Thursday Thinking - Everyday Resurrection

As a pastor, I have found Eugene Peterson to be a most helpful writer and thinker. He has helped me understand my role and development as a pastor, and has helped me think more shepherdly about the people I serve. I find him to be both encouraging and practical. He inspires hope and at the same time is ruthlessly realistic about life and the world.

Here is an excerpt from his book, Living the Resurrection, that appeared in Christianity Today in 2006. Do yourself a favor and read the entire article, and then maybe even buy and read the book. Christianity is ALL about resurrection and life in the here and now. God bless you as you observe Good Friday and then celebrate Resurrection Sunday! Looking for a place to worship? Join us at Valley Christian Church.

From "Life in a Country of Death" by Eugene Peterson:
The land of the living is obviously not a vacation paradise. It's more like a war zone. And that's where we Christians are stationed to affirm the primacy of life over death, to give a witness to the connectedness and preciousness of all life, to engage in the practice of resurrection.

We do this by gathering in congregations and regular worship before our life-giving God and our death-defeating Christ and our life-abounding Holy Spirit. We do it by reading, pondering, teaching, and preaching the Word of Life as it is revealed in our Scriptures. We do it by baptizing men, women, and children in the name of the Trinity, nurturing them into a resurrection life. We do it by eating the life of Jesus in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. We do it by visiting prisoners, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, healing the sick, working for justice, loving our enemies, raising our children, doing our everyday work to the glory of God.

When I go through a list like that, the first thing that strikes me—and I hope you—is that it's all pretty ordinary. It doesn't take a great deal of training or talent to do any of it. Not the training of a brain surgeon, let's say, or the talent of a concert pianist. Except for the preaching and sacraments part, children can do much of it as well or nearly as well as any of us. But—and here's the thing—all of it is life-witnessing and life-affirming work. And if the life drains out of it, there is nothing left: It's just Godtalk.
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