The Water's Fine Enough!

We celebrated the resurrection this last Sunday in a beautiful and powerful way (4/05), and now it's the season of Easter until mid-May.

I love Easter Sunday, but often feel slightly anxious about the day.  As a religious leader, I get to hold out my hand, take a brave step, and invite others to come with me: "the water's fine, c'mon!"   A great deal of my leadership and invitation require I have a certain level of confidence, experience, and assurance.  Easter is certainly one of these moments when others are counting on a pretty high level of these three.

But the challenge is the faith and Lord many of us identify with are often just as mysterious, complex, and obscure as they are clear, comprehensible, and timely.  While there are countless records of instant revelations and life-change moments, our relationships and understanding of Christ's depth often take a lifetime of work and growth.  Additionally, this knowledge of the heart rarely lends itself to our timeline or personal conventions of control.

When I teach on Sundays, I often assure others I'm including myself in my observations and prescriptions.  It's also important others know anything I'm teaching I'm also working on personally.  I'm not perfect, nor am I completely there yet.

But that's what I love about this life, this faith pursuit, and this seeking after a Lord and Savior we cannot see with our eyes as we can see our friends and family.  It's less about what I know, am completely assured about, and have most of the answers about, and much more about what I desire, hope for, and am willing to devote myself to.  It's much less about hearing from someone else first the water is fine and much more about deciding the water will be fine enough to dive right into, even IF it's freezing, burning, shallow, deep, full of undetected obstacles, or hiding swift undercurrents.

Jesus doesn't tell us just to sit at home and wait for him to come greet us, pack all our clothes, book all our flights, print all our maps, and pay for all our meals.  Instead, Jesus is saying most of the time, "Hey, I want you to have this, but just as much, I want you to want this.  You take the first step!"

So when it comes to Easter, the resurrection, and Jesus' new life--I'm not completely there yet.  I have a lot to learn, experience, and let soak into my core still.  But, I want what we've been told about and see glimpses of all around us.  I'm desiring to get way out there beyond the buoys in my little blow-up floaty tube.  I'm anxious to experience the fullness of who Jesus is all about me, even in my deepest depths.

And so that's how I'll live my life.  I'm not waiting for Jesus to come get me.  I'm going to meet him somewhere in the middle of getting there!



Happy Easter!  More to come!

Jason <><