Perhaps it seems too early to talk about both death and resurrection. We’re still weeks away from Holy Week! But if you’ve been noticing creation around you lately, you’ve seen signs of death and resurrection. And if you were in worship this past weekend with us, you heard signs of death and resurrection as Jesus predicted that he would suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again.
The message of Christ’s death and resurrection is central to our faith as Christians. And yet, often, it seems we want to skip to the good part (for any millenials and Gen Z-ers out there with me, cue “The Good Part” from AJR). It’s our inclination to focus on life, promise, hope, and light. Which, absolutely we should focus on those things, for we have already been given the promise of abundant and eternal life – even now! But as we see in nature around us, for something new to spring forth from the ground, first, something needs to die away (or, at least, something needs to go dormant for a few months).
To talk about death isn’t the “popular” thing to do – whether talking about “death” literally or figuratively. But, if we’re not ready to die – or, if we’re not ready for something within us and around us to die, then we also aren’t ready for true resurrection to happen.
So as we continue through this season of Lent, I encourage you to prayerfully consider: Is there something within me that needs to die so that I can experience resurrection and newness of life? Or, is there something in the world around me that needs to die so that others can experience resurrection and newness of life? And, is there anything within the church that needs to die so that we can embody and experience the fullness of Christ’s life for us, and for all the world?
These are challenging questions. And yet, as we heard in our Gospel lesson this past Sunday, it is only by taking up our cross, by following Jesus, and by denying ourselves, that we will experience the fullness of God’s life for us, and for the world.