1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Reflection - Hope
So what are we in the Church to do now? Jesus has risen! He has risen indeed! Now what?
Without a doubt in my mind our first action is to rejoice. We live in the joy of a risen Savior. We live in the joy of a God that cared so deeply for each of us and for all of us that God sent Jesus into this world to take on the punishment each and all deserved for their sin. And don't think you or any group get out of this punishment for sin just because, by some standard, you think you are "good." We all deserve to feel the flames of hell. We all deserve eternal damnation. ALL.
But this is the source of joy. Jesus took on all of this punishment for us and in our place. So now we are free to live in the love of Christ Jesus. We are united in Jesus death and in Jesus resurrection through the love of the Father for all the people... once again ALL.
In this we live a new life of joy. It's not all over yet though. Jesus will come again. There is still sin in this world and in my life and in your life also. We still must realize our dependence upon Jesus as our Savior. We can't save ourselves after all, we need Jesus. So as we live life in this world of sin, we are tested by fire. We are tempted. We resist the temptation and sometimes we fail. But we also and at the same time are following Jesus. We are living in the joy of the resurrection and the hope of eternal life. And we love Jesus because we believe that through God is our only hope.
And in all of this we have faith. Deep faith. Growing faith... that God in Jesus is our only hope and our only salvation.
Therefore those outside of the Church are welcomed into the Church not by anything they can do but by the love of God through Jesus. And likewise those in the Church live in communion together in this love of Jesus and this resurrection hope to see a new day and a new coming of Jesus. When Jesus will come again and sin and death will be no more. For Jesus has defeated sin and death and will come again to gather his Church throughout all time and all space to himself in heaven.
Yes, for now it's time to rejoice. Yes, for now it's time to live out the love of Christ in the world and in the time and in the space and in the unity of the Church here and now with all those God gives to all the Church and to each of the disciples of Jesus.
Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia!
Now let's live like it.
Thanks be to God!
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmyUgsmCzB4
This is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman. A man who's daughter died a few years ago. We all experience the death of a loved one at some time or another, but the death of a child is something that is especially hard to live with. This song relates to the hope that we live with in the resurrection of Jesus. Yes, we are still in a world of sin and death. Yes, we still suffer the flames of this fire. Yet we also have hope. Hope in a Savior.
I am reminded of this hope in the passage of Scripture offered this day above,
"Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
It's not easy and seems impossible at times. But we live in this joyous and eternal hope of the salvation of Christ Jesus our Lord that we will be in communion with him and all those who have gone before us.
Let the Church offer prayers of hope for all who live through a tragedy such as this and all people who live in the need of hope.
Prayer
Lord, gather your disciples together that we may live in loving communion with one another and serve those you give to all and to each of us in the joy of your resurrection... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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