“I Have Seen the Risen Lord”: Worship the Living God

by Corrie Cabes

Our Gospel from John on Easter Sunday finds the disciples running towards the scene of Jesus’s tomb after Mary Magdalene comes to them breathless, with news that the tomb is empty.

Sure enough, they discover the stone rolled away, a rolled up linen cloth, but no Jesus.

The text says that in that moment, the disciples believe in the resurrection and then return home. However Mary lingers at the scene, distraught until Jesus calls her by name and she too believes and returning to the disciples announces, “I have seen the risen Lord.”

On Easter Day, our alleluias proclaim a risen Christ. We want to remain in the joy of Easter day, its triumph and glory. We want our lives to be different, to be the resurrection people God calls us to be.

But are we soon returning to the many tombs of our lives instead?

How can we embrace this season, and not let it slip away?

When we worship the living God, we acknowledge the places that seem impassible, and we look with hope and expectation for the ways that God pushes through to us. God calls to us even when it seems subtle or mysterious at times; or different than we imagined.

This April, we will gather for a weekly journey together in the season of Easter, through the work of Darryl Tippen’s book, Pilgrim Heart: THE WAY OF JESUS IN EVERYDAY LIFE.

Beginning April 19, we’ll explore life-giving practices of faith in community and meaningful conversation around themes like sabbath, creating, and feasting.

Join us in contemplating and embodying the living God in your own life.

Contact ccabes@heavenlyrestabilene.org for more info.