He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

It is the Monday after we have celebrated Easter, Resurrection Sunday. We have greeted each other with the millennia-old greeting, “He is risen. He is risen indeed!”

Now, with Easter behind, in the period before Pentecost and the filling with the Spirit of the Church Universal, may I offer some questions to ponder, a set obvious and a set not so obvious?

Who? Really? Why?

THE OBVIOUS.

Who? Without doubt, the biblical narrative states and history confirms that Jesus of Nazareth rose bodily from the grave “just as He said He would.”

Really? Yes. Commentators tell us that Jesus’ bodily rising from the tomb is one of the most well-documented facts in history.

Why? May I submit, based on the writings of N. T. Wright, that Jesus rose from the grave as part of the Father’s great meta-narrative for the ages. He arose to prove His victory over the last enemy: death, hell, and the grave. He conquered death that we might have everlasting life. He fulfilled all the requirements of the Law and ushered in a new “Act,” (as Wright says) or age in the Father’s plan, the “Now and the Not Yet. “

To all that, we could say, “Yes and Amen. Now, tell me something I don’t know, Captain Obvious.”

THE NOT-SO-OBVIOUS.

What if we thought of the questions differently? What if we made the subject of the questions ourselves, “thou,” if you will, or more personally, “I” instead of our Blessed Lord? I attempt to weave three streams of thought to make the point.

First is the sweet old hymn, “I Am Satisfied with Jesus,” which though well-intentioned, I submit, misses the point. The hymn asks the question, “Is my Master satisfied with me?” To which we must forever reply, “No” because we can never do enough to earn our salvation, nor can we act “Christianly enough” to live up to Jesus’ standards.

Secondly, Pastor Alan Cross teaches, “It’s not like we do our best to meet Jesus and He supplies the rest. No,” he states, “Jesus does everything.” We can do nothing of eternal significance on our own.

Thirdly, as Pastors Gillian, Lucas, and Jason taught in their Wednesday night Lenten Study, alms-giving is not about that which we must do but about that which we do solely for the love of God and our fellow person.

To the re-purposed questions: Who? Really? Why?

Who. Are we, art Thou, am I risen with Christ? Those young in the faith may be afraid to ask this question, thinking the question to be improper or might not want to contemplate the answer. May I submit that the question is always appropriate. Am I truly risen with Christ?

If, and only if, we have truly given our lives to Jesus, then we are risen with him, “risen indeed.” As the baptismal formula goes, “Buried with Him in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life.”

Really. If we can truly answer “yes” to the first question, then we must ask the second. Really? Are we really raised to walk in newness of life? Yes, we are raised to walk in newness of life. But that begs the real question, “whether we will actually walk in newness of life?”  

If the subject is our Salvation, the answer most definitely is “yes.” However, if our conduct or “walk” so to speak, is at stake, the answer may not always be so. Assuming arguendo, for the sake of argument, we assume our right actions, we ultimately arrive at the final question.

Why. A “method” actor would ask the question, “What is my motivation?” As Hamlet would say, “Ah, there’s the rub.” Are our motives in doing good always “right” motives? If  they are not, Jesus would call them “hay and stubble.”

But even if our good actions are for right motives, we must ask further, “What are ‘right’ motives?

A psychologist would tell us that there is an open debate among psychologists as to whether anyone can perform any good action for purely altruistic reasons. Is there always some specter of ego?

A lawyer would ask if there be some scintilla of scienter, some speck of evil motive?

An obvious conclusion may be drawn from these three professions’ view of the not-so-obvious questions and the answers thereto. The reasoning, though is circular. Only God (and possibly “The Shadow”) knows “what evil lurks in the heart of man.”

Though we don’t like to think so, we are neither the judge nor the jury evaluating the truth, vel non, of our actions, only God is.

He likewise, is the Great Physician who analyzes our actions.

He is the author and the audience for the play our lives put onstage.

It is left to us to listen to His words, believe them, and act accordingly, resting in the thought that our Father says to us, I got this.”

So let it be written, so let it be done.