Meditation 3: Christ is risen

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Occasional Impressions Prayer Collections Meditations Meditation 3: Christ is risen Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Christ is risen - yes, I know. This is good news - this is the greatest of good news. We’re all supposed to feel elated. But why do I feel so flat - exhausted - trodden down? It’s a tricky one, that. Everything has changed. The world today is not what it was yesterday. The new order, the new life, has begun. The kingdom of God is present with us! But I can’t claim to be excited. I can’t see how it affects me. The problems I had yesterday are still here today. The tasks before me haven’t got any easier. The to-do list hasn’t got any shorter. Those right so-and-sos that I have to deal with - they haven’t changed. They’ll be just as awkward today as they were yesterday. Yes, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! But what’s really changed? Come, child, and listen to me. Listen to what I have to say. It is true that the world has changed. I have indeed made all things new. But perhaps not in the way that you expected. I haven’t waved a magic wand. The difficult tasks are still there waiting to be done. The awkward people are still there waiting to be loved. My children in the world still know injustice, hunger and disease. What has changed is me in you. You are my instrument of renewal. You are the bringer in of my brave new world. My work is your work; I live in you. But Lord, you must be joking: you can’t mean me. You can’t expect me to bear all the burden of your cross - I’ve crosses enough of my own to carry. After all, I’m not qualified. I’m not good enough. I’m careless at prayer; I lack self-restraint. I mess things up all the time. Lord, you can’t mean me! But yes, child, I mean exactly you. When I formed you in my image, I gave you all the powers of heaven at your command. When I claimed you for my own, I baptised you in my powerful Spirit. When I called you by my own name, I filled you with my love and care. How can you fail to make all things new in my name? You do mean it, Lord, don’t you? Yes, child, I mean it. But do not fear - you are not alone. There are others with you. They too are my children. For their sakes also I died and rose again. They too, bear my mark, my name, my Spirit. They too, feel hesitant, fearful, just like you. They too, find comfort in the knowledge that they are not alone. After all, I ask you to go nowhere where I have not travelled before. I ask you to challenge no evil that I have not faced up to and overcome. That awkward so-and-so you complain about: Do I not know them by name? And care for them as I care for you? See, I send you to them as the messenger of my love. That is where you start to live my resurrection. That is where this Easter begins to make a difference. And it does not end there. There is a whole world to redeem. But do not try to redeem the whole world. Start from where you are. Start with the task before you. Start with the person who challenges you now. Do not fear: I will give you all the resources you need. I am with you always - till the work is done. Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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