At our Sunday evening alternative service, the CORE, the community has been wrestling with the place of doubt in our faith. All of that culminated with our Easter celebration in which resurrection hope lived along side the doubts we carry. As we reflected on Mark’s account of the the women running away, silent, after encountering the empty tomb, we wrestled with how we are charged to finish that unfinished mystery. As one in our community put it later, “We are the sequel to the story.” Indeed we are.
Molly Vrbicek penned a litany for the evening, one worth reflecting on:
We have spent the past weeks diving deep into our doubts, exploring them, and finding peace with them. We have been honest and vulnerable with ourselves and each other, sometimes painfully so, boldly expressing our questions about God, who He is, what that means for us, and even how lost we sometimes feel in the vastness of it all.
We have found that these unanswerable doubts, uncertainties, and questions do not contradict our faith. Rather, they are steps in our dance with God. They are part of the complicated process of learning to follow and trust someone greater than ourselves.
Through these dark tunnels we have come out on the other side. Many uncertainties still remain, but we have hope. That hope is ultimately found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Christ was crucified, his disciples must have been in drowning in doubts. But imagine their joy three days later, seeing Him once again walking among them, fully alive! This is truly a cause for celebration!
So today on Easter Sunday, let’s celebrate the risen Lord! Let’s throw confetti, shoot off party poppers, and shout Hallelujah!
He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
vitalwholeness 