The Easter Heifer

As we prepare for Resurrection Sunday this Holy week, we can participate in Jesus' mission of new life. While our standard Easter celebrations are often self-gratifying, perhaps we could embrace the nature of our celebration and offer life through sacrifice.

We act mercifully because we have been mercifully acted upon. "In view of these mercies...offer yourselves as living sacrifices." In no small way is the power of Resurrection to be passed on. Through one supremely sacrificial act, the entire trajectory of world history was altered, the order of things flipped and life triumphed over death. Thus, through us and our acts of sacrifice, we are joining in on the party. We align ourselves with Jesus' upside down kingdom where power and authority is found in submission and meekness.

So, how are we to practice Resurrection? We are to die so that others may live. Instead of conceding to the rat-race we find ourselves in, we stop seeking self-fulfillment and begin to give ourselves away. It took an act of God to shift the tide and it is an act of God in our hearts that will save us from ourselves.

This Resurrection life, this self-giving-away life is to be totally consuming, yet it must start somewhere. There are several practical ways to live this out and it starts in the simple yet supreme command: love your neighbors. We must decrease so that they can increase. On a larger scale, we can align ourselves with groups that promote resurrection throughout the world.

One such organization is Little Rock's own, Heifer International. I've blogged about them before but I want to give them another plug. Through giving that hardly amounts to sacrifice for the average American household, Heifer provides much needed aid for developing communities across the world. Watch the video below for a brief explanation of how this works

This Easter, you can join Heifer's efforts by participating in their Hatch Hope Campaign. As they put it: "This Easter, put eggs in someone else's basket and hatch hope for a family in need. When you give a gift of livestock and training in their care, you are providing a way for families in need to lift themselves out of poverty and into lives of dignity and self-reliance."

Maybe this Sunday we can celebrate Resurrection not through over-consumption of chocolate but through life-giving sacrifice.

A Portrait of Christ

A Portrait of Christ from Jeremy Cowart on Vimeo.

A Spring of Hope

There are several reasons why I cherish Easter, some theological, some nostalgic but right now I am meditating on the seasonal change that accompanies the holiday. The pastels we drape on us for that eventful morning echo the awakening color blossoming from the earth outside the church walls. Spring is a season of fulfilled promise. After months of often bitter cold and death, we yearn and hope for Easter, for flowers and green and life. Michala has brought this sense of life into our home by the addition of seeds planted on our window sill. Every day we rush to see what has occurred in the dead of night, desperate for a sprig of hope. And miracles of miracles, life emerges.

Is it any wonder that the season of new life we call Spring coincides with the celebration of new life we call Easter? Jesus tells a story of how unless a wheat seed is broken and dies it will not grow to bear fruit, to bear bread, the bread of life. He is that broken seed, crushed underfoot. And yet the reason we will congregate at all this weekend is that the seed does not remain dead. Just as the basil is sprouting from the soil on my window sill, the crushed wheat yields life and abundant life at that.

I've only been observing this phenomenon we call Spring for 27 years but for some reason, each time it roles around, I am always surprised that it all somehow worked again. I marvel that land so barren and cold could possibly produce such abundance again; but it does, every year. In this faithful rebirth I witness the seeds of hope. My soul is often found wandering in a Winter wasteland, barren and even dead. And as I peer within, I wonder if there is any reason to believe that perhaps once more, New Life will bloom. I desperately await the Sprig of Hope. And miracle of miracles, Easter comes and death is laid in the grave. Miracle of miracles Jesus emerges risen and triumphant. Miracle of miracles, Spring dawns full of color and promise. Miracle of miracles, this very soul of mine find more than courage, more than hope, more than my wildest dreams and miracle of miracles I rise.

He is risen, I am risen, we are all risen indeed!

Fat Tuesday

So, Michala and I have decided to continue to develop new traditions for our family.  This past December we ventured into the unfamiliar waters of Advent, only to find ourselves overwhelmed at the beauty of the season.  So as Ash Wednesday ushers in the season of Lent, we have decided to prepare our hearts and our family for Easter.

We're still very unfamiliar with all of this and although our current church doesn't really emphasize Lent, we are excited to experiment and see what the Lord does. We are both expectant and a bit nervous about all of this.  In the coming weeks, as we approach Easter, we will both be updating our blogs, reflecting upon what God is showing us in this new season.  We covet your input, prayers, and support.

I love this quote from Bob Hyatt about what the season of Lent means: "The reflection of Lent on our sin, our brokenness and all the ways we are tied to and contribute to the brokenness in the world should serve to increase our gratitude and wonder at the love of God."

If you are interested in what we are doing and would like to learn more about Lent (and some suggestions on how to participate) check out this prayer guide that I found via Michael Carpenter (check out his sweet blog here).

Thanks for reading and I hope you join us on this journey!

Michael, Michala, and Mary Grace.