“Practice Resurrection”
A Sermon preached at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd,
2-13-22, Sixth Sunday in Epiphany, (Readings)
Practice resurrection. Practice resurrection. It is about the fact, the reality of the resurrection that the apostle Paul addresses the corinthian church- the fact, the reality of new life for the whole creation with God. And the poet Wendell Berry ends his poem ‘the mad farmer liberation front’ with these two words-practice resurrection. It is a provocative poem, ending in a challenge. Practice resurrection. Practice it. Not think or debate about whether or how you believe or interpret the resurrection as fact, doctrine or myth. No. These words challenge us to receive and to step into the new life that God is bringing about. Practice it. Yes. Practice new life in Christ.
I received a way to practice this just this week. A friend told me that her son had some tree seedlings I could have. Thrilled, I prepared a little spot to keep them until I could plant them, or give them away. I was imagining a little tray of trees. Then my friend showed up with 5 trays, 130 trees! I gasped, and started to feel overwhelmed! What will I do with all those trees? How will I ever move all those out this spring? I had no idea! Well, as we carried tray after tray into my garden, I found a sense of gratitude that relaxed my breath and body, a willingness to receive arising in my heart. And then I found my long years of practice in garden and landscaping coming back to me. I set about digging trenches to tuck those trees in for a time. It felt like a playing a new yet familiar song! I went to bed that night feeling gratitude, wondering what God might be inviting me and others to receive in such an unexpected gift. To receive, in order to faithfully practice.
Practice resurrection. Practice it! Practice receiving the new life God is inviting you to be part of. Jesus challenges his disciples to do this. Jesus challenges his disciples to look at their lives and the world, especially places of weakness, loneliness, poverty and grief, as the place God’s new life is at work. And he didn’t go about this by himself. Jesus chose 12 disciples to go on a mountain retreat, then led them downward with him. They make a downward journey with Jesus to a level place, where they meet and take part in healing with the crowds of people. Jesus meets the crowds at a level place, in the midst of their life. In this level place, Jesus offers a healing vantage point. Look Up! Look Down! Here you can get a view of God at work in the ups and downs of your lives. And Jesus challenges his disciples:
Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God; Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
In this level place where God meets us amidst the ups and downs of life, we can look, feel, listen with greater honesty and wholeness for new life in Christ, and begin to faithfully put it into practice. What is approaching you that bears the imprint of new life in Christ? What unsettles your sense of strength, your wealth, the things you hold as treasure or ability, and invites you to be with those places where weakness and poverty are part of you, near you, in the world God made you part of?
You might notice grief in your body and heart for your great grandchildren, a sense of grief for the world they will live in, or for the many species of Gods creatures amidst a changing climate and rumors of war. What can you do? What can you do to place your hope in the fact that God is bringing about a new creation. Martin Luther said if he knew world would end tomorrow, he would plant a tree today. Practice resurrection. Or maybe you notice that you are lonely. Or you wonder about the loneliness of people in your neighborhood, or people whose name you don’t know, but whose face your remember from church. Lonely. What can you do? Turn to the one who is present wihin, already turned to you, to be with you. And…Pick up the phone. Knock on the door. Reach out, or join others and go together to lighten your loneliness. You might discover God inviting you into new ways of being and praying with others. Make it a practice, find a good rhythm. Or you might notice the person evicted from a home, looking for better work, or working two or three jobs that don’t keep up with the bills. Maybe that’s you. What rest, what healing, what energy would you ask of the one whose cross and practice of new life opens the door for us to be there too?
