Christ is risen! Part 4

Christ is risen! Part 4: Join the way.

The importance of the crucifixion is that this new attitude to life is not a warm, fluffy day-dream, that can only exist in a fantasy world of niceness, or in the lives of the comfortable with no challenges to face. “Christ is risen” is the acclamation in direct response to the violent hatred that nailed to a cross the love of your life. That is never lost sight of. The wounds of Christ bleed and in the crucifix we gaze on agony as well as love. Yet, whatever the something is that happened on the third day, instead of this death producing its natural harvest of incoherent rage, of impotent hatred and all-fulfilling despair, the followers of Jesus celebrated his presence, which brings them love and life.

In tune with the answer to the world’s problems being a simple secret, the way you enter into this new life is also a secret of utter simplicity. You enter by believing. Now this causes us some problems because an act of faith is alien to many in the modern world, and the phrase “leap of faith” is overlain with many layers of distortion and misunderstanding. Yet it is accomplished by taking the simplest, smallest step, which is at the same time the greatest act of your life. It is not an act of blind faith, a wishful thinking and hoping for the best. It is an act of trust, of hope and commitment. It is not an easy step. The joy it brings may make it seem easy, but Jesus specifically said that if you want to follow in my way of life you must expect to suffer as I did. So, the leap of faith is not for the faint-hearted, for the weak-willed, or those dreaming of halcyon days in heaven’s antechamber before making their final glorious entry. But it is also the simplest step. All it requires is a decision: “I want to live my life in this way. I want to adopt these values and principles”. But in doing so, we are not adopting a philosophy of life or signing a membership document. We are saying who it is that we trust. We are declaring our love. We are accepting that he loves us, and now we realise that everything that he has done, he has done for love of us. And we embrace it, because we love him. And we don’t care who knows about it.

And I know! Long before you – rightly – condemn this rosy illusion, that is so lamentably failing to be achieved in the lives of the faithful community, I also lament this appalling failure. Yet even now the acclamation: “Christ is risen!” holds sway. For what should be a story of miserable failure itself meets with the grace of Christ, and the desire of our hearts to live this new way of life is counted as though we had measured up to our calling. Yes, we are stumbling along as we follow the way of Christ: squabbling, unsure, half-hearted, but here and there we do hold out a hand to help a fellow traveller, and we stop along the way to tend the wounds of someone in pain. And as we travel, we sing, songs of love and joy and peace. Songs of the new life we have found in the company of Christ. For it is all gift. The gift of life. The gift of life restored. The gift of life imbued with grace and the Spirit’s gifts. It is new life. Life ever new. Life unconquerable. Life invincible. Life in all its fullness. Christ is risen!