Resurrection

Matthew 22:31-2 – “Regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read the words God has spoken to you? ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ God is God of the living, not the dead.’”

Jesus is making his case for resurrection against the Sadducees claims that there isn’t one. Of course, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not physically alive – Scripture rec0rds their burials. Jesus’ claim here is this: in some way that matters, they are still alive. Of course, we cannot know what this resurrection is like.

Yet, we CAN know what it looks like for someone who is dead inside to be resurrected in their spirit. When a person is without God – however you want to define God – there is a loss of self as well. We lose who we are without a spiritual center, and we lose God. Jean Calvin thought self-knowledge was so important for Christians that he began his “Institutes” claiming that to know God, we must know ourselves, and to know ourselves, we must know God. It is an ever-widening spiral.

The more we hide ourselves from our spiritual center, or hide ourselves from ourselves, the more desolate and dry we are inside. I was at a poverty simulation recently. During the debriefing the presenter spoke about how poor people don’t understand finances and that financial education was important. I pointed out that while I agreed that education is important, there is a systematic component to poverty that wasn’t being discussed. First, he corrected me, but I stood my ground. I made it clear that I agreed with him and that I was adding on to his point. He got so angry, he was leaning over the people sitting in front of me firing questions at me. Then he started talking about how we coddle our kids out of fear that they might die. "So what,” he said, “kids die.” I’m not exaggerating. I have independent confirmation. That is what desolate and dry inside looks like; a person without room in their heart for an additional point of view, who gets angry when others do not stick to the preferred narrative.

I admit, I can be like that presenter. I’m better, but not perfect. The process of resurrection has been painful. Getting to calm acceptance from being super touchy is not easy, nor something anyone chooses lightly. Life is much better with a spiritual center, although not always safer, and definitely not pain-free. I think some churches miss this. Ideally, becoming a Christian changes us. It makes us more loving, generous, and thoughtful of others. The road is difficult; however, God is with us, because she is God of the living, not the dead.