This morning the basement project began in earnest. First, the wallpaper from 3 decades ago came off the walls and then up the stairs and out the door. The moldy carpet was peeled back, and the pad torn up. A half wall was knocked down and added to the rubbish heap.
In some ways it seems like a silly thing. We have this perfectly wonderful, ample, loveable home and already we’re finding ways to “improve” it. Move a wall here. Add a light there. But, this is my fascination and in some ways the fascination of so much of our culture. I like to maximize and upgrade, to polish and finish and fix things. And, chances are, so do many of you. Even in our personal lives, in our quest for emotional and mental health we are prone toward self-improvement. Therapists will tell you that a common question asked by new patients is “how can I fix this?”
Underlying our quest for improvement, even self-improvement, is a fantastic assumption, a hopeful assumption – as Longkee reminded us last Sunday, our quest for betterment is predicated on the belief or the hope that things can and will get better. Some have described this as a belief in the reality that the universe arcs toward the good and the positive.
As Christians there is something of this belief at the core of our faith. However, the difference is that while we believe things get better, we also believe that it is not by our own hard work and initiative – which is to say, things get better by the good and gracious power of God. That is our faith. Resurrection faith. Easter faith.
It is not our job then to change the world – for in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the world has already been changed. It is not our job to defeat death, for in God death holds no dominion. Rather, it is our task to point out the reality that the world is different, that death is defeated, that sin and oppression and slavery are no longer legitimate ways of being in the world. It is our job to live in hopeful witness to the change already effected in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. This is a subtle shift, to be sure, but it is one that we ought to pay attention to as we seek to live lives that are faithful to the gospel.
One of my favorite theologians Eugene Peterson writes:
“The resurrection of Jesus creates and then makes available the reality in which we are formed as new creatures in Christ by the Holy Spirit. The do-it-yourself, self-help culture of North America has so thoroughly permeated our imaginations that we ordinarily don’t give attention to the biggest thing of all – resurrection. And the reason we don’t is because resurrection is not something we can use or control or manipulate or improve on.”
To that I can only say, Amen, and thanks be!
Happy Easter everyone!
Jered
