Resurrection

This week is Holy Week, with tomorrow being Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. This week I bought a book that I'd had my eye on for awhile. I bought Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. The inside cover flap says something to the effect of:

For years, Christians have asked the question, "If do died tonight, do you know where you would go?" Turns out they have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven.

His argument appears to be based on the idea that we have hope of resurrection when we die. It is not a matter of dieing and immediately going to heaven, but rather waiting in hope of the resurrection of the dead. He has hinted that he will be arguing against the idea that heaven is a disembodied state, but rather a new creation, or fulfillment of creation, a joining together or heaven and earth. When taken in this context, it makes a lot more sense why Paul commends us to take care of our bodies and this earth. However, our mindset typically is the opposite. We see little need to take care of our bodies for a spiritual purpose or to take care of the earth for such a purpose. Rather we see no need to oil the squeaky wheel of the cart that is about to go over the cliff.

I am only a couple chapters into the book, but it is forcing me to evaluate my thoughts on death and life after death. I had done some initial wrestling with the issue a few years ago, but had not come to any well-reasoned conclusions. I was leaning towards some of these conclusions, but now it's time to figure things out a little more.

I think our church is onto something with the celebration of Easter. Throughout Lent, the sanctuary has been decorated using gray primarily. On Good Friday, the decorations are turned to black and left that way till the service starts on Sunday morning. One of the first things in the service that happens is we sing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today", and as we sing, people come down the aisles carrying lilies, white cloth, and other "life-signifying" things and the sanctuary is transformed from death to life as we proclaim the resurrection of our Lord. It is a very moving time.

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On other things, I'm getting to be a "bachelor" for the weekend. Jess is up in Michigan visiting her family. She had Good Friday and the day after Easter off, so she flew back to Michigan Thursday evening. She flies back on Monday evening. My parents are coming next Thursday, so I'm using the weekend to get ahead in some classes and work on some papers... and cheering on Purdue this afternoon. I'm also getting a "guys night" tonight, which will be fun too. However, I'm already anxiously awaiting the return of my wife on Monday.