Post Easter
Readings for this week April 8 - 13
Click here for a pdf of this week’s readings.
Day 1 – Real and Central
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:4-11
The resurrection is an astonishing event to contemplate. It simply doesn’t make sense. It cuts against the grain of everything we know and experience as human beings. Death is final. There is no return. The dead do not come back to life. We all know this. It is not the way of things for a human life to end, only to continue afterwards. But it happened. As incredible as it seemed at the time – and still seems now – it happened. This is something that Paul is at pains to point out to the Corinthians. It is the event at the centre of our faith. Paul is passing on what he received, he is telling them exactly what was passed on to him, by the people who were there, who witnessed what had happened and reported what they saw, amongst whom – belatedly – he includes himself. All of them can corroborate what he is saying. It isn’t an optional extra, it’s central.
Paul is not some sort of lone ranger apostle out on his own, making up his own rules and his own Gospel. He is part of a community – one large community made of many scattered smaller ones – with a history and tradition of its own. A tradition that it seems many people were determined to question and undermine, especially when it came to the veracity of the resurrection. So, Paul tells the story again, and grounds the story. The truth of the Christian story is not some nebulous, eternal truth wafting aimlessly and unfettered through the air. These are real events that happened, that were witnessed and reported.
Question to Consider
What do you think the disciples made of Jesus’ earlier statements about his resurrection?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for all that you are and all you have done. Thank you for Easter and for your son. May my response be my life, given back to you in gratitude for your son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Resurrection Appearances
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Mark 16:9-14
The resurrection is ridiculous; it is something unusual and unexpected. It is completely new, unprecedented and, as unbelievable and outrageous as it is, real. Yet one of the problems that people have with the resurrection of Jesus is that the moment of resurrection itself is never seen. How could it be? The dead don’t return to life. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous. There were no eyewitnesses to the moment of the resurrection itself. The very moment when Jesus was raised to life is lost to us. No one knew to be watching. And everyone knows the dead, once dead, stay dead. Anyone claiming that the normal course of human events involves people coming back to life is wrong. They don’t. It is not common human experience for this to happen. We all do (and will) die.
Yet the biblical witness is clear: Jesus appeared to a combined total of over 500 people after his resurrection, women, men, disciples named and unnamed, groups as small as two or three and as large as many hundred. In an age where people only believe what they can see and verify for themselves, the ridiculous idea of the resurrection might seem problematic. The age of proof (which seems to be different for everyone these days) requires full verification. But there is really no problem here. The gospel writers were very comfortable with simply recording the events and stories of those who saw the resurrected Jesus, spent time with him and talked to him. And as anyone who genuinely wants to have a relationship with the living Christ can do so, people can find out for themselves.
Question to Consider
What is ridiculous about the resurrection for you? What is sublime?
Prayer
Loving Lord, thank you for the resurrection. Thank you for vindicating your son and given us new life into the bargain. Help me use it well. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – If No Resurrection, Then…
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If the resurrection is not true, then all people are to be pitied. For if no resurrection, then this life – the here and now, this place, these bodies, this existence – is all there is. And therefore, the only life that so many people have ever known and will ever know is a life of unremitting pain, poverty, anguish and loss with no hope of escape. If no resurrection, then no chance for God to right wrongs and offer comfort to the oppressed and rejected, so many of whom are no longer here and therefore beyond any help that may be given here and now. If no resurrection, then no judgement, which at first glance might seem somewhat appealing, but without judgement there is also no mercy and no justice either, as these things come together. If no resurrection, then no promises of God can be believed – no promise of eternal life, no promise of new creation, no promise of all things put right under the sovereign lordship of the Creator God.
And we are to be pitied even more than all others. For if no resurrection, then all that we believe is founded upon a lie, and all that we preach, speak, act, live is founded upon the same lie. The resurrection is promise, is hope, the revelation of the heart of God’s plan for the whole of creation. The empty tomb, the discarded grave clothes, the risen body of Jesus, the wounds in his renewed flesh – the resurrection is real, it is true, and all that it signifies, entails, promises, is also real, is also true.
Question to Consider
How would your life be different without the reality of the resurrection? How does the resurrection play out in your daily life?
Prayer
Sovereign Lord, thank you for the promise of the resurrection. Thank you that you are a God of promise, who offers hope and life for all people and all creation through your son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – The Power of God
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Ephesians 1:15-23
The greatest power the world has ever seen is the power of God displayed in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This power is greater than all the principalities and powers of this world. And the power responsible for this earthshattering event, the power at the very centre of the resurrection of Jesus and that will one day flood the entire world with God’s glory and love, is now available to us, to all followers of Jesus, for our daily use – even though often we can’t see it. But this power is not something meant to turn us into magicians or conjurors, performing magic tricks to “wow!” people into faith in God. Nor is it a power to be used as a weapon, bludgeoning people into line or frightening them into faith through the awesome spectacle of God’s kingdom rule being forcibly brought to bear on people. It is a power that puts sin to death, energises people to pray, to serve others, and to heal God’s broken world.
Sometimes this power of God is difficult for us to see, let alone believe. Our lives can seem small and inconsequential, and bereft of God’s power and presence. But here Paul is praying that the Ephesians will understand that spirit of God will build upon the faith already present in them and bestow upon them the wisdom to understand that God’s resurrection power is available to them and to see this power at work in the world. If we can learn to live in the power of God, we will see our lives – and the lives of others as well as the world we live in – transformed by the love of God.
Question to Consider
How is the resurrection power of God evident in your life?
Prayer
Holy God, thank you for your resurrection power, a power that gives us hope, and empowers us to be your people for the sake of your world. May we see your power in action in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – Our Task
Silence, Stillness and Centring before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Mark 16:15-18
This is the very end of what Jesus has to say. Though the passage may be an ‘add-on’ to Mark’s gospel, it still contains the words of Jesus, cribbed from other portions of other gospels as a summary of his final commands to his followers. We might be familiar with the longer “Great Commission” from Matthew 28:16-20, but the task is related in much the same way here. The work Jesus calls us to is to serve the world as he did, sharing our faith both as individuals and as a community. His directions are clear: go out into the world, share the good news, and invite people to be baptized into God’s renewed eternal community. It’s a huge task but it starts with something simple; telling our own story just as it is.
As we take on this responsibility, we need to remember that growing the community of faith is beyond us. Way beyond our means and abilities. Human strength and effort, no matter how many of us are involved, will never be enough. Is this an excuse to walk away? No, rather our lack of ability needs to drive us to deepen our reliance on God. Only God can bring about spiritual change in the lives of individuals and societies. The miraculous, empowering, wonder-working power of the Holy Spirit is needed (whether involving snakes or not!). After all, He has started that change in us. It is that same power that works through us, and with His
help nothing will overwhelm us.
Question to Consider
How would you write a one-to-two-minute summary of your own journey of faith in Jesus? How could you share this with someone?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am yours before I am my own and yet my own story is one of the tools you want to use for the spread of your kingdom. Help me be a tool fitted to the purpose of your hand for your kingdom. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)