Hello friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighborhood Monk-in-Docs,
Welcoming you to another day of reflecting on the I Am statements as we find them in the Gospel of John.
And this week moving deeper into Jesus' words,
I am the resurrection and the life.
And today I want us to think about the mystery of resurrection.
Because let's face it,
If you look at the stories in the Gospels and you look at the resurrection of Jesus,
What does that resurrection really look like?
We don't know.
And the bits we can piece together just sound completely surreal.
We see Jesus disappearing from one place and appearing in another place.
We see Jesus coming through walls into locked rooms.
And yet we see a body that still holds the scars of the resurrection and that can be touched and that eats.
This is a strange thing that's worthy of our contemplation as we consider what it means that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and what that means for us.
So as we begin,
Let's stop,
Let's breathe deep,
Let's rest and settle and think about this mystery that resurrection is.
It might be a mystery,
But the fact that we hold to it and believe it means that it's a reality,
Albeit a reality that's beyond our logic or our understanding.
And because of what it looks like,
We've got to take it from the position that this is more than the return of just physical life,
That this resurrection is about transformation and that it's about awakening to God's presence in a brand new way.
And so when Jesus says,
I am the resurrection in the life,
As we've seen,
He's not speaking of something that's only off in the distant future.
He's revealing something for the present,
For this very moment.
And so resurrection isn't something we have to wait for,
Something that happens after we die.
It's really about how we're called to live now.
Now in the mystical tradition,
Resurrection isn't just about the body,
It's also about the soul.
It's the process in which we are transformed more and more into the image of God or,
To use the language of some of the Christian mystics,
As confronting as it is to say this,
Resurrection is the process of becoming more like God,
Of dying to the false self and being reborn in a new way,
Reborn in love.
And again and again and again,
We are invited into this transformation,
This death and resurrection.
This is why Jesus says the kingdom is like a seed that dies and then grows and brings forth fruit.
Because literally that's the process.
There's this continual death,
But this continual resurrection,
This dying to the false self and being reborn in love.
And you and I are called by Jesus into that very transformation.
And so the question is,
What is it that needs to die and maybe even die today,
So that something new can be born within you?
I don't know whether you have a fear that keeps you from stepping forward,
A doubt that holds you back,
Or an old way of thinking that no longer serves who you are becoming or who God's called you to become,
Or whatever that is though.
Now is the time to let that thing fall away.
And to go back to the seed analogy,
Like that seed that's buried in the earth,
There's something in you that has been buried and is waiting to rise.
Now let's think about that seed.
The seed at first,
It remains unseen,
It's hidden,
It's silent,
It's buried.
But while it's hidden and silent and buried,
It's there that life starts to stir within it.
And the shell softens and the roots take hold.
And then one day,
It pushes through the darkness towards the light.
This is resurrection.
And maybe because when we're thinking resurrection,
We think of Jesus who dies and then three days later rises again.
But I honestly believe the resurrection that God is doing in us,
This transformation,
This movement from death to new life,
It's a little bit slower.
It's unseen.
It's happening buried somewhere,
But it is happening.
God is always,
Always bringing new life.
Even when you don't see it,
Even when you don't feel it,
God is always about bringing new life.
Can you trust this mystery?
Can you allow what is breaking open within you to grow and blossom and bloom into something beautiful that brings forth good fruit,
Fruit that will last?
Let's pray.
Jesus,
Help us surrender to this mystery of resurrection.
Let what is false in us fall away and let what is true in us rise.
Transform our hearts.
Draw us closer to you.
Amen.
Remember,
Friends,
Resurrection is not something you achieve.
Resurrection is something you receive.
And may grace,
Peace,
And love go with you in this new life,
Whatever shape or form that takes today and every day.
Let go,
My friend.
Surrender.
Trust the one who makes all things new to bring about that new thing in your life.
And may peace be with you.
Until tomorrow.
Bye for now.
