Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Gain the Perspective
Tim's letter from the March Bathford Bulletin
There is a surprising moment right at the very end of the film, ‘A Bug’s Life’ (you can see the level of high culture that exists in our house). The camera pans out and out and you see that the world of the ants in which the whole film has been played out is actually a tiny part of an area of scrub land in a park by a road on the outskirts of a major city with sky scrapers stretching away to the horizon. Only now do you see that there is so much more than their little world; only now do you gain the perspective to make sense of all that has happened.
The resurrection of Jesus is like the camera panning out and showing us that there is so much more to life than just this life. If this life is all there is, then it is frankly impossible to make any sense of so much of the pain and injustice that so many people experience. The resurrection of Jesus enables us to gain perspective on all that we experience in this life. The resurrection of Jesus is the light of the world to come breaking in to this world enabling us to see more clearly. The resurrection of Jesus offers a challenge to those for whom this life ‘works’ and who have ended up thinking that this life is all there is. The resurrection of Jesus offers comfort to those for whom this life does not ‘work’, who have known little but illness or sadness or disappointment for years and years. The resurrection of Jesus shows us the life of the world to come - a life in which people with resurrection bodies like his will finally enjoy life in all its fullness and in which there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. The resurrection of Jesus shows us that we are not foolish to think in this way.
The apostle Paul, who so knew what it was to suffer, once wrote these words:
‘For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.’
It is the resurrection of Jesus that shows us what we hope for and that can guarantee that our hoping will not be in vain.
Happy Easter!
Tim