J.S. Park

Skipping The Hard Stuff Jesus Said

I pretty up Jesus to make him more convincing because I don’t think he’s enough on his own. 

I do this because I’m scared, I’m nervous what you’ll think about him — and I have this other idea of God that will go down smoother to answer all your doubts and concerns.

Doesn’t this make me a liar?  Or disingenuous?  Or a magician?  Or a bad movie trailer?

I end up saying, “Jesus is actually saying —” and then going into a detailed explanation of the Greek to gloss over the really hard things he said.

We don’t like to wince.  We cringe at the tough stuff that doesn’t mesh with our modern Western sensibilities. We are sure that Jesus meant something else.  So we dress him up, decorate his words, and exegete the edge off him.

In Matthew 13, when Jesus says what he’ll do to evil people — he’ll “throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” — I fail to see how this is gentle generous by-golly Jesus who gives free hugs and high fives.

In Luke 12, when Jesus says what the master will do to the wicked servant — “He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers” — I can’t turn this around by saying, “Jesus is really saying, ‘I will never stop loving you.’”

In John 6, Jesus preaches a sermon so hardcore that every single follower except the appointed twelve end up leaving him.  Jesus asks the remaining dozen: “Do you want to leave too?”  I don’t see this in any church growth books or discipleship workshops.

In Matthew 10, Jesus says plainly with zero disclaimers: “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law — a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”  I don’t see a hidden meaning in this passage.  He said what he meant; he meant what he said.

Can we let Jesus speak for himself?

I know that Jesus was absolutely loving to the outcast, the poor, the children, the foreigners, the women, the demon-possessed, the disabled — but are we really skipping all these other parts?  He had some hard words for the Pharisees, the teachers, the rich young ruler, and that guy who wanted to bury his dad at a funeral.

I’m not sure if I can keep neutering Jesus like this and still be called a “follower of Christ.” 

What I’m following then is God in my own image.  I’m doing both a disservice to Him and to you.

There are certainly many things that Jesus said which I don’t understand, which I find unpleasant, which tickle my teeth and turn my guts upside-down. 

But if he really does love us: he’s going to say the hard truth.  Part of love is being truthful, or you’re not being loving.  At some point, Jesus pushed up against a human sensitivity and ran right through our polite, politically correct paradigms. 

Truth is never easy to hear.  That’s why it’s called truth.  And that’s why it sets us free. 

If I were the Son of God and I knew there was really a place called hell, then I’d be like one of those scientists in a disaster movie who warns everyone about the impending doom.  I wouldn’t hesitate to mention the terrible tragedy that is heading for us — and Jesus did the same. 

If I were a disciple recording the events of Jesus’ life, I wouldn’t spare time trying to make the truth-pill go down easy.  If Jesus died and rose again for us but never said a nice thing, he has still proven he loves us by going to a cross and inviting us to eternal life. 

If someone died for me while saying a few tough words: I’m not going to whine about the tough words.

I just don’t want to chop up the words of my Friend and King for the sake of making him look consumer-friendly.  I’m not saying we need to be offensive or shocking or colorful about this — but I just don’t want to water down my Savior into someone who can’t save.

He does love us.  So much that he didn’t hold back, not once.

Please let Jesus speak.  He is better at it than we are.

“I want God, not my idea of God.”

— C.S. Lewis

— J.S.

Question: Who Could Ever Love Me?

Anonymous asked:

I have the fear that no one will ever love me and have horrible self esteem. So I started lying and acting like I am more interesting then I am and now I don’t even know who I am at all. What I like or what I don’t like has become a facade and I don’t know what to do to get back to the core me. Because of this I am horrified and worried that I lied myself into this idea of Jesus and Christianity. Even if I do figure myself out, I don’t know if i could forgive myself. How do I fix me and be God’s child?

Dear friend,

Thank you for your courage to say what most of us would dare never confess. 

There are many of us who are faking it, who feel alone, who secretly think this whole “faith” thing is crazy, who see no way forward — and simply act like it’s fine. This is all part of our human struggle, and it does NOT ever mean you’re unloveable. The very fact that you recognize these things makes you even more of a candidate for God’s unqualifying love.

What I’m seeing from you is the honesty to seek something better. But I think somewhere early in your journey, you believed a lie about yourself, and one lie fed into another, into another, into another, and now you’re so comfortable inside these walls that you can’t imagine anything else.  When you believe a lie, it always increases in energy and momentum and darkness until it’s exposed.

So can we start from the top?  Can we start over? Let’s leave behind those old lies.

You are loved by your Creator, regardless of what you’ve done or who you are or what happens from here, and you can’t do anything about that.  Nothing, I mean nothing, can shake how God feels about you.

Faith, then, is not based on religious activity or behavioral change, but being more and more certain of the reality that God absolutely loves you.

And the truth is, even if you had thousands of friends who liked you and cared for you and hung on your every word — you would still be alone somehow, separated by the invisible walls of communication, limited to the tiny space inside our head and our hearts.  The Only One who can intimately know ALL of you also loves you exactly as you are.  

You don’t need to “try to be God’s child.”  Imagine asking your parents, “How can I be your child?”   It is simply a turn of belief. 

Faith is growing in the certainty of God’s love by the proof of Him sending His Son to die and rise for you, knowing that He wants to spend the rest of eternity with you.

When you believe this, then —

You are free from the approval and validation of others.  I know that saying “you’re loved by God” doesn’t just flip a switch, and there will be many days when you still wished for someone to show you some affection.  But human approval is such a fickle thing.  Even in the height of good friendships, we are still limited to how much we can give and receive validation.  It’s okay to want human affection, but it’s possible to drain from others what only God can give you.  Our confidence first comes from the infinite wellspring of God.

You are free to be real with people. You don’t have to impress anyone.  You don’t have to bargain with others for your status, popularity, or good will.  You can be awkward, nervous, anxious, and vulnerable, because your life does NOT depend on other peoples’ perception of your value.  You have an infinite value purchased by the life of Christ.  And if someone wants to judge you outside of this, that’s more reason not to base your life off them anyway.

You are free from self-esteem.  I know everyone has a loop of self-talk that replays over and over.  We are either in self-condemnation or self-exaltation.  But God says you are so loved that you cannot be crushed, and also so loved that you cannot make it on your own.  Be free from the lie that “self-esteem” can make you or break you.  The power of humility is that there is no esteem except the undeserved grace of God which He has given you by the gift of His Son.

You are free from fixing yourself. Do we know anyone who has successfully fixed themselves, ever?  I’ve seen people try, desperately, and fail, miserably.  The Christian’s progress is submitting to the Spirit of God so that He would flex His fruits through you in a powerful display of His glory.  God will do this.  Philippians 1:6 says, “Be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it unto completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  In every moment, submit to what God would have you do.  Don’t grade yourself on a scale — and sooner or later, you will have grown in Christ without hardly noticing.  

My dear wonderful friend, I love you and I’m praying for you. As much as I love you, God loves you infinitely more. Believe it. Preach it to yourself. And even when this truth is hardly visible in the stormy seasons of life, hold on by faith. We have a God who does not measure how “much” we believe, but by how much He loves us.

“Imagine how a man’s life would be if he trusted that he was loved by God. How could he interact with the poor and not show partiality, he could love his wife easily and not expect her to redeem him, he would be slow to anger because redemption was no longer at stake, he could be wise and giving with his money because money no longer represented points, he could give up on formulaic religion, knowing that checking stuff off a spiritual to-do list was a worthless pursuit, he would have confidence and the ability to laugh at himself, and he could love people without expecting anything in return. It would be quite beautiful, really.”

— Donald Miller

— J.S.

Question: How Do I “Love God”?

Anonymous asked:

I get so bogged down and depressed when I try to be a ‘good’ Christian. Things begin to feel so legalistic and joyless that I find myself wondering how I could love anyone that will take over my life at any moment, twist my arm, and whisper things like ‘If you loved me you’d ___” or “If you had faith/believed more I wouldn’t ___” like some abusive relationship that won’t let you think, feel, or do things for yourself. Is there any way to overcome this feeling?

Dear friend: It’s very possible you could’ve been sold a pile of lies about God.  I’ve heard some of those conditional statements you mentioned and they do have good intentions, but they’re jumping off a false premise. 

I think your question boils down to a very simple one:

How do I actually love God?

I’ve never heard a single person in the history of anywhere successfully answer this question.  Most people say those bizarre things like, “If you know God really loved you, then you would love Him back!” And we’re supposed to reply, “So convicting!” — and then feel really bad about our sorry little Christian lives.

But if some random lady on the street yelled “I love you” at me, I’m not going to immediately reciprocate.  Not even if she’s Salma Hayek.  The most I would say is, “Okay thanks lady” while backing away slowly.

The truth here is: No one can make you fall in love with God — including yourself. 

So let’s ask an easier question.

How do I fall in love with someone?

Now we’re getting somewhere.

You ready? 

The more you get to know someone, the more you fall in love with them — and the more you fall in love with someone, the more you get to know them.

I recognize that my “job” as a pastor and as your friend is to hook you up with God.  By God’s grace and His Spirit, I’m trying to get out of your way and help you encounter Him.  The more I can reveal who He is, the more likely you’ll fall in love with God as He truly is.

Anyone who really encounters God can’t say no to Him.  Not because they’re coerced by God, but exactly because God doesn’t have to.  He is who He is.  He’s awesome.  His love and holiness are undeniable.  A simple glimpse of His nature is enough to melt your face off.

And the more you understand God as He really is, the more you will automatically begin to trust Him, spend time with Him, and go totally radical for Him.

How do I know this?  Because you do the same thing with the people you most dearly love.  There’s no question you’d take a bullet for your friends or your spouse or your kids.  You would drive hours to see them, you’d do anything they ask, and you’d sacrifice your blood and sweat to see them happy.

All this without thinking, “Why are they bothering me?”  Because love makes you crazy in the best way possible.

But — it takes time to get there.  No one can force you.  You can only join a church and attend Bible study and go on mission trips and embrace serving opportunities with an open mind, and soon you’ll encounter the Living God. All the while, you’ll see that the Spirit of God is beckoning you and wooing you and opening doors and drawing you to Himself, without ever intruding upon your will. 

I’ve found that small moments build into a big love for Jesus.  Once when I was serving food to the homeless (which I try to do regularly), I looked at the line of over a hundred people, their plates extended as I plopped down potato salad and baked beans.  I had done this many times before — but this particular time, I was just so dang excited and happy to see the looks on their faces.  I couldn’t stop smiling as one after another, I was so blessed to serve these men and women. 

Then I realized: Is this how God feels about me?  Is this how happy He is to give me His grace when I extend my plate to Him? Is this His heart when He gives me the gift of His Son and His Spirit and His Word?  And I nearly wept right there thinking about how much God loves me.  Even writing this, my heart can hardly stand it.

I could never have created this moment out of thin air.  It happened because I was inside the sunbeam that connects to the sun.  And God, in such a simple way, shared His heart with me.  I can tell you: I’m still shaken by that experience.  I haven’t gotten over it.  Even in my worst days, I remember what happened there. 

I can tell you without shame that in my prayers, I nearly always end with, I love you Jesus.  It’s not easy.  Probably not too many people pray this way.  I’m not saying that to brag, but to say: it takes a vulnerability on your end. 

To love someone is a big deal, and God understands our feelings of mistrust and risk.  He is totally willing to work with that.  But God Himself is perfect, unfailing, and always there — so when you get to know Him, it’s actually not so hard to love Him. He’s really the awesome dad that we’re all longing for, and we can be completely open and vulnerable with Him like we’ve been trying to be with everyone else: except with Him, you won’t be let down.  And as weird as it sounds, I actually like Him.  I get the feeling that He likes us, too.  

Read the four gospels.  Read Acts and Colossians.  Read them as if they’re specifically written for you (because they are).  Get to know Jesus.  You might be surprised by his love one day.  It’s okay if it doesn’t happen in a moment.  It may take many moments over a lifetime to get there.  But when you’re there: expect a love that will uppercut your soul.  Expect something beyond simple platitudes, formulas, quotes, and catchphrases — and expect the Jesus you always knew and suspected all along.

— J.S.

Question: Regrets About Wasted Time

Anonymous asked:

How do you overcome the wasted time and regret that comes with depression? God is in the process of healing me, but I look back and see the damage that depression has done: my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health; friendships and relationships, my family, my academic career. People say stuff like it’s not wasted time because God is growing something deeper in you, but the fact is a lot of time HAS been wasted. Nothing will ever bring back those years. How do you grapple with that?

I’ve struggled with depression since forever, so I’m right there with you.  I know what it’s like to think of those “fogged out” patches of life and mourn over why we couldn’t have just done better.

But please, dear friend: you really can’t beat yourself up about this. 

Let’s think through what you’re asking.  There are always some questions that will lead to a “Gotcha.”

For example:

- Do you ever think you could’ve tried harder?

- Have you ever been happier than now?

- Do you feel like no one understands?

- Is there more you could be doing?

I hope you see what I’m doing.  The answer to all these is, “Of course bro.”  If I ask, “Do you feel like you have regrets over wasted time?” — then nine out of ten people will scream YES and overthink and start wallowing in self-pity.  These questions will almost never have satisfactory answers.

This mind-bomb already condemns you before asking. 

It’s a technique used by New Age, Scientology, pop psychologists, and the preacher who doesn’t know better.  It sets up an angst in your soul so you have to buy-the-book or go-to-the-conference or jump-through-these-hoops.

No more of these questions, all right?  We’re done with that.

The thing is: You can’t really make up for lost time.  If you try to compensate for what’s behind you, you won’t be able to look ahead.  It’s like starting a race from negative two laps.  This is a losing game, and the only way to win is to admit loss and start over.

When I first learned how to drive, I had a bad habit of looking in the rearview mirror all the time. My dad would tell me: Don’t worry about the car behind you.  That’s their job.  You look straight ahead.

Sounds like something Jesus said: Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

I’m not telling you to never look in the rearview.  I’m saying: We can’t live our lives looking both forward and backward at the same time.  

It’s okay to feel regret, but this can’t be the determining axis on your story.  There is a time to mourn, but there’s also a time to stand again.

You know this already, yet the devil’s lie in this whole thing is that you can somehow “repay” the hurt you’ve done. But the truth of Jesus is that he left Heaven to die and rise for the very regrets that you’re facing. 

As much as you might not feel this now, God has already preempted your every failure and disobedience and misstep with grace upon grace upon grace.  This means that even the “lost time” is in God’s hands, and it’s somehow being transformed into a good that we cannot comprehend.  But that’s all the more reason we move forward and pursue Christ, not less.  That’s even more reason to get the help you need, to seek forgiveness, repair relationships, rebuild community, and gain trust again. 

None of this will be easy, but it won’t be any easier if you keep looking over your shoulder.

Today, simply declare bankruptcy on your old life.  Begin again with Christ.

Right now, God has already gone ahead of you with all grace and is ready to accomplish amazing things through you.  He offers Himself, which is already enough. Hold onto His grace and cast off anything else that impedes.  We don’t get many second chances in the world, but we always have a second chance with Christ. 

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”

— C.S. Lewis

— J.S.

The gospel, for you.

Take time to read.  Well said, Josh.

joshtheyipper:

God made you.
He handcrafted you piece by piece.
Why? Because he loved you.

And in his eyes, you were exactly what he wanted you to be.

Unfortunately, you came into a world that wasn’t perfect. This world wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. And like a sickness, this world infected you too.

And you became someone who wasn’t exactly who God wanted you to be.

We sinned, you sinned, and you became a broken image of who you were meant to be.

But God knew this.

He had known this was coming before He created you. And He enacted the most daring rescue plan in the history of all creation.

Because He. Loved. You.

So, about 2000 years ago, he physically entered our story. For you.

He became part of this imperfection. He entered our broken world. But he was unbroken.

Yes, while you and I tend to become broken by this world, Jesus was different. God wasn’t broken by our world. Instead, it seemed to be wherever he walked, he healed this world.

But his plan was much more than people expected. Because one day, he died.

This broken world finally caught up with the God who created you and me and finally. broke. him.

God died.

But that was the plan all along.

Because just as Jesus healed the world as he walked, Jesus entered death.

And healed it.

Jesus killed death that day.

That’s why Paul cries later in 1 Corinthians 15: Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?

Because our brokenness condemned us, even if we didn’t ourselves. So God became human. And in doing so, healed humanity.

God died. And in doing so, healed death.

And now, Jesus wants to change your life too. He offers you eternal life - free, not of what you do, and regardless of your past or present.

Because He loves you.

And like any good lover, he wants to know you. And he wants you to know him. He offers himself - a healer who has healed death and is healing this world. He wants to be part of your life - indeed, all of your life. And in the process, heal you. He wants to make you who you were created to be.

Do you want to know him?

Question: A Mega-Post on Guilt, Fear, Shame, Fire and Brimstone

Five anons:

- I’ve always been on the receiving end of what you would call the ‘guilt-fear-shame’ tactics. When I was seven, I was handed one of those infamous “You’re a Sinner and You’re Going to Hell” pamphlets. Ever since then I’ve struggled … that I’m still doomed to hell simply because ALL I’ve ever known is the terror, the guilt, and the shame … How can they do this to others?

- I have always been told … “Don’t read anything that isn’t the Bible”, “You’re going to hell because you enjoyed Pokemon”, “Don’t you know Hollywood is a den of sin?” I constantly feel like it’s WRONG to have interests outside of theology/religion … I feel like I’m being trained to be a nun or monk. Is it right to feel this way?

- I sometimes feel like I’m sinning when I don’t have a bible in my hand 24/7. I feel that way when I’m doing my homework & watching cartoons. I feel that way reading anything that isn’t theology-derrived … Is this a natural part of growing on the journey?

- The word grace appears in so many bible verses, lessons and sermons… but I’ve never known what it actually means. so, what is grace?

- This isn’t an ask, but rather a thank you for your time writing. I feel I’ve grown more reading this blog than I ever have from being that person beaten in the face with all the ‘do not associate’ and ‘there is no depression if you believe’ tirades. Some of the things you say sting from time to time … but it’s a good hurt. I am VERY grateful for your condemnation-free encouragement…I would hug you and crush your ribs if I could.

Thank you for these very honest questions and for the awesome encouragement.  You and I both have been hurt by tons of churches that breathed condemnation: and for some of us, it could take a long time to recover. 

So please allow me the grace to break this down a bit with a little more nuance.  Please feel free to skip around.

1) Guilt/fear/shame are natural first reactions that point to a human truth.

If you would’ve asked me in the last two years if “guilt/fear/shame” were wrong, I would’ve yelled an emphatic YES.  Faith can never be sustained by the motivation of guilt because it’s an exhausting race that isn’t fueled by God nor even running towards Him.

But I began thinking: Why do we even feel guilt?  Should I be so quick to call it evil? Isn’t it as significant as every other emotion?  No one believes that all pain is bad either, because pain points to our humanity.

So feeling guilty is not wrong — it’s expected.  Please do not feel bad for feeling bad.

We’re all hard-wired to feel guilt/fear/shame.  These are the effects of the Fall in Genesis 3, and any time we feel those emotions burning our gut, it’s always pointing to something missing. In other words: Guilty feelings point to a “positional” guilt.  Guilt is part of our humanity saying: Something is wrong here, and we need a better way.

Sin killed our connection with God in the Garden.  You can see it in this broken fractured world.  We know this is not how things ought to be.  When we conform to the Fall, our hearts will the feel the guilt of going against our Creator.  It’s that sick feeling in your stomach which already tells me: you know what I mean.  

Even the kindest preacher in the world will still press your guilt-button, because you will always feel the gap between who you are and who you could be. This tension is an inevitable part of our fallen condition.

2) Guilt/fear/shame will always be wrong when it’s used by the preacher as a motivator.

The problem is when the preacher is yelling at you on Sunday about porn or drugs or TV shows, he’s dropping a sledgehammer down your throat.  He’s over-doing it.  He is mostly saying what you already know is true, and he’s not offering a solution.

A bad preacher will only tell you how it is.  A good preacher will carry you on a transformative journey from how it is to how things could be — and he does that by pointing to Jesus, the one who came to rescue us. 

Feeling guilt is natural, but if you think it will navigate your walk: it will only consume more energy than it creates, and that’s how self-condemnation happens.  To put it in theological terms, you can’t use the feelings of guilt as leverage to pay off the positional guilt.

3) Guilt/fear/shame, as an initial reaction, is inevitable because it points to the Holiness of God.

The Bible over and over talks about men and women who meet God, fall on their face, repent in dust and ashes, wear a sackcloth on their head, fast in terror of the Lord, and wish they were dead.  So much of the Bible is about God’s wrath, God warning us, God laying down justice.  We shouldn’t dismiss that.

If you could see the throneroom of God, like Isaiah did, you’d probably say the same thing: Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips … and my eyes have seen the King. 

Isaiah, who is probably holier than you and me and your grandma and Mother Teresa, could hardly stand his own sinfulness in the glorious sight of God.  I don’t mean to over-state the case: because I don’t think I can.

When we preach a “hyper-grace,” we short-circuit the Holiness of God.  I’ve seen what hyper-grace can do to people.  They often think they’re never wrong.  They dismiss rebuke as a “guilt trip.”  They become sermon-snobs.  They brush off the consequences of sin and jump quickly to grace, which is good, but unrealistic.

4) Yet God does NOT want you to stay in guilt.  In the end, we can only walk this walk by God’s grace.

If your first reaction is guilt, you need to know it’s okay.  It’s healthy and normal.  But we can’t stay there.  Ultimately, God doesn’t keep us in fear.  He is not some parole officer holding the trapdoor lever to Hell. In our continual faith journey, all fear gets put to death. 

That’s why 1 John 4:18 says,

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

God doesn’t want us to base our relationship with Him on do-more, try-harder, maybe you’ll make it.  It’s not based on the TV shows you watch, or reading the right Christian authors, or plugging into church programs.  You might know all this: but guilt is still controlling you.

Apostle Paul in Romans 8 says,

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

— in perhaps the most victorious monologue in the entire Bible.

So the difference is that guilt never really finishes the sentence and doesn’t root for you to move forward.  Sure, guilt is inevitable, but it’s not the conclusion.

I know God’s grace is scary because we want to earn it somehow: but that’s the point.  We can’t.  God loves us in a way we don’t deserve and we can’t earn.  It is finished, he said.  We can only receive the gift.  It’s this love which picks us up, restores our brokenness, and sets us on His mission. 

Like Isaiah, we respond, “Here am I, send me!”  It’s the same when Jesus in Matthew 17 revealed his fully blazing glory on the mountaintop, then went down to a fallen Peter and told him, “Get up … Don’t be afraid.”  Jesus was the only one who could lift him up.  He picks up his disciples from the floor of their shame into his grace.

I’ll end here by unabashedly quoting myself:

When someone unconditionally loves you despite you with no end in sight, it changes you.  The only other option is to beat you up with religion and rules, which can’t sustain you for your whole life.  While grace takes longer, it will become a part of you in a way that moral conformity never can. 

Without grace, we’re just clocking in our daily tasks until we “feel holy” or we’re desperately trying to hit an arbitrary standard.  With grace, we a have a limitless love that provokes us into the same kind of love.  It changes not only what you do, but what you want to do.  It turns nobodies into somebodies as long as they remember they’re nothing who received something.

That’s the only truth that could ever motivate someone to anything.  We work hard, but grace empowers every effort.

— J.S.

Resurrection = Hope

Ten years ago, I went to a funeral for my friend.  He was eighteen years old.  He was stabbed to death in the doorway of his home, and he had died trying to save his sister and his mother. 

He died on the way to the hospital.  When I got the news, I hung up the phone and threw it across the room.  I kicked over a chair and couldn’t stop yelling.

At the funeral, there he was.  An eighteen year old life, cut short, dreams gone, a future inside a box. 

Three months before he died, he and I were at a Christian retreat together.  During one of the services, he received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  I was there when it happened. 

At the funeral — we were able to rejoice.  It was not an easy rejoicing, but we knew he was with Jesus, in a joyous union that we could hardly comprehend.  He’s there now, and ten years has probably felt like ten seconds.

I don’t mean to be morbid, but it’s difficult to connect the Resurrection to our daily lives: until you’re at a funeral.  Then it makes sense. 

I’m not saying his death makes sense, or that it doesn’t hurt, or that I fully accept what God is doing all the time.  I’m saying: the Resurrection gives a hope above and beyond all that happens.  It answers our deepest fears about eternity.  If Jesus is alive, then a funeral is not really a funeral — and futures do not stop in a box.

The death of death is the Great Reversal of the human story.  Even those who overcome many obstacles have to die one day.  Jesus reversed inevitability.  He is the True Story of the world.  He made it okay to dream again, even when dreams seem to die.  In the midst of cynicism, Jesus is the “happily ever after” we all secretly long for.

He’s the hope in traffic, in troubled family, in bad grades, in aging, in failed plans, in irreversible mistakes, in overwhelming bills, in second and third chances, in tragic headlines, in our daily struggle.  In the shadow of death, his shadow is greater still. 

Sean: I’ll see you again soon one day. 

Until then: we tell the story.

— J.S.