I'm a part of a group of pastors in Santa Cruz who read a book a month & then gather to discuss, amongst other things, the book we've read. This month we're reading: "Surprised By Hope" by N.T. Wright. It's been a great read so far, & I must admit I'm a bit ignorant as to the meaning of the Resurrection now & for the life after.
N.T. Wright is tackling many questions including: "What do people believe in when they talk about life after death?" Moreover, what do we Christians believe when it comes to life after death? As N.T. Wright demonstrates we believe much more in "Heaven," then in the Resurrection of all believers. As my daughter said the other night at dinner, "People who believe in God go to Heaven. Those who don't go to Hell." Needless to say, I'm glad to be reading the book. Although her statement has some merit it's more a product of popular thought then thorough Biblical thinking.
One of the things I most appreciate about N.T. Wright's writings is his insistence upon the bridging of Jesus' arrival & our, the church, response in light of this in the world. He says, "It (The Resurrection) is not an absurd event within the old world but the symbol & starting point of the new world. The claim advanced in Christianity is of that magnitude: Jesus of Nazareth ushers in not simply a new religious possibility, not simply a new ethic or a new way of salvation, but a new creation."
Jesus is the beginning of a new creation. He is the catalyst of the Kingdom of God. This is incredible in so many ways, but the thing I find most amazing is that we, the church, are that new creation. We are the the greatest living example of the Resurrection. We are the Kingdom of God here & now. This was a huge issue in the first century. The church was one of the most obvious signs that something real had actually happened: A new community was now in existence where beforehand there was not. A group of people who desired to have their lives shaped by the Lord of the Cosmos; a people who desired to live out the values of the Kingdom. That's a big deal.
But what does the church mean in the world today? Jesus is the start of a new creation. We are the deposit in this world of that new creation. However, currently, to what end? Are we the lightning rod for the Kingdom God envisions to demonstrate here? Is the church, like a window into a house, a way for people to see: "Aha, that's what the Kingdom looks like." Clearly the answer is, in most cases, no. At least in Santa Cruz, when people think church they don't associate it with: The clear example of what God's Kingdom looks like here & now.
Somehow we (I) don't get the Resurrection; because if we did this world would look a lot more like the one Jesus came to inaugurate.
