Lenten Devotions: A Postlude

Isaiah 2:5  O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Walkers
(by Patricia Lindroth)

Leisurely walkers, power walkers,
Young walkers, young-at-heart walkers,
Youthful walkers, senior walkers,
All seeking to keep physically fit.

CROP walkers, labyrinth walkers,
The Way-of-St. James walkers,
In-the-footsteps-of Paul walkers,
All seeking to deepen their faith.

Are you a walker?
With which walkers do you identify?

In the words of the Isaiah scripture
and of a Negro spiritual let us:

“Walk in the Light, beautiful Light,
Walk where the dew drops of mercy shine bright.
Shine all around us by day and by night,
Jesus, the Light of the world.”

Prayer: Gracious and loving God, guide my thoughts, my actions, my feet so that I may walk in the LIGHT, the LIGHT you gave the world with the birth of your son, Jesus.  In His name.  Amen.

EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 4

Luke 24:1-2  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body.

Have you ever asked someone, “Have you seen my….?”  You can fill in whatever something you were looking for.  It is one of the most frustrating experiences in life.  You know what you are looking for.  You know where you left it.  You know where it ought to be.  But in the end it is not there.  You are sure someone took it.  It might be the kids, or elves or even aliens, but you know someone took it.  There could be no other explanation.

If you have ever been through one of those “Have you seen my…?” kind of experiences, then you know to some degree how the women felt when they went to the tomb.  The women had watched Jesus die.  They had seen Jesus’ body being placed in the tomb.  They had watched the stone being rolled across the entrance.  They knew where Jesus was.  There was no doubt in their minds.  They were certain that when they arrived at the tomb after the Sabbath they would find his body.

This time however they were wrong.  He was not there.  We might guess that given a moment or two they would have asked anyone around the tomb, “Have you seen our friend?”  Mary Magdalene used words similar to this to ask about Jesus in the Gospel of John.

The gift of their almost “Have you seen my…?” moment however is that they are given an answer even before they can ask.  They are told that Jesus is not dead but is alive.  They are told that they will not find him in the tomb but out in the world.

This is the answer that comes to us on this Easter morning…Jesus is not dead, he is alive.  Jesus is not in the tomb, Jesus is raised.  This answer gives up hope:
    hope that God is about life and not death,
    hope that this physical world is not all that there is,
    hope that God cares about us enough to raise his Son from the dead,
    hope that we can still find the Christ who loves us so very much.

This Easter then have hope and know that the one who was dead is alive and is always available to be found.

John Judson