Introduction
In the light of current events, we might well ask ourselves, ‘What resurrection, what life?’ How do we articulate our Christian faith in a way that does not sound like wishful thinking or pious claptrap?
Context
UK Prime Minister Teresa May has triggered ‘Article 50’.
Victims of the Westminster attack were remembered by Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith leaders in a vigil outside Westminster Abbey in London.
16 million people in East Africa are on the brink of starvation
In the UK, last week’s Red Nose Day raised over £73 million for Comic Relief.
Reflection
With Teresa May’s triggering of Article 50, Britain is entering a period of uncertainty. No one knows how things are going to play out, either economically or socially. Combined with the shock of violence erupting into an ordinary London day last week, there is a danger that we turn in on ourselves, enclose ourselves within the safe and familiar, and create narratives involving ‘us’ and ‘them’. ‘Take away the stone’, says Jesus (John 11.39) – we are not to be ruled by fear, or death, but to open ourselves to life and love. Brendan Cox, widower of the murdered British MP Jo Cox, urged communities to come together, and to remember the acts of heroism and kindness, rather than the violence of a tiny minority.
Nevertheless, we need to be careful about proclaiming resurrection too quickly. First comes the time to weep, to mourn. So, last Friday faith leaders stood together in silence. And on Sunday afternoon, women – many of them Muslim, and wearing blue headscarves to symbolise peace – linked hands on Westminster bridge to remember the victims.
Humour is a typically British way of affirming life in the midst of a difficult even desperate situation. Hence the tube notice, later proved to be fake, that went viral on Twitter: ‘All terrorists are politely reminded that THIS IS LONDON. And whatever you do to us, we will drink tea and jolly well carry on. Thank you.’ Comic Relief harnesses this fondness for humour to great effect, raising both awareness and cash for people living tough lives in life-denying situations.
In Sunday’s Old Testament reading, Ezekiel recounts his vision of resurrected bones (Ezekiel 37.1-14). He was speaking to a traumatised people, forcibly driven from their homeland. We don’t know how it was received in his lifetime, but we do know that it has gone on inspiring people in situations of oppression and suffering. The spiritual ‘Dem Bones’ has been credited to James Weldon Johnson, an African American poet and activist born in 1871. The lyrics are based on sermons preached by black ministers in the Southern United States at the end of the nineteenth century, riffing on Ezekiel 37.7.
Jesus’ words ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ open many Christian funerals. But there is much confusion among Christians as to exactly what ‘resurrection’ means, and many are unsure of what to believe about life after death. In the secular world there are initiatives to encourage people talk about death and dying, such as the charity Dying Matters and Death Café.
Church congregations too might think about creating safe spaces in which people could talk openly and honestly about their hopes and fears.
Prayer
A litany based on this week’s Bible readings.
Out of the depths we call to you: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our darkness and despair: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our suffering and pain: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our loneliness and longing: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our anger and bitterness: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our apathy and paralysis: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our anxiety and fear: bring resurrection, bring life.
Into our emptiness and desolation: bring resurrection, bring life.
Breathe into our dryness, give us hope and a spark of life,
that we may know you to be God.
Amen.
Questions
- What do Jesus’ words ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ mean to you?
- When, in your life, have you felt as though you were emerging from a tomb?
Action
Consider a spot of community, even guerrilla, gardening and bring new life to neglected ground.
Young people
Talking about death is never easy – whether the deaths we see on our screens, or our own personal experiences. But might it be possible to create a safe space in which young people could explore their thoughts about death and dying. Have they been to a funeral? What was helpful and what was difficult about it? How do they relate to the Christian belief in resurrection?
Ann Conway-Jones is a freelance lecturer and writer. She is an honorary research fellow at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education.
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