And yet, who wants to
die?
Who wants to experience
their mortality?
Who doesn’t want to be
immortal?
If not in the body …
then immortalized in memories, and in legacies?
Seeking immortality. It’s the great and heroically
self-obsessed search of nearly every human being I have ever met. For barring some
deep chronic suffering, none of us wishes to die. We want to live on. If not in
body, then in the hearts and minds and souls of our loved ones – and perhaps
even more. Heroes, and “sheroes,” for a greater cause! As the theme song for
the movie “Fame” puts it, “I’m gonna live forever … baby remember my name.” Ah: my legacy! To just be remembered!
In the midst of our search for immortality in this world, Jesus shows us
an even better way – and even a better promise. Jesus shows us a way and a
promise we know as resurrection.
The
difference? The active seeking of immortality -- "im-mortal", literal meaning: "not dead" -- means
not being willing to die. I’m just not going to die! “Baby, remember my name.”
Jesus' crucifixion-into-resurrection way and promise of
life, on the other hand, means dying is a must, first. We die to live – when
the dying holds the seeds of redemption. Living in a resurrected manner, we die and must
face dying each and every day. Meaning, each and every day we at least
implicitly say no to more trivial actions before we can say yes to more
fruitful actions. The payoff? Discovering a
way of living we could hardly know otherwise.
Immortality,
Resurrection: Note the different verbs corresponding with each of these life pathways:
Immortality,
we seek.
Resurrection,
we discover.
For we cannot seek resurrection – even as much as we
can discover immortality! For with resurrection, we do not and cannot imagine the
splendor of new life and living on the other side of death and dying.
Resurrection is something we discover. Something we
find only when we encounter and acknowledge and stare down the fear of our
mortality … and trust there is something greater once we pass through the fire.
Resurrection. In Mark’s gospel, on three separate occasions, Jesus talks openly to his disciples -- to us -- about his path to resurrection through the crucifixion fire. And contrary to nearly every Google image under "Resurrection" I
could find, Jesus well understood three things:
A) Resurrection is not just about "Him".
B) Resurrection is not just a one-time event.
C) Resurrection is ultimately about us -- and the way we discover we can live.
