Easter | Jesus' Resurrection Is So Much More Than a Metaphor

 

Resurrection by Magnus 3D

You see,

the resurrection is actually

Jesus' most offensive act.

+ Searching for Enough

In honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this post features some of Tyler Staton's reflections from Searching for Engough (alongside "Powerful & Personal Enough Good News" and "A Good Way to Die") while also complementing a previous series entitled "Yeshua" based on Frances Spufford's writings in Unapologetic.

Jesus' Most Offensive Act

If Jesus' resurrection was a metaphor ...

that makes Him a likeable revolutionary. It means we can learn from Him; we can take from His life what might be helpful for ours. We can pick Him over like any other historical figure, admiring Him for His extraordinary character, memorializing the ways He was misunderstood in His time but now, in our more sophisticated, broadly progressive culture and with the benefit of hindsight, we can understand Him properly, accurately gaining insight from Him — a wise sage from another time offering us advice from a rocking chair but not understanding our iPhones, pace of life, or money made of pixels.

If Jesus' resurrection was a metaphor ...

He was a prophet misunderstood in His time — Kurt Cobain with a more profound message. We can remember Him for what He could've been, should've been, if He had been allowed to live a full life. We can take solace in the metaphorical resurrection, meaning His teachings never died and His Spirit lived on in His few followers.

If the resurrection was a metaphor ...

Jesus was a teacher with depth and eloquence far too great for the ears of the common peasants He taught. He had a message to be pondered by the greats, and it was wasted on the uneducated, illiterate simpletons that surrounded Him. He's Will Hunting with no Robin Williams to get Him out of South Boston, so He did the best He could with the Affleck brothers.

A resurrection metaphor ...

makes Jesus a philosopher on par with the likes of Socrates, Plato, Kant, and Kierkegaard. He's pulled something so profound from a left-brained mind, the right brains will teach it in classrooms for centuries to come.

A resurrection metaphor ...

makes Jesus a social justice symbol. Actually, it makes Him the social justice symbol. His life is the one that became the model for Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. to follow. His "resurrection" is the spirit of peaceful protest that has cut a better way through some of the harshest periods of oppression in history. His life is truly a light. His life has been a light in some of the darkest nights of world history — Indian poverty, South African apartheid, American slavery.

A resurrection metaphor ...

is a way of saying that Jesus' virtue lives on, even now, in those He continues to influence, and that makes Jesus a great man. Maybe it even makes Him the greatest man. A great man about whom we have much to admire. A great man we should always remember and never forget. A man so great He was even able to die an unjust death with grace and dignity. This is not an offensive figure, not one about whom people hold polarizing opinions, not one who divides people in "sheep and goats."

Read back through the description above. Who finds there a man they disagree with or oppose?

The theologian William Willimon puts it quite honestly:

I don't need a resurrected Jesus.

Come to think of it,

I'm not sure I want

a resurrected Jesus ...

I have the illusion that

I'm in control,

that I am making a so

significant contribution

to help Jesus

that I may be eternal

on my own.

No, I don't need a 

bodily resurrected Jesus.

In fact, if I ever get one,

my life would become

much more difficult.

Here's what he's getting at. If Jesus showed us a new way to live and a better way to die, we are left to pick over His life like a swarm of vultures, gnawing at His bones for something of Him we can add to ourselves. A Jesus of life and death is a fantastic addition. To this Jesus, we come with our already full lives, having already decided who we will be, where we will go, what we dream of, and what is needed to accomplish those dreams. We add this Jesus like milk in a cup of coffee — just a splash; there's not much room left, but I'd love to get that nice caramel color.

But an actual resurrection? That requires an empty cup, contents poured out until it's bare ceramic, so it can be filled to overflowing with living water.

You see,

the resurrection is actually

Jesus' most offensive act.

A bodily resurrection means

Jesus isn't a likable revolutionary.

He can't be ...

Gandhi,

Mandela,

MLK

—

none of those men

walked out of their graves.

An actual resurrected Jesus

does not make Him a great man.

It makes Him Lord.

It means He flooded the

recurring darkness with

constant light — 

overcame systemic evil,

swallowed up personal failure,

and defeated death.

The parts of life so painful

that the best we can do

is "change the subject" — 

He cut a way through.

If Jesus really rose,

we fall on our knees in worship

or stand up in offense because 

it means He is either Lord

or thinks He is 

(and that's dangerous).

If Jesus really rose,

He is more than a great man

 — much more.

He is Lord and God.

That's what led the apostle Paul

to claim that everything hangs

on the resurrection.

If Christ has not been raised,

our preaching is useless and

so is your faith.

+ 1 Corinthians 15:14

The novelist and screenwriter 

John Irving repeated the sentiment:

Anyone can be sentimental

about the Nativity;

any fool can feel like a Christian

at Christmas.

But Easter is the main event;

if you don't believe 

in the resurrection,

you're not a believer.

The Road to Emmaus by Daniel Bonnell

Death Has Been Defeated

To believe in the resurrection of is to place the full weight of my hope in the "story of Jesus." It is to acknowledge that at the center of the harsh reality of life, there is a supernatural gap that cannot be closed by my natural means.

A dignifying sort of hope sounds something like this: The universe we inhabit is the very good creation of a very good God who is deeply grieved by the darkness that haunts the lives of His children. This God is so relentless in unwavering hope and pursuing love that He stopped at nothing to heal and redeem us. He promises justice in place of every societal failure, and justice for every last victim. He promises forgiveness to cover over every personal failure, and freedom from the guilt and shame it drags behind. He promises that life, not death, will have the final word because death has once and for all been defeated.

Resurrection means

heaven is coming to earth.

Resurrection hope means 

to begin living, even now, in

that better story of Jesus,

so that our very lives

become a participation

in the redemption 

of the world.

He offers us a story big enough

to explain the complex mess

we call the world,

and powerful enough

to redeem every square inch

through love — 

the sort of love that

never gives up,

the sort of love that

swallows up fear,

the sort of love that

heals, 

however quickly or slowly,

the sort of love that

outlasts the sting of pain.

Only Jesus offers 

a picture of love

that is stronger than death.

+ Tyler Straton

in Searching for Enough*,

pgs. 140-143

*If you are intrigued or excited by what you read, purchase Searching for Enough: The Hire-Wire Walk Between Doubt and Faith by Tyler Straton as there is more to be enchanted by in Chapter 11: Recovering the Plot and Chapter 12: A Way to Die than I can include in one post.

Bonus post about Resurrection:

+ Why Jesus' Resurrection Matters

Next post:

+ "Jesus, I Have My Doubts"

May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.

Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇

With anticipation and joy,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

Feast of St. Xavier | Flame Bearing Society of Jesus Movement

 

Sitting with a modern St. Xavier

O God,

grant that we may desire You,

and desiring You seek You,

and seeking You find You

and finding You be satisfied

in You forever.

+ St. Xavier

Today, December 3, is the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. It makes me smile (and perhaps salivate a little bit) as I remember the first time I discussed this saint with my beloved son who shares his namesake over the best burger in Worcester (see Smash Burger at Peppercorn's above). 

St. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and Roman Catholic priest who was one of the greatest witnesses to Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom in all of human history. Michael Frost, in his marvelous book, Mission Is the Shape of Water, shares this:

St. Francis Xavier,

one of the seven founders of 

the order of the Jesuits,

is thought to be one of the 

most effective evangelists

of Christian History ...

he has converted more people

to Christianity than anyone

since St. Paul.

After highlighting pivotal moments in human history in which St. Patrick and the Celtic Missionary Movement (400s), St. Benedict and the Cistercian Monasteries (500s and 1100s), and Count Z and the Moravians (1700s) warmed multitudes of people, young and old, to the flame of Christ around the world, I now want to take a moment to honor St. Francis Xavier's reflection of Jesus (1500s) that continues to reach new people via this excerpt from Frost's Mission Is the Shape of Water. 

The story starts with a Spanish courtier and soldier ... 

Iñigo López de Ońaz y Loyola

By his own account, Iñigo wasn't a particularly likeable young man. In 1521, while defending the fortress town of Pamplona, Spain, a French cannonball shattered his leg. The army doctors didn't set the leg properly, and the protruding bone created an ugly lump under the skin. So, he insisted on having the leg rebroken and reset. Without anesthetic, of course. The consequence was that his injured leg ended up shorter than the other, leaving the once-dashing Iñigo with a limp for the rest of his life.

He had grown up in the castle of Loyola, the thirteenth child of Don Beltrán Yañez de Oñaz y Loyola — a brash, free-spirited womanizer who had fathered several children by other women. Iñigo's grandfather was an even more shadowy character, regularly in conflict with the crown. But as landed gentry, society let them get away with bad behavior. Iñigo figured that being a courtier of Loyola allowed him to flout convention and behave any way he liked. And he did. He paid more attention at dancing and fencing classes than academic ones. Like his father, he became a dandy, a womanizer, and sensitive to insult.

But things changed after the siege of Pamplona. While recovering in his castle after his broken leg was reset, Iñigo began to experience visions and moments of spiritual euphoria. This was extremely out of character; normally he fantasized about beautiful women or personal glory. Now St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic visited him in his dreams. He started reading John Fleetwood's illustrated Life of Christ and a book of saints' legends.

Everyone agreed that
something very strange was happening.
At thirty years of age,
having shown no prior interest
in spiritual matters,
Iñigo began to devote himself
to serving Christ — 

a process that took 

nearly two decades

and included

intense study,

pilgrimages, 

and

submission 

to a rigorous system

of what he called

"spiritual exercises."

This was a vocation to which he felt himself eminently unqualified. Due to his disinterest in formal education as a child, he was barely literate. He was forced to start his education all over, sitting in classes with people much younger than himself ... The dashing, arrogant courtier turned into a humble, limping monk. He joked that he had turned from a beautiful butterfly into an ugly caterpillar. While a student at the University of Paris, though he was then in his forties, Iñigo developed a close bond with several other devout younger men — including Francis Xavier (a fellow Spanish nobleman) and Peter Faber. It was at this time that Iñigo began calling himself by the Latin, Ignatius. 

Our Church Speaks: An Illustrated Devotional

Ignatian Spirituality Based on the Gospels

The group acknowledged Ignatius as their leader and embraced his spiritual exercises as their collective rule. Together they were to form the nucleus of what would later become a religious order known as the Society of Jesus — or, more popularly, the Jesuits. Approved as an official religious order by Pope Paul III in 1540, the Jesuits wanted to elect Ignatius as their first leader. He declined after the first vote, believing his vanity and the licentiousness of his earlier life disqualified him. He also knew most of his companions were far more theologically knowledgeable. However, they insisted, and eventually he accepted the position and served until his death sixteen years later.

Ignatian spirituality

is based on the Gospels and

on St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises

... The Exercises culminate in a

contemplation whereby one

develops a facility to

"find God in all things."

The Jesuits' motto is 

ad majorem Dei gloriam

("for greater glory of God").

I can't begin to recount

the enormous influence

the Jesuits have had on

global Christianity.

Theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar; philosophers, including Pierre Teilhard de Chardin; writers such as Gerard Manley Hopkins; and martyrs, missionaries, and even Pope Francis, have all been influenced by the Jesuit flame, which has illuminated far-flung peoples and places of Jesus' Church.

Today, the Ignatian Exercises

still offer many a means of

finding freedom through recognition

that God loves us,

wherever we are

and whatever we have done.

Ignatian spirituality aims

to help people overcome preoccupation

with self and turn their energies

to serving others.

Their commitment to flame bearing

has made the Jesuits

an extraordinary missionary force

throughout the world.

St. Frances Xavier, 

one of the seven founders of the order,

is thought to be one of the

most effective evangelists of

Christian history.

 

St. Francis Xavier from Our Church Speaks by Ben Lansing

St. Francis Xavier Loves East Asia

Francis was born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta in 1506 in Javier (Xavier in Navarro-Aragonese), in the Kingdom of Navarre (present-day Spain). He was was the third son of the president of the council of the king of Navarre. Ignatius provided the order's central leadership, but Francis went on to be its most effective evangelist. Historian Stephen Neill said of him, 

"To a passionate

but disciplined nature, 

profound devotion, and an

eager longing for the salvation of souls,

Xavier added the wide outlook 

of the statesman and

the capacity of the strategist

for organization on a large scale."

The Jesuits quickly became so successful in their ministry of preaching and care of the sick throughout central Italy, that they were approached by King John III of Portugal, who commissioned Francis Xavier to evangelize people in his new Asian dominions. In 1542, Francis set out for Goa in West India, the center of Portuguese activity in the East. He spent three years evangelizing pearl-fishing communities along the coast, baptizing around ten thousand of them. While in India, Francis turned the Jesuit creed into poetry for recital by the Goans. Out of this sprang a vibrant indigenous tradition of music and dance in Indian churches. Francis moved his center of operations to Malacca on the Malay Archipelago, preaching to tribal people in the Spice Islands (Moluccas). 

During this time,
Francis met a Japanese man
named Anjirō, a samurai warrior
who had been charged with murder
and fled his homeland.
Anjirō had heard of Francis
and traveled from Kagoshima
to Malacca specially to meet him.
He told Francis extensively
about his former life and the customs
and culture of his homeland.
Anjirō became the first Japanese Christian
and adopted the name of Paulo de Sante Fe.

As a result of meeting Anjirō,

Francis's eyes were now fixed on 

taking the flame of the gospel to Japan.

And so, in 1549, Francis, Anjirō, and several companions arrived in the Japanese port of Kagoshima. Francis was deeply impressed with the Japanese people, but he had to adapt his missionary methods to reach them. When evangelizing the Paravas (the Goan pearl fishers) and the Malays, his vow of poverty impressed them greatly. But the Japanese were repelled by such humility, thinking him unworthy of their attention. So, Francis pivoted. He abandoned any outward expression of poverty for a kind of asceticism more attractive to the Japanese. In 1551, when the Japanese church had grown to two thousand converts, Francis returned temporarily to India, leaving the church in the care of his companions.

If you look at a map of 

Francis Xavier's world journeys,

you will be astonished by his 

extensive itinerary.

While many of us struggle to

share Christ with our neighbors,

Francis was instrumental in

the growing wildfire of Christianity,

taking the gospel to India, Japan,

the Malay Peninsula, and the

Moluccan Islands (Indonesia).

Owen Chadwick wrote of Francis Xavier:

He was a man of sudden decisions

or insights or enthusiasms,

always eager to be 

penetrating new ground

and converting unknown tribes

and undergoing danger for his faith.

Jesuit monks bore 

the flame of the gospel either alone

or in pairs to villages where

no white man had ever been,

dethroning idols,

challenging shamans 

to contests of holiness, and

planting churches in their place.

Ignatius outlined the

various ways this could be achieved:

"public preaching,

other ministries of the Word of God,

spiritual exercises,

education in Christianity,

hearing confessions, and

administering other sacraments,

works of charity,

reconciling the estranged,

ministering to persons in prison

and hospitals and similar services."

The flame-bearing mission 

of the Jesuits was rooted in a

deep dedication to the glory of God

and an intense personal love of Jesus.

They were completely at the disposal

of the universal Church,

willing to serve anyone anywhere, and

totally devoted to each other as

fellow companions.

In both their visible activity 

and their contemplative life,

they were 

hardworking,

adaptable,

learned, and

joyful.

+ pgs. 50-55, Chapter 3: Flame Bearing in

Mission Is the Shape of Water

Our Church Speaks: An Illustrated Devotional of Saints

More Saint + Revival Posts:  

+ St. Patrick & Celtic Christianity 

+ God Moves Thru Unlikely Saints 

+ Facing Death w/ "Of Gods & Men"  

+ Revival: Unfettered in Small Things

+ In Our Time: Not Far from God

With presence and peace in Christ,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

Deep Down Faith | Thanks, Confession, Intercession Prayers

 

Prayer:

Any attempt to address God.

Our prayers include thanksgiving,

confession, intercession, and petitions.

This fall, I get to continue in the joy of spending some time with young people connected to Emmaus City Church engaging the Scriptures alongside one of my favorite reflections on God called Deep Down Faith by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. I've read this book four times now and Plantinga, like C.S. Lewis in many ways, has a gift for discussing profound thoughts in whimsical, rich, and accessible ways for young and old alike. Some previous Deep Down Faith posts include:

+ The Breath of God for Us

+ Estrangement & Homecoming 

+ You're Accepted 

+ Tightrope Walk of Trust

Today's post will focus on three aspects of prayer, including a way to simply pray using the fingers on your hand.

 | 1 | Thanksgiving

A kind of prayer that flows out of gratitude.

We are thankful for many things,

but especially for the mighty work

of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

If we have started to come alive to Jesus Christ, we go further in our thanks. For we know in thunder and in stillness, in sickness and in rosy health, in good complexion and bad, that we are loved by Him.

We know that when
we are weary or strong,
guilty or innocent, 
popular or temporarily out to lunch
— we know we have been
loved to the point of death.
The supreme thanksgiving
of Christians is for
the mighty suffering of Jesus,
our Savior, for us.

Prayer is a way of saying our thanks for all of the above. Besides doing good out of gratitude, we also say what's good, especially when God has done it.

Just as fans cheer a spectacular shot, just as grieving relatives cling to each other, just as people rest after work, so all of us give thanks to God for His gifts. And there is a side benefit. When we pray our thanksgiving, we ourselves feel somehow rich and complete. We notice how many wonderful things we have from God, and how good they really are, and how good God is. 

A grateful person is happy. 

And ungrateful person is miserable. 

It's as simple as that.

Thanksgiving Prayer Starter

Take a little time out of your busy

schedule today to give sincere thanks

for the gifts — big and small — 

that God has given to you.

 | 2 | Confession

A kind of prayer in which we own up to

who we are, what we have done, and

what we have failed to do.

In confession we also admit our

dependence and our weaknesses.

We all deceive ourselves about who we are and what we do and what we have failed to do. Probably no one is truly honest with him- or herself. It's too painful. For the same reason, few of us are completely honest with God. For in order to be totally honest with God we have to be honest with ourselves. And that is just what we would like to avoid.

And yet we must face up to our need for such honesty. We cannot be spiritually healthy without it. We are like alcoholics in this way. At meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous members of the group stand up to speak one at a time. Each begins the same way. She mentions her first name and then admits her condition: "My name is Mary. I am an alcoholic." When an alcoholic tells his story at a meeting, he is never allowed to get away with excuses or denials. That's because alcoholics know that nobody can hope for help or healing without frankly admitting his or her weakness. 

Confession is the first important step 

toward wholeness and health.

It's the same for all of us. Besides thanksgiving, our prayers with Jesus' Church and by ourselves must include confession. To confess in prayer before God is to own up to who we are: "My name is Ned. I am a liar." To confess is to admit what we have done and what we have failed to do: "God, I have purposely deceived people who have a right to the truth"; "God, I had a chance to stop a damaging lie about another person, and I failed to do it."

Confession is painful.

It digs beneath our surface,

pulls off our masks and disguises,

and lifts up the truth.

The truth includes not only our sin

but also our dependence on God 

for health, and breath, and life itself.

Confession includes mentioning

our weaknesses.

Confession is like 

cleansing a wound.

It hurst to do it thoroughly.

But if you go ahead and clean it,

the wound may heal without

getting infected.

It is part of the dying away

of the old self and

the coming to life

of the new.

Confession Prayer Starter

"To confess is to own up to who we are,

to admit what we have done and

what we have failed to do."

Think about that, and then

offer a sincere prayer of 

personal confession

to the God who loves you.

 | 3 | Intercession

A kind of prayer in which we play the

role of a priest by pleading the case

of someone else. Our intercessions

are helpful not only to others but

also to us who pray them.

Someone has thought of a way to remind us to pray for others. 

You look at your hand.

Your thumb is closest to you.

It therefore reminds you to pray 

for people who are close to you.

We pray for family members.

We bring before God a parent

who is unemployed or a 

brother who feels left out.

Your index finger is used to point.

It reminds you of people in authority.

We get to pray for teachers, pastors,

employers, and others in authority.

Your middle finger is highest.

It reminds you to pray for presidents,

prime ministers, governors, mayors

 — for all who are in high authority.

The ring finger is weakest,

as all pianists know.

It reminds you to play for

weak people — for people

crushed by poverty or ignorance

or sickness or cruel governments.

Weak people can be found in

our own schools and neighborhoods.

They can be found in our own families.

These may be people Jesus calls

"the least of my brothers and sisters."

He says that they especially need

our help and care.

He even says that helping them

counts as helping Him.

The little finger comes last 

and reminds you to pray for yourself. 

Four out of five of these prayers are for other people. We call them intercessions. To intercede is to act as a "go-between," standing between a neighbor and God. In such prayers we play the part of priests, speaking on behalf of, or for the sake of, another person. In prayer we also petition God. We may ask God to do something for a neighbor — to heal an injury, for example, or to protect our neighbor in his travels. Then our petition really amounts to an intercession. At other times we pray for the whole world. When we pray as our Lord taught us, we say, for instance, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." These are petitions for God to move His great world plan forward.

Intercession Prayer Starter

Use your hand as a guide to

your own prayer of intercession.

Q. Why do Christians need to pray?
A. Because prayer is the most important

part of the thankfulness God 

requires of us.

Pray without ceasing,

give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in

Christ Jesus for you.
+ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

+ Deep Down Faith,

pgs. 174-180

Next post:

The Return of the King

May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.

Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne, 

que sa volonté soit faite.

愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。

Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.

Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino! 

🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇

With anticipation and joy,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us