Congregational Corner: Take On A Life Out of the Tomb

  1. Congregational Corner: Take on, An Active Presence
  2. Congregational Corner: Take on, A New Perspective
  3. Congregational Corner: Take On A Life of Sacrifice
  4. Congregational Corner: Take On A Life Out of the Tomb
  5. Congregational Corner: What it all comes down to

By Rev. Jordan B. Davis (M.Div.‘14)
Congregational Corner

Every year, I watch the posts fly about what individuals are “giving up” for Lent. The crash diets and motivation to finally clean out the closets are worthy of being posted on social media, but I question if they really challenge us to understand the meaning of Lent and the sacrifice which we remember during Holy Week. As I pondered how I would approach this Lenten season, I decided that I wanted to turn things around in my own life and rather than give something up or give something away, I will take something on, just as Christ took on the sins of the world in his own death.

Over the next several weeks, I will strive to “take on” one new thing each week, in turn striving to take on more of the love and grace which Christ exhibited throughout his life, death, and resurrection. I hope that you will join me and share your own experiences!

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Luke 24: 1-3 (CEB)

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

With our shouts of praise and exhalation, we run from the empty tomb! The stone has been rolled away and Christ is no longer there. What does remain, however, is an additional challenge from Christ’s (now risen) life.

Leaving the tomb, we are challenged to take on a new life. We are challenged with carrying forward the pinnacle of Christianity, that life renewing and saving grace which poured out from the cross and now leaves the tomb empty.

How will you do that? Is there one (or two) things that you have taken on this Lent which will pave your path away from the tomb? Is there something else in Christ’s life that you would like to take on, following Christ’s risen example of love and grace?

Once the sanctuary is empty and the kitchen is cleaned, once the flowered cross picture is posted and the Easter shoes are kicked off – I invite you to create a rule of life for this coming year of Christ’s risen life.

I was first introduced to rules of life through the Sacred Ordinary Days calendar, and most recently at a CREDO conference. Reflecting on this now complete season of Lent, I encourage you to join me in lighting the path away from the tomb with your own rule of life. I share mine with you today, in hopes that you will not only find an example here but also help to hold me to it!

I will care for and love myself as a beautifully flawed child of God, created in God’s own image so that I can sit with my sisters and brothers and more fully share myself with them as I receive their own gifts in my life through the sharing of
experiences, emotions, and simple presence.

As a child created by and for God, I will seek to nurture all of God’s creation so that
we all might experience God’s nurturing love in a more complete way.

I will sit in the silence and listen closer to God,
just as I cry out in the midst of the storms of life.

I will give my heart and my life over to God, trusting in God’s active presence
and acting through God’s enduring grace.

Alumna Jordan B. Davis is associate pastor for youth and young adults at Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church in Cary, North Carolina, and editor of Congregational Corner.

Photo by yugdas manandhar from Pexels