{"id":4564,"date":"2021-04-04T13:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2021\/04\/04\/quiet-resurrections-based-on-jeremiah-311-6-and\/"},"modified":"2021-04-04T13:00:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T13:00:03","slug":"quiet-resurrections-based-on-jeremiah-311-6-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2021\/04\/04\/quiet-resurrections-based-on-jeremiah-311-6-and\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cQuiet Resurrections\u201d\tbased on Jeremiah 31:1-6 and Matthew 28:1-10"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

It is really easy to
\nmiss the point of Easter by focusing too much on what happened ~2000
\nyears ago. \u00a0There is extensive debate among people who debate such
\nthings about what FORM Jesus’s body took after resurrection, which is
\na clear indication that a lot of people miss the point. \u00a0However it
\nwas that Jesus’s disciples transformed from the frightened men who
\nran away from the cross to the leaders of the developing church who
\nfaced their own persecution with courage, and continued Jesus’s
\nministry in their own lives \u2013 that thing that happened was
\nresurrection. They talked about it as Jesus returning to them,
\nmeeting with them, guiding them, explaining things to them. \u00a0I have
\nno idea where the line between metaphor and reality, memory and
\npresence was in that, nor do I think it matters. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I think it matters
\nthat they became convinced that not even the Empire’s power of death
\n\u2013 they greatest power the Empire had \u2013 held any sway over them.
\nI think it matters they moved from self-protection to courage. \u00a0I
\nthink it matters they moved from scattering to consolidating their
\nrelationships. \u00a0I think it matters they moved from the amygdala
\nresponse of \u201cdanger! Protect self!\u201d to the pre-frontal cortex
\nquestions of \u201chow do we tell the stories of Jesus so others can
\nhear them?\u201d and \u201chow do we distribute food fairly despite
\ncultural differences?\u201d and \u201chow much do we take on and how much
\ndo we train other people to do?\u201d \u00a0They, themselves, moved from the
\nfear of death to the fullness of life. \u00a0That’s resurrection. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And the key to all
\nof it, is that the power of resurrection that moves us from the fear
\nof death to the fullness of life is a CONTINUAL gift from God that
\nenriches ALL of our lives, and empowers us in our darkest moments.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Truth be told
\nthough, given the rather hugeness of the original story, everything
\nelse can pale in comparison. \u00a0And because of that, I think we
\nsometimes miss the power of resurrection in our lives, because we’re
\nlooking for things that are bigger and flashier than how God mostly
\nends up working. \u00a0So, I offer this example from my own life, of what
\nI’d like to call a \u201cquiet resurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When I was a kid, in
\ngym class, we were expected to test for the \u201cPresidential Fitness
\nTest\u201d every year, and every year I failed the running portions.
\nAlas, I told myself, \u201cI’m no good at running.\u201d \u00a0As I got older, I
\ncontinued to fail every running test my physical education teachers
\nput in front of me. \u00a0Eventually my narrative switched to, \u201cI’m just
\nnot in good shape.\u201d \u00a0Sure, I did lots of physical activity all the
\ntime, but CLEARLY I was failing, and CLEARLY that was an indication
\nthat I was \u201cnot in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That story stuck
\nwith me. \u00a0By seminary I jogged regularly, but since it was slowly,
\nand since I still got winded, I told myself \u201cI’m just not in good
\nshape.\u201d \u00a0Later, as I’d climb mountains with friends, I’d be
\nnoticeably the most winded and make jokes about \u201cbeing in bad
\nshape.\u201d \u00a0It had become part of my identity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Five years ago,
\nafter Easter, I got a cold. \u00a0Truthfully, this is common enough for
\npastors and church workers. \u00a0The intense work of trying to make Holy
\nWeek and Easter meaningful experiences for our churches means a drop
\nin adrenaline at the end of it, and then people get sick. \u00a0That time,
\nthe cold became a cough. \u00a0Normal enough. \u00a0A month later I went to the
\ndoctor because the cough just wouldn’t subside. \u00a0Sure enough, I had
\nbronchitis. \u00a0But that wasn’t the whole story. \u00a0When the PA was
\nlistening to my lungs, \u201csomething sounded wrong, more wrong than
\njust bronchitis.\u201d \u00a0After a serious of tests, my doctor named what I
\nexperienced as \u201cexercised induced asthma\u201d and gave me an inhaler
\nto use before cardio exercise.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At first, this just
\nfelt like a new way of saying I was broken, because I was so deeply
\nin that frame. \u00a0But, what followed was, for me, miraculous. \u00a0Suddenly
\nmy workouts were… productive. \u00a0I got BETTER. \u00a0Also, I could
\nbreathe! \u00a0And ever so slowly it occurred to me that the issue hadn’t
\nbeen my own failure, a lack of exercise, or not trying hard enough \u2013
\neven though I’d been telling myself that for decades. \u00a0It was simply
\nphysiological. \u00a0In fact, it hadn’t even been that I’d been \u201cout of
\nshape\u201d for all those years. \u00a0Rather, I had an undiagnosed condition
\nthat impaired me.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It has taken a
\nshockingly long time for all of this to penetrate my self talk. \u00a0I’d
\ngotten so used to thinking of myself as an utter athletic failure,
\nthat I’d failed to notice that the goal of adult fitness is to have
\nways to move your body that are FUN and also promote health. \u00a0When it
\ncomes to that standard, I’m pretty good at being athletic. (Huh,
\nnever said THAT before.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’ve heard from many
\nother people over the years about the impact of diagnosis that feel
\nsimilar to this, including in mental health. \u00a0Varieties on the theme
\nof \u201coh, it isn’t just because I wasn’t trying hard enough\u201d or
\n\u201cthere is a NAME for what I’m struggling with\u201d or \u201cother people
\nfind this hard too, I’m not alone.\u201d \u00a0(Of course, not all diagnoses
\nfeel this way, of course. \u00a0But some do, and that’s what I’m talking
\nabout.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, maybe for some
\nof you, it will make sense when I say that for me, having a little
\ninhaler open my lungs so I can exercise, and having that experience
\nfree me from a hurtful narrative about myself, was a significant
\nexperience of resurrection. \u00a0It freed me to be try more things, be
\nmore playful, enjoy life more! \u00a0Those things matter.<\/p>\n

The stories we
\ntell ourselves about ourselves can be impediments to the rich full
\nlives that God wants us to live, and they can be impediments to our
\nresponses to God’s calls on us to build the kindom. \u00a0Easter is
\nthe story of resurrection, the story of God’s power of LIFE over
\ndeath. \u00a0We’re so busy telling ourselves and God that \u201cI can’t\u201d
\nbased on stories that aren’t true, that we miss God responding, \u201cOh
\nhoney, you CAN.\u201d \u00a0(God may use different endearments with you.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Many times in life a
\nskill or story is important to getting us through a moment \u2013 but
\nthe SAME skill or story becomes an impediment to growth later on.
\nSwitching around the way we see something can change our whole
\nexperience of it. \u00a0Reframing an experience, or a story can make space
\nfor God’s transforming work in our lives. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The challenge quite
\noften is that we don’t see our own framing, which makes it hard to
\nnotice it and consider adapting it. \u00a0This is one of the reasons that
\ntherapists are so useful, they’re particularly trained to noticing
\nand pointing out dated framing. \u00a0This is also a reason why we talk to
\nfriends and family \u2013 because outside perspective can make a huge
\ndifference in helping us see! \u00a0And, I think this is a reason why
\ncontemplative prayer is such a gift in people’s lives. \u00a0As we develop
\nthe skills to be quietly present to God and ourselves, as we
\ndisengage from the frantic pace of life, as we allow our thoughts to
\nslow down \u2013 we are MAKING SPACE for grace to move and show us new
\nways.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These little, quiet
\nresurrections may not seem like enough, but that’s only from a human
\nperspective. \u00a0When God is part of one small thing, and another small
\nthing, those two small things together add up to more than their
\nparts. \u00a0(Aka, God is willing to override the rules of math in God’s
\ncommitment to grace and the kindom.) \u00a0When many little resurrections
\nare added together, lives become more whole, and as lives become more
\nwhole there is more and more space for that abundant life to expand
\nto more and more people, and more and more of the kindom is built.
\nWhat God is up to is definitely enough.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After all, it was
\nonly one resurrection 2000 or so years ago, and we’re still seeing
\nthe rippling effects. \u00a0Thanks be to God. \u00a0Amen <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

April 4, 2021<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is really easy to miss the point of Easter by focusing too much on what happened ~2000 years ago. … Continue reading \u201cQuiet Resurrections\u201d\tbased on Jeremiah 31:1-6 and Matthew 28:1-10<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,28,33,1822,1821,1823,52,537,205,1820,1818,210,1404,56,1817,64,1819],"class_list":["post-4564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-umc","tag-alleluia","tag-april-4-2021","tag-christ-is-risen","tag-easter","tag-enough","tag-happy-easter","tag-matthews-version","tag-quiet-resurrections","tag-resurrection","tag-resurrection-stories","tag-schenectady","tag-second-pandemic-easter","tag-sorry-about-the-umc-world","tag-what-is-is-god-up-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}