"The Lord's unfailing love and mercy never cease, fresh as the morning and sure as the sunrise." (Lam. 3:22-23)
You have to wonder if the women walking to the tomb on this morning thought about that promise, wondered how they would see unfailing love and mercy in a situation like this, let their grief spill over in tears as they made their way to anoint the body. The morning was fresh, the sun was rising, but I'm not sure they trusted at that moment in all the things they had been taught.
Read John's resurrection story here. The level of activity from disciples horrified that the tomb was open, that the body was gone...well, let's just say the frenetic pace of Easter services may have begun right there. But the question that haunts is "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"
Easter resurrection is not a ticket to heaven. It is not a place set far above other humans who are not "in." It's an opportunity for life together that places our hope in the unfailing love and mercy of God. That gives us the ability to live in this new community, people who are united in Christ, not in their political views or wealth or skin color or gender.
It is a lifetime journey to learn to stop seeking the living among the dead. But when we manage, through God's grace, to turn our eyes and hearts from what we expect and look at what can be, then we know "God's love and mercy never cease, fresh as the morning and sure as the sunrise."
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