For years I have heard sermon after sermon on Easter Sunday that talks about how Jesus’ resurrection amounts to basically the fact that he paid the price, made the great sacrifice, took on the sin of the world and died with it and rose again anew. Each of these sermons places the act of resurrection solely on the shoulders of Jesus with little or no responsibility on our part.  In fact that IS the message isn’t it?  He did it all, paid all, so that we don’t have to do a thing but believe. His grace is what saves us all we have to do is confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord. Jesus not only walked the walk and talked the talk but he even somehow once and for all did the deed so that we don’t have to.  What?  Not the message you expected?  Well isn’t that the message we are sending to the world? Jesus did a whole lot more than come here, die, resurrect and then leave.  There were 30 years at least that are not recorded of his life in the Bible.  Were these significant years?  Was there anything to those years?   We actually do have record of the last three years, but for some reason we tend to focus mostly on his death and resurrection that constitute roughly 3 days. Is the resurrection significant?  Of course it is, but so are the words of Jesus recorded in red prior to all of that.  In fact the symbolic nature of the death and resurrection of Christ is fully embodied in the words he spoke while he was here. I have heard Christians say the words “Every day is Resurrection Sunday!”  Usually what they mean by that is that every day is a reason to believe more, rejoice more, and share the Gospel more.  None of these are bad things, really.  But what if Jesus’ death and resurrection was just one more way that Jesus spoke to us -- one more way that he shared the good news with us, demonstrating for us what it means to follow him? Maybe following Jesus means dying to self.  Giving up on all of the things you have heard and learned and taught about Jesus.  Dying to the self-designated truths we have created.  Dying to ways of thinking about politics, dying to the idea that somehow my truth is greater than your truth simply because I believe it and can prove it by twisting scripture to suit my ideas or someone else’s ideas that I have bought into. Maybe dying to self means becoming nothing, so that we can be filled with his something, but not so that we can dominate or control others, so that we can learn to live in the Kingdom of God, being resurrected into a new way of life, a new way of thinking, feeling, loving, growing, seeing.  Maybe resurrection is being born again into the wild ways of Jesus (to quote Kathy Escobar). Maybe it’s not about learning to master the Bible so that we can argue better for a Biblical worldview or state our “Case for Christ,” or “save marriage” or fight the “good” fight that somehow involves tearing others down.   Maybe being resurrected with Jesus is about learning to love better, serve more, care about people that are invisible to us, care more for those that are right in front of our face, and give a crap about ourselves -- so that we can stop bemoaning the fact that we are all alone in the world, and begin to immerse ourselves in it -- so that we can be the “ones” that we are waiting for; so that we can be Jesus to a world that needs him especially within the body of Christ. Happy Easter folks!  He is Risen, let’s not waste it… Song: "The Great Inversion" by The Cobalt Season The Great Inversion