City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

⁴ The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵ And the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

Matthew 28:4-7 (NASB)

Reflection

The Easter story is quite extraordinary.  It has earthquakes, angles looking like lighting, women talking to angles, men hiding in an upper room, and Roman guards shaking with fear.  There’s so much going on here that one could miss that this is a hinge point.  One could argue that this is the fulcrum of history.  As a seesaw tilts from one side to the other, so tilts human history with this event.  Perhaps at the birth of Jesus, announced by angels, the seesaw began its motion, and with Easter, that Sunday morning, it reached equilibrium and began tipping in a new direction.  Notice that this event was announced by angels.

During Jesus’ ministry He called his disciples and spent time teaching them the ways of God’s kingdom.  But I think most of His disciples would freely admit that they didn’t really catch everything He taught.  They were probably only getting the gist of the message; a shadow of a new idea but not taking in its full significance.  But with this Sunday morning, and the amazing events of the day, the lesson is taking hold for the student and the final calling out is at hand.  It’s game day.

This means it is now time to do the work.  The lessons have been taught, now they must be lived.  Works have been shown, now they must be performed.  Words have been said, now they must be delivered and passed on.  This is when the student discovers that it is one thing to learn how something works and a completely different thing to do it yourself.  The question that each disciple must answer as he puts his hand to the work is, “do I have what it takes to complete what is being asked of me?” And if you take on the kingdom thinking that answer is yes, you will almost certainly fall away.  That answer is “no.” And it is the answer that Jesus expects.  This is why Jesus says that He will be with us.  We are not to take on the life of the kingdom alone.

I have often told people, whatever you do, you should get some joy or refreshment out of it.  If not, you won’t be able to do it for long.  You will run out of energy.  Jesus’ promise is there to keep us refreshed and energized.  The work that He has for us is a work of grace, and He will have it done no other way.

Application

“A work of grace”?  Does that mean we should never struggle?  Absolutely not.  I think it means that you will always have struggles from time to time.  You will always have some challenge associated with your work.  But this is a good thing.  Challenges and struggles are filters that pull insufficiency and incompetence out of your life.  So, you end up with a skill or a new capability that becomes a grace to your life.  And in the end, you now have something, a disciple, that you can pass on to others.

So, abide with the Lord, struggle, and overcome.  Learn the Lord’s grace and be quick the help others learn it.  In this you will know the Lord and you will make disciples.

Prayer

Dear Lord, You have brought me out of a darkness and into a marvelous light.  You have overcome my shortcomings and taught me Your love and Your grace.  Fasten these things to my life and increase my faith, that I might teach sinners and saints Your ways.  In Jesus lovely name.  Amen.