were the president of a seminary, could I teach on your faculty?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked back at her and said, \u201cNo, you could not.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wanted to know why not. I had come to expect that kind of follow up from her. You\u2019re not just going to give an answer without having to explain the process that allowed me to arrive at my decision. She reminded me she was better qualified than most people I would hire. True. She told me she had been published more than most people I could hire. Again, true. She told me she was a better professor, a better teacher, than most I could hire. Again, all true.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why wouldn\u2019t you hire me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you don\u2019t believe in the resurrection. How can we train Christian ministers to work in Christian churches if you tell them the resurrection didn\u2019t happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
That led to an intense discussion about the alternative viewpoints of the resurrection, how the church has historically understood the resurrection and what it meant to follow the Risen Christ.<\/p>\n
I know all of that, I said. I know all of the alternative suggestions and reasons given by some why the resurrection couldn\u2019t have happened. I know about the confusion of the gospel accounts. I know all of that and yet, I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that Christ was indeed raised from the dead and conquered death in the process. I believe Jesus is alive now and able to bring life from death through the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t stand up on Easter Sunday morning and preach, \u201cMaybe\u2026\u201d You have to be able to declare, \u201cHe\u2019s alive!\u201d with every fiber of your being. If you can\u2019t do that, then don\u2019t preach. Don\u2019t preach on Easter or any other Sunday for that matter.<\/p>\n
Easter matters.<\/p>\n
Easter matters because if Jesus wasn\u2019t raised from the dead, if Jesus is still dead then He can\u2019t help and we need His help. We desperately need His help\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026because we\u2019re all dying. In big ways and little ways, but dying just the same. That\u2019s why all of love the ending of Romans 7. Is there anyone who can help us? Right here? Right now?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just Easter that\u2019s at stake. It\u2019s every day. One of the things I love about being the pastor of a local church is that you get close to people\u2019s lives. The one thing I hate about being the pastor of local church is that you get into people\u2019s lives. There are a lot of days I walk around wishing I didn\u2019t know what I know.<\/p>\n
The old preachers used to tell me to preach \u201cas a dying man to dying men.\u201d It would be several years until I fully understood the truth of that statement.<\/p>\n
All of my people are dying\u2026some in big ways. They\u2019ve been to the doctor during the week and been told there\u2019s nothing more the doctor can do. They\u2019ve buried a husband or a wife in the past several days. They\u2019re struggling with the hardest questions of life. Does living mean anything? Is death the final word?<\/p>\n
What does Easter mean to them?<\/p>\n
Some of my people are dying in little ways. A marriage is fraying. Despite all of their efforts, this couple can\u2019t find love again. Something very precious is slipping away. Who can help? What\u2019s left to say?<\/p>\n
An addict starting using again. He knows his habit is killing him, but he can\u2019t find the strength to get free. Can Jesus still defeat death? Even when death is in the pill bottle by your bed?<\/p>\n
One of students didn\u2019t get into graduate school. Now what? All of the dreams, all of the promises of the future are now in the trash can wadded up in the last rejection letter. What\u2019s left? Get a job and work until you die? Can Jesus defeat death when it kills you one dream at a time?<\/p>\n
This Sunday, I\u2019ll stand in the pulpit and read a familiar passage of the disciples being surprised by the resurrection of Jesus. We once again hear the story of despair giving way to hope, of death being buried by life. I will tell them that Jesus was raised from the dead and that He\u2019s alive now!<\/p>\n
Yes, that means nothing can separate us from Him or His love for us. It means when we die, He\u2019ll bring us to be with Him. He won\u2019t allow death to have the last word in our lives.<\/p>\n
And he won\u2019t allow death to have the final word in of our days. Christ has defeated death \u2013 the final and ultimate destroyer of our lives and meaning and Christ has defeated all of the little deaths we experience in the days until then.<\/p>\n
Broken marriages can be healed.<\/p>\n
Addicts can be set free.<\/p>\n
Dreams can be put back together into better dreams, dreams we would have wanted if we had known they were even possible.<\/p>\n
No, you can\u2019t preach on Easter Sunday if you don\u2019t believe in Easter.<\/p>\n
In fact, you can\u2019t live on Monday or Tuesday or any other day of the week if you don\u2019t believe Death has ultimately been conquered and all of the little deaths in between.<\/p>\n
Happy Easter. Jesus is alive. And that makes all of the difference.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EASTER MONDAY, By Mike Glenn I have friend who teaches New Testament at a nearby graduate school. She\u2019s articulate, well studied and insightful in her writings about the Jesus and His first century context. Over the years, I\u2019ve learned a lot from her and count her a trusted friend. Did I mention she was Jewish? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":73591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>EASTER MONDAY, By Mike Glenn<\/p>\n