A Carpenter Raised from the Dead?

Tom – my goal this Easter was to read about Jesus’ last week with a missional view and write down a few of my thoughts. During the passion week Jesus continued to show us what it looks like to be sent on mission from the Father.

Among other things, Jesus modeled how to cry over the city, notice those on the fringes and practice washing feet.

This year Easter became more than a time for personal reflection for me – it became a time to better live out the mission on which I am sent.

Hi Tom,

I write a weekly blog post offering resources for worship based on the Revised Common Lectionary. I know Easter has passed, but you may be interested in checking out the justice and liberation themes that emerged for me as I worked with this year’s readings.

You can find the blog post here: http://sacredise.com/lectionary/2010/03/easter-sunday-c/.

Thanks for provoking thought about what the resurrection means in a communal, societal way – as opposed to the purely personal.

Grace
John

Dear Tom, Great to have you join the blogosphere :-0 On Monday, I led a breakfast discussion of forgiveness based upon some reflections from “Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy” [2006 Nickel Mines Amish School shooting] … I’ll lead a larger conversation on forgiveness and “Amish Grace” this coming Monday. For some of my thoughts on the film/book visit http://blog.emergingscholars.org/2010/03/amish-grace-and-pop-culture/ … more posts coming.

“A father who lost a daughter at the schoolhouse stressed again and again that forgiveness is more than words. Sitting at his kitchen table, he told us, “Our forgiveness is not in our words, it’s in our actions; it’s not what we said, but what we did. That was our forgiveness.” At the bottom of his faxed correspondence, another Amish man included a phrase that he had borrowed from a church sign: “Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” The Amish were preaching, but rarely with words.

When forgiveness arrived at the killer’s home within hours of his crime, it did not appear out of nowhere. Rather forgiveness is woven into the very fabric of Amish life, its sturdy threads having been spun from faith in God, scriptural mandates, and a history of persecution. The grace extended by the Amish surprised the world almost as much as the killing itself. Indeed, in many respects, the story of Amish forgiveness became ‘the’ story — the story that trumped the narrative of senseless death — in the days that followed the shooting. Amish grace, and the way it affected the world, did not rob the tragedy of its horror, nor did it eradicate the grief of those left behind. Still, it may have been an answer to Amish prayers that somehow, somewhere, some good would come out of this terrible event.” – p.52.

In Christ,
Tom
Lancaster County, PA

PS. You might also be interested in my quote on “Recognizing the Messiah,” from Brian “Godawa’s Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story & Imagination”(InterVarsity Press, 2009), http://blog.emergingscholars.org/2010/04/recognizing-the-messiah/

Tom, a take the resurrection as a political act and not just a personal one. It therefore carries political implications, not least of which is, do not fear the power of the state more than God. Makes a big difference to how I view the collateral murder of our governments in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Terry, John, Tom & Matt,
thank you for your thoughtful and provocative responses to my questions. Your comments provided fresh insights to the meaning of resurrection for me.
We all seem to share a common conviction that the resurrection of Christ not only has implications for personal lives but for the larger society as well.
I love the images of Jesus crying over the city, hanging out with those on the fringes and washing feet. Personally I struggle with the radical forgiveness of some of our Amish friends. I find it hard to imagine myself expressing our risen faith with that kind of remarkable grace.
I would like to hear more of resurrection looks like as a political act. That’s a totally new perspective for me.
The imagery that is most powerful for me of the meaning of resurrection is found in the images of the prophet Isaiah. The images of our coming home up the mountain of God together as a great multicultural, bodily resurrected community in Isaiah 2:1-4. It is imagery of justice finally coming who are oppressed in Isaiah 2:9-7. It is imagery of the creation being restored in Isaiah 35:1-9. It is imagery feasting and banqueting in Isaiah 25:6-9 in which the poor and vulnerable are the honored ones.
Does anyone know of any music that celebrates the societal vision of the risen Christ’s return and the difference it will make in the lives of the broken, the forgotten and the suffering ones?
Would love to read read more of your insights, responses and hear your songs resurrection.
tom sine

It means that a world where trans women get to live instead of being beaten to death is possible.

It means a world that doesn’t idolize the police state is possible.

It means that a world without rape is possible.

It means that a church that values outrage as much as it values tidy sermon illustrations about “forgiveness” is possible.

It means that a world where we take what we practice in Eucharist (equal resource-sharing) into the rest of the world is possible.

It means that this is possible:
“The vision is that community and hope and help would replace secrets and silence.

The vision is people putting down guns and blades and bottles.

The vision is that we can reduce the suicide rate in America and around the world.

The vision is that we would learn what it means to love our friends, and that we would love ourselves enough to get the help we need.

The vision is better endings. The vision is the restoration of broken families and broken relationships. The vision is people finding life, finding freedom, finding love. The vision is graduation, a Super Bowl, a wedding, a child, a sunrise. The vision is people becoming incredible parents, people breaking cycles, making change.

The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead.

The vision is the possibility that we’re more loved than we’ll ever know.

The vision is hope, and hope is real.

You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story.”-To Write Love on Her Arms www.twloha.com