Resurrection Strength

John 10:10 The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance. (The Voice)

Jesus talked a lot about bequeathing life a fullness of life and that abundance is not just for hereafter. But more than this, he call us to be life-givers - to facilitate the full life of compassion, justice, reconciliation and peace. We are called to be ministers of life, serving the God who loves all life.

There are things that rob us of a full life. For example, the truth is that fullness of life is not found in pleasure, performance, possessions, position, or pursuits; it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus says time and time again that he is the giver of life, the author of life.

Wilbur Rees wrote a poem that is complete satire during the emergence of the civil rights movement.   As with most satire, there is a significant truth within the poetic text as it accurately reflects the small hearts of many. 

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man
or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.

A. B. Simpson, preacher and theologian contemplating John 10:10 suggests that “Christ is not a reservoir but a spring. His life is continual, active and ever passing on with an outflow as necessary as its inflow. If we do not perpetually draw the fresh supply from the living fountain, we shall either grow stagnant or empty, It is, therefore, not so much a perpetual fullness as a perpetual filling.”

Open our eyes and our ears 

that wherever we go, 

we may hear your voice calling us by name; 

calling us to serve, 

calling us to share, 

calling us to praise, 

so that we never give up on the promise of your kingdom, 

where the world is transformed, 

and all can enjoy life in all its fullness. 

Amen.