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Will the Real Messiah Please Stand Up

Part 3: Chanting Hope

He Lives! He Lives! Christ Jesus Lives Today! The first preacher of the Gospel, Mary Magdalene comes barging into the disciples’ locked room of fear and boldly proclaims, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18). In place of death, life shouts victoriously and the chants of the resurrection begin.

My greatest hope is in the resurrection of the Christ we crucified yet God raised up. For the resurrection upends the Empire’s expected ending, displaces despair, destroys darkness, defeats death, dissolves division, uproots oppression, undermines unworthiness, hijacks Hell’s hostages with hope, and forges fear into faith.

By choosing to lay down his life, Jesus illustrates that the Empire has no power over God! The ultimate act of agape (self-sacrificing love) on Calvary’s cross; rebukes retributive punishment, stops the scapegoating and victim blaming, bringing the vicious vengeance cycle to a stand-still. Jesus who forgives the very soldiers nailing him to the cross and the blood-lusting crowd; “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  

Today the crowds seeking a blood-lust seem to be multiplying and the insurrectionist Barabbas’ followers seem to have built in amplifiers. The voices promoting violence and dissent blare out and bombard us from every media outlet. Just like that crowd in front of Pontius Pilate fiercely chanting ‘Free Barabbas’ and chanting ‘Crucify Him, Crucify Him.’

Chants are something we had been hearing a lot of the last few weeks. Watching World Cup matches in some of America’s biggest stadiums provides an electrifying environment. One part of the experience that hypes up the crowd are the chants. It is amazing to think that each of those booming chants had to start with just one solitary voice. One person in a crowd of thousands had to have the idea, had to make up a chant, waited and timed out the right moment in the game, then had to mustard up the courage to raise their voice above the roar of everyone else to make their chant heard.

Let us chant the faith of the resurrection. Here are some fun ideas:  

Love overcomes lies/ we are one/ so let us be done/ done with division/ We are One, We are One, We are One

Hope over Hate/ An-tici-pate/ great/ Compassion, to come 

Freedom from Fear/ Faith for the Future 

Hey, Hate/ we, initiate (E-nit-shoe-8)/ Love/ our, M-V-P/ Love, for the Vic-tor-y!

Join in the chant, raise your voices of hope, teach it to others, spread the Good News that life triumphs over death. Because resurrection is not a one-time event; “believing in Christ’s resurrection doesn’t mean affirming a historical fact, and saying, ‘Oh really?’ It means being seized by the life-giving Spirit and experiencing ‘the powers of the world to come’ (Heb 6:5) in our own living and dying.” Jurgen Moltmann, The Source of Life.

If we are ‘seized by the life-giving Spirit’ then the chants of love will swell and overcome sentiments of hate. The goal is not to drown out the voices of hate, ultimately the goal is to transform shouts of hate into pleas of kindness.

Transformation is what we are called to be all about in the UMC, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world” (into the Kin-dom of God) is the mission statement of the world-wide denomination over 11 million voices strong. The UMC engages in a myriad of social justice concerns, which one do you want to help change the world with?

Discern one social concern that most ignites you. Is there a group already active in promoting change that you could join? For example, FUMC hosts the CommonGoodMedical clinic that needs volunteers to be patient advocates and is seeking monthly donors to provide free medical care to our uninsured neighbors. Or volunteer at FUMC with Farmersville Outreach Alliance’s grocery distribution. If you are passionate about a need that is not being met my job is to empower you to utilize your spiritual gifts to bring about change.

Just because the task is beyond daunting, doesn’t mean we should allow ourselves to fall prey to Satan’s most effective weapon- apathy. Let us be fueled by hope. “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Jesus knows we all need encouragement.  Even with his closest followers at the Last Supper, he spends 5 entire chapters in the Gospel of John (13-17) urging them on to continue his mission. The greatest teacher of all time spends his last evening on earth preparing his disciples to continue the ministry mission after he is no longer physically with them. Jesus tells us it will not be easy, and that the world is against the Gospel. For these reasons, God gave us the Holy Spirit our constant companion who yearns for us to be fully reconciled to God. My faith  persuades me to believe the immortal words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

…He Lives, He Lives…Freedom from Fear, Faith for the Future...Love for the Victory…

Are you interested in diving deeper into how to witness an alternative to White Christian Nationalism? Contact Pastor Brian to register for the upcoming book study: Building Beloved Community; The Courage to Love in the Face of Tyranny.

If there is enough interest this could be a hybrid Zoom/in-person class. To register please email dierolfbrian@gmail.com, include which option(s) would work for you: 6p, Mondays or Thursdays.