Whom do you seek? <\/i> That really is the question of the day on this, or any, resurrection Sunday. As modern Christians we come to worship this morning “knowing the answer.” The music this morning in the “regular” service I attended included brass, bagpipes, organ, percussion including timpani, and a full choir. Even our sunrise service had the brass ensemble. And the music was glorious! Well preformed, appropriate for worship, spiritually uplifting. What more can I say…<\/p>\n
Except that as I reflected on Easter this afternoon I had to go back to that pivotal phrase in the scripture lesson from the Gospel of John: Whom do you seek?<\/i><\/p>\n
The first resurrection day did not have all of the horns and choirs. Those announced Jesus’ birth. Now Jesus was in the tomb, or at least was supposed to be. As one of my children said when they were very young “Dead is dead.” And all the disciples knew was death. We rightly celebrate the resurrection for the joyful event it is, for it also represents the hope of our salvation and our own resurrection. But we must hold this in the tension of what that first resurrection day held. None of the disciples expected it no matter how many times Jesus told them otherwise. Resurrection was, and still is, outside the realm of human experience. Dead is dead. So when asked “Whom do you seek?” they were not looking for the living amidst the dead, but the body in the grave yard. They were expecting the ordinary not the extra-ordinary because that was too far beyond their experience and understanding.<\/p>\n
Whom do you seek? <\/i> Maybe this is why I am such a fan of Easter sunrise services. There is something about being out there in the dark and cold that resonates in me and helps me realize that I do seek the living among the dead. Something that helps me better connect with that first resurrection morn. Something that makes me realize that in our human existence death is the end but that in God’s order it is only the beginning. It helps me realize the quiet and loneliness those first disciples felt that morning as they visited the tomb. As they began, it was an experience of longing. By the end it was an experience of wonder, if not understanding.<\/p>\n
Do we, can we, fully grasp the divine miracle that is embedded in this event and the incredible 180 degree turn it placed in the disciples’ lives? Does our knowing the story keep us from really grasping how everyday experience and natural laws were so totally violated in Jesus’ resurrection? What can we do to grasp the significance that we and the disciples are looking for the living among the dead when that question is asked “Whom do you seek?<\/i>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whom do you seek? That really is the question of the day on this, or any, resurrection Sunday. As modern Christians we come to worship this morning “knowing the answer.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflection"],"yoast_head":"\n