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Morning has brokenSunday, April 4, 2010
Colossians 3:1-4
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
When my rock is rolled away I'm no longer protected from all that life. When my rock is gone I can walk right out and breathe deep. I can smile at my rock, and thank it for its hard work, and then go on to something new. Because I'm alive now. What Jesus does for himself he so much does for me. And you. This is no small thing, to be transformed into a living breathing person made new by God. The gates of Eden have suddenly burst wide open! Since this has happened, Paul says, "Seek what is above. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth." I'd like to carry a nice shiny rock in my pocket to hold in my hand and rub. Maybe a Petoskey. When I feel that rock of mine I can thank God for raising Jesus from the dead, and for raising me too. My earthbound rock can help me remember what is above. And I can think about my life from a whole new point of view. When young Mister Rogers attended Rollins College in Florida, he walked by a sign every day. It read, "Life is for service." * He said seeing that every day changed his life. I think having my own rock can help me remember how my life has changed. That other big old rock has been rolled away. The sun is shining in. Jesus has already helped me get up and ready to go. We've folded all the graveclothes. And he is waiting patiently by the door. "What are we going to do now, Jesus?" "Come and see."
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice, Father, and be glad in it. You are so good, you have given us light. We give you thanks, we offer you praise, and your love endures forever. - Psalm 118 |
I finished a book yesterday, Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor. It's a book for kids of all ages, lots of pictures, big print, great ideas about what's really important. And I find myself thinking today what it would be like to be "raised with Christ." Like I'm in that dark cave with him, sleeping (actually, dead) ... and then there's a creaking sound and light blows through a new crack appearing in the wall. The crack gets bigger and wider, like an eclipse, and then that giant rock is rolled away. And outside the world is so green and so new and so fresh and so sweet. I'm alive!