A Transformational Magnetism
He's Alive
They believed. They didn’t quite understand, although they got it later. They left Mary, crying in front of the tomb, and went home. Home – that was their sanctuary, their place of peace, the place where they could contemplate in relative safety the magnificent and unbelievable news that Jesus was alive. And because he was alive, everything else was bathed in the light of new hope. They could look to the future with energy.
I really like it that the Bible tells the story of leaders who ducked into a safe place when faced with earth-rattling change and what it might mean for them. I wouldn’t like it so much if they had stayed in that safe place. Actually, Peter tried to stay in that sanctuary, even when he left: he went fishing – reverted to an old and well known medium and its comfort.
But while on the boat he found the image of Jesus on the shore irresistible, so much so that he stripped down, dove off the boat and swam toward the fire on which breakfast was being cooked. He’d gone home, leaving the place of potential encounter; and reverted to what was most comfortable; but the life-potential he saw in the risen Christ was too much to resist.
In Christianity for the Rest of Us, Diana Butler Bass describes Joan Henderson and her first encounter with a particular church in Seattle. Henderson remembered how she felt there one Easter more than a decade ago: “I had no idea that I had been invited, but I had been. I was invited by the Holy Spirit. But the invitation was so subtle I didn't know anything was at work other than me trying to get my way. I wasn't interested in following anything or anyone. I didn't want to be changed, I wasn't looking for community. I just wanted to get our girls baptized so they could get admitted to a Catholic school. Quick and clean. In and out."
But it was the transformational power of God that made a difference to Joan, that called to Joan as assuredly as Christ had called out to Peter, first through the empty tomb, and then on the seaside. No respites at home or mind-diverting fishing ventures could keep him away from the transformational Christ whose magnetism pulled him out of the boat. And Joan herself saw God at work in her life in remarkable ways, bidding her to changes that were powerfully positive, pulling her out of her comfort zone where she encountered some joy.
An Easter church is a transformational community. People are drawn to Christ through it because the transformational power is evident in it. Hope comes alive, and that’s exciting! What’s the alternative? Boredom. Fear. Stuffiness. The past. How does your church, as a reflection of Christ, pull people out of their boats, and away from the comfort of their homes?
Clint McCoy
Synod Executive for Partnerships
