Still in Easter

In general, I tend to be rather melancholy and, often, depressed. I recently read something by a Spanish priest of the earlier part of last century. He wrote as if God were speaking. Part of what came out of that reading for me was the recognition of an assumption i have held but never realized before - I assumed that my melancholy, my grief, and my despair were all greater than God's grace. I had grown comfortable in my various miseries. They've become something familiar and even comfortable for me. I have let those things define me. But, according to the scriptures, those things don't really define me - not since Christ did on the cross for my redemption and rose from the grave to give me life. What i need to do - actually and not just figuratively - is to give them up as a sacrifice to God. It sounds kind of weird to put it that way. After all, isn't a sacrifice supposed to be about giving God our best? No... sacrifice has more to do with giving God what we most cherish. And i have cherished my melancholy.

I love the whole Easter season - including Lent which precedes it and the weeks of Easter after Easter Sunday that lead up to Ascension Day and Pentecost. I am reminded of who i truly am in Christ. I am encouraged to recognize more and more of who i thought i was, leave it behind, and live in concert with who i truly am in Christ.

Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24 RSV)

Christians are people who have been transformed... and yet, at the same time, they are still going through the transformation process. That transformation does not occur apart from the Christian's cooperation with God's Spirit. Part of that cooperation is learning to think differently. Christians are to set their minds, as well as their hearts, on things above. (Colossians 3:1, 2) The Christian mind is to be in a state of constant renewal. (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23)

Easter is a powerful reminder that, although the Christian's transformation is not yet complete, it is taking place with the guaranteed result of total Christ-likeness. That process for Christians does not occur apart from participation in every facet of the life Christ himself lived. In other words sacrifice, servanthood, humility, grace, mercy and love are more than just words in the Christian vocabulary. They are the
marks of spiritual transformation. Christians participate in the Spirit's work as they intentionally give themselves to acting in these ways thus giving the Spirit "room" to transform heart and mind. Easter is the historical mark that reminds us God has already provided us with everything necessary for life and godliness. Easter reminds us that, through Christ, God already is victor over all - including death. Easter further reminds us that there really is nothing that exceeds God's grace and mercy - even the melancholy, fear and guilt that used to define me.

The Lord is risen. Alleluia!