Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article If then you were raised with Christ Sunday, April 16, 2017 From Colossians 3 Brothers and sisters, if then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. And he has appeared. We can breathe again. Our lives are new and new and new. Jesus is alive! Carrying their sad spices the women found him first, ready to anoint a dead man but instead receiving this amazed announcement of resurrection. "He is not here, he is risen!" How could they have even moved the stone? But there was no need; the stone was moved. That immovable, impossible stone was moved, and Jesus' graveclothes were undisturbed. Except that Jesus was not in them. Magdalene's poet said to her on Saturday, "Even in your despair, observe the rituals. It is the Sabbath; then let it be the Sabbath after all. Pray your prayers, however hollow and unsatisfying they may feel. God can fill them" (Wangerin, Reliving the Passion). How sweet it is to be loved by you! On this day of days which follows so close on the night unlike any other night, the bitter herbs are gone, and sweet orange helps us to rejoice. The sun shines like it will not go down again. Honey pours down and glory fills our souls. My own poet (Mary Oliver) begs us rise to join the joy. She remembers: Once I came upon two angels, they were standing quietly, keeping guard beside a car. Light streamed from them, and a splash of flames lay quietly under their feet. "What is one to do with such moments, such memories, but cherish them? Who knows what is beyond the known? "And if you think that any day the secret of light might come, would you not keep the house of your mind ready? Would you not cleanse your study of all that is cheap or trivial? Would you not live in continual hope, and pleasure, and excitement?" Come, Holy Spirit. Let our cramped worlds grow wide. We need never be afraid to love you, Lord. For you are with us always. You are so good, Lord, and your mercy endures forever. This is your day; let us rejoice and be glad. You are God and there is no other. You love us with all your heart and soul and mind, and we can love you like that too. Our bodies fall away, but no matter. We are hidden with Christ in God, amen? Oh, yes, amen! "; Add      Edit    Delete