Jesus Rises in Us

    I have no wit, no words, no tears; / My heart within me like a stone
    Is numb'd too much for hopes or fears; / Look right, look left, I dwell alone;
    I lift mine eyes, but dimm'd with grief / No everlasting hills I see;
    My life is in the falling leaf:/  O Jesus, quicken me.

    My life is like a faded leaf, / My harvest dwindled to a husk:
    Truly my life is void and brief / And tedious in the barren dusk;
    My life is like a frozen thing, / No bud nor greenness can I see:
    Yet rise it shall—the sap of Spring; / O Jesus, rise in me.

    My life is like a broken bowl, / A broken bowl that cannot hold
    One drop of water for my soul / Or cordial in the searching cold;
    Cast in the fire the perish'd thing; / Melt and remould it, till it be
    A royal cup for Him, my King: / O Jesus, drink of me.
    —“A Better Resurrection” by Christina Rossetti

This Lenten season, we have pondered and explored what it means to be Living Vessels for God.  And I think Christina Rossetti says it beautifully here.  Alone, our lives are like broken bowls, faded leaves, frozen things.  But that is not—and never is—the end of the story.  With every day, with every moment, we are invited to refresh, renew, recast, remold, restore, and revive.  Like the song says, “Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.  Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me!”  We are constantly given opportunities to discover our real worth as royal cups, as living vessels for God.  Easter teaches us that Jesus does not just rise; Jesus rises in us.

The message of the resurrection is not about a miracle that happened long ago.  It is about a miracle that has the capacity to happen every day, every moment.  I once read that resurrection is stepping out of the old rooms in which we have lived.  And the fact is we all need to come out—and claim our identities as beloved children of God—as living vessels for God.  Because today, and every day, Jesus does not just rise; Jesus rises in us.  How will you—and how will we—live out this resurrection message of Easter?

See you in church,
Christy