When our daughter was born, our lives changed. My wife lost significant amounts of sleep. I lost the ability to eat a peaceful meal. When she started walking, I lost almost all autonomy or any time to call my own, except when she was sleeping. Then I usually took a nap, too. When someone is born, things change. When someone rises from the dead, things should change, too.
This is Easter, the day we celebrate when our Lord Jesus the Christ "was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead" Rom. 1:4.
What does it mean for followers of Jesus that He is Risen? Besides one day a year, what does it mean for us? Well, if our Lord is Alive and has defeated death, that should mean that we are a people who do something.
James says that our faith is dead unless it is accompanied by action (James 2:14-26).
Paul calls the entire group of the followers of Jesus a body, and he says that we should be growing.
"And [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ....speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Ephesians 4: 11-2,15-16
The strange thing about a body that is alive is that it is always moving. Even when we sleep, we move. We twitch. We fall out of our beds sometimes. We breathe. Being still really isn't an option for something that's alive; even if the movement isn't visible to the eyes, it's still there (like growth over time). Dead things, they rest all the time. In fact, they never move on their own.
But our Lord didn't stay dead. He rose from the grave. Then, He went for a walk with some of His followers and opened the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:13-35). He also went to visit His apostles and ate some fish with them (Luke 24:36-43). Then He tells His followers, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." (Luke 24:46-47)
Jesus lived a life of constant and consistent prayer. He alone had perfect beliefs and spotless orthodoxy. But He didn't stay on His knees or stay in Scripture study; He walked out of the grave. He calls us, His followers, to be alive and active, breathing in His Word, breathing out repentance, receiving His Gospel, and giving it freely to all who will listen. He calls us to sell all that we have and follow Him (Luke 18:22). He calls us to go throughout the world (including next door) and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20).
What is He calling you, specifically, to do? Because we can't leave it to the "professional pastors;" it's not just fingers that move, it's an entire body. Even if you don't know which part you are, you know you're a part if you follow Him. And each part must be working properly if we're going to grow up into Christ, the Head (see Eph. 4:15-16 again).
Here's the scene: It's the Championship game, and all of history has been waiting for this moment. Jesus takes on sin, death, and the world (joined just after the bracket was made) for the Title - King of All. It's Jesus 1, Hell (the monicker they took) is still at zero, and there are just seconds on the clock. Jesus holds the ball in the air and looks at the stands. Everyone is rushing the field....can we really keep our butts in the bleachers?
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