E-votional - The Body's Moving
April 12 - April 18, 2004

Verse:

For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.”

Matthew 28:4-5 (NRSV)

Thought:

Nothing messes up a funeral like a moving body. Funerals are a time when we say good-bye, a time for closure and reflection. The idea of a body moving inside of a casket would seem like some tasteless joke of adolescence, but certainly not reality or truth. If, for some reason, the body of someone who was deceased did begin to move, shock, horror, fear would result. After bearing witness to such an event, there would be the Psychological trauma which would follow, not to mention the need to re-visit the definition of death. It would change reality as we know it. Well, guess what, The Body's Moving

Hear the Good News, Christ moved, moves and will move again. What a sight it must have been. Frightening and traumatic for sure, powerfully life changing at the least. Or was it. On the Day Of Resurrection, what we know as true and what we know and knew as reality all changed. There were not cameras watching, no-one was voted from the tomb. Israel did not send in a text-message, and we can trust that Rome did hack into any type of system to ensure a land-slide result. No hanging chads, nothing. The Body just moved, Jesus moved.
For such a powerful event, it seems much has been lost today. The power and passion of that moment, a moment which caused a great shift in humanity and the world, something has happened today. It is as if the Body moved and no one cared. Well, maybe not no one. This is a problem that is very powerful today, the problem of indifference, dullness, sameness and predictability. Here is the problem broken down; although we say we seek a sense uniqueness, we like also seek sameness. Although we want to think of ourselves as unpredictable, we seek predictability. We want it all on our terms, we want the control and safety of the truth, but only the truth we can handle. Well, guess what, the body moved!
It is time for us to all see where we are and realize faith and predictability can't co-exist. We must re-capture that idea that, as a child, we could pray "Now I lay me down to sleep ..., " and know God is big enough to be by our side when the unpredictable happens. We must realize God will guide us when the unique elements of life come our way. We have to be changed by the fact, and the truth, the Body moved. The Moving Body calls us to respond in 3 ways. Are You ready?
• repent - not your agenda, not my wants, no "me" or "I", but God's. 180 degrees.
• believe – focus that faith on what God has done in Jesus Christ, say to any obstacle that stands in your way, "Get out of my way!" and watch what happens. Faith.
• do – live the life you are to live in light of Christ's activity in the world and in your life. Act.

Prayer: 

   Gracious God, I want to praise You, Jesus moved, moves and will move again. He moves for me and for everyone. This I humbly believe, but I ask, help my unbelief. Help me when I face the unpredictable, the change in the world and my life. Strengthen me when I grow weary, and let me be all You would have me be. Thank You for all You have done and all You continue to do.  In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Grace & Peace

David Banks
Jewett United Methodist Church
PO Box 254
Jewett, TX 75846
(903) 626-4003

 

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