It is often said that what you pay for something affects how much you value it. In other words, the more you pay, the more you cherish it. I suspect that the reverse is also true: the things you cherish the most are the things for which you are prepared to pay the most. So what has this to do with Easter?
A major theme of this months readings is the cost to the post-Easter Christian community of their faith. Easter faith is not something we simply espouse each Sunday before returning to our daily lives. It is something that reaches into the heart of our existence. During this Easter season we are challenged to ask ourselves how much we cherish life in Christs resurrection community and, consequently, how much we are prepared to pay for it.
This challenge increases as the Sundays pass. Readings from the first Sunday ask us to have the courage to forgive the sins we encounter. The third Sundays scripture invites us to follow the radical attitudes of those first disciples who shared all they had to ensure no one went without. The last readings share the ultimate sacrifice Stephen was prepared to make, which raises a similar question in our lives. In the midst of all this, we are reminded of why we should cherish the gospel so greatly: the Jesus we worship walks with us on our lifes journeys, listening to our worries, explaining our confusions, and causing our hearts to burn within us.
April 3
An Unfading Inheritance
Acts 2:14, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
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