Yesterday was GREAT! It all started on Saturday with the Great Vigil of Easter, that great service of darkness to light, death to life, silence to music, and so much more. The resonances are multifaceted, complex, and supremely satisfying. Then comes Sunday morning with the hats and the clothes and, at least where I was at church, a brass quintet. Stunning!
But now it’s Monday. The world says the party is over. A fair number of churches act like the party is over. Sure we got a good dose of resurrection yesterday, but the tomb is starting to call us back. It’s hard to resist that cool, musky, dusty cave where the cares of this life were over. The crowd at church made the space so full and alive, but next week will be sad with so few people, so maybe I’ll stay home. We’re behind on the house work, the school work, the work work, the whatever. Maybe I’m not actually as lovable as it seems. Maybe we’ll just crawl back in that tomb and let the dust settle. When we start thinking like this, the prophet Isaiah gives some solid advice from on high: “Arise! Shake off the dust!” (Isaiah 52:2)
Are you’re feeling like the world is too big and you’re too small: Arise! Shake off the dust!
Is that voice of doubt and shame starting to rear its head: Arise! Shake off the dust!
Is that dusty tomb already calling your name: Arise! Shake off the dust!
The word for resurrection is Greek means, “stand up again,” and that is exactly what God calls us to. God calls us to stand up again in the face of this world and shout that good news that, “I did it and so can you.” Now that our Lenten journey is over, it time to stand up again and start our journey as an Easter people. This journey will start with the Great Fifty Days of the Easter season, but it won’t end there. But all great journeys start somewhere, so let’s start here:
Arise! Shake off the dust!
St. Augustine's Chapel 