Good Strange: The Politics of Resurrection
It is strange, even for my own conscience, to use a phrase like āthe Politics of Resurrectionā given how much damage and evil the wedding of false religion and the state has inflicted on vulnerable people lately.
That is precisely why today I have to use it, why I have to write this. I want to offer you something strange and hopeful on this Easter Sunday in a not-strange-enough time of darkness
The Christian faith hinges on the strange life, the predictable manner of death, and surprising resurrection of Jesus. And for many, especially those in seeking power, Easter is treated as little more than one more trumpet blast in a cacophony of triumphalism and self-aggrandizement.
Let me take a brief opportunity to address those Christians: THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU!
I work really hard not to throw stones on this blog, but there are times when, for the sake of clarity, some things need to be said directly. ā¦I want to assure you, my friends, I am also listening to my own words, but they still have to be said.
This is not a story with white Christians, rich Christians, straight, straight Christians at its core. This story is not fundamentally about me either, at least not about me as the focus of triumph. But it sure has implications for my life.
Christianity is being leveraged again in America to try to exult the supremacy of some people over others. Nothing could be more contrary to the gospel. NOTHING COULD BE MORE CONTRARY TO THE GOSPEL.
The great trumpet sound of the resurrection story, however, certainly has implications for dark moments like these. The meaning is thisā¦
God has the final say.
Regardless of how many naked emperors, crazed despots, and narcissistic fools try to grab the reins of history and make it all about them and those who are loyal to him, God will have the final say on everything.
No president, no gay-basher, and no terroristāwhether he is armed with a small knife or an entire militaryā will have the final say on my life.
Only God can do that.
Not even death can condemn me.
The resurrection story is not about me; it is about how God said a definitive āNoāĀ to the awful violence, oppression, and wrong-minded fear that drove humans to kill the very incarnation of innocence and justice.Ā This Is not aboutut ne, but It is very food news for us.
Righteousness embodied will always be a threat to power.
In Jesusā story, power decided to kill the one who was living righteously, and God responded with a definitive no.
Whoever you are, whatever your faith or convictions about religion, whatever fear is chaining you down now, and whatever is trying to condemn youā¦even if itās your own heartā¦ I offer you this Easter greetingā¦ God is greater than all of these and God will have the final say.
Even the internalized condemnation of our own selves does not have the final say. God does
1 John 3:20
āEven if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.ā
So happy Easter, everyone, yes, actually happy. Today is full of good news. Go an be good news to each other. Go now and live as if only the loving creator has the final say in your life. Not the bully, not ICE, not homophobe, not the president, not the racist boss, not your own fear of your brokenness will have the final judgement on your life.
And if I die trying to embody the justice of the risen God. If I die at the very hands of injustice, God will not let my story end there.
Whoever you are, you are loved. And the one who loves you most will be the only one who can judge who you areā¦
We have nothing to fear ā¦unless we spend our lives trying to subdue others, running away from love and fighting against God (as Kings are prone to do).
You are therefore free of any fear of what power might say of your life.
God will have the final say.
Now go and live as if that is the case.
He is risen. He. Is. Risen. Indeed.