Be Astonished

Pastor Garrett said something interesting in his sermon yesterday morning: that the miracle stories in the Bible should elicit astonishment in us -- and that astonishment is a combination of belief and disbelief. If we believe it easily, then it's not really astonishing. The response we should expect from ourselves and others is not, "Well, of course," but "Wow . . ."

Which is the response I have to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Wow. This may be the pinnacle of the miracle stories of Jesus, right? Bringing a man back to life. It had to be an amazing thing to witness! "I can't believe what I'm seeing . . . but I'm seeing it, so I have to believe it."

One detail in that story that stuck out to me recently is that Lazarus came out of the grave still wrapped up in his grave clothes. Jesus had to tell people to take them off of him. Right now, in the midst of Eastertide, that little detail reminds me of my butterfly lessons.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember this from a couple years ago. I bought one of those butterfly kits for kids where you get some caterpillars to raise and watch them turn into butterflies. It's awesome (in the genuine sense of that overused word)! Here's a link to the big insight I received from that experience. Seriously, READ IT if you haven't . . . because this lesson has reverberated in my spirit ever since.

The fact is that even though God is totally responsible for the transformation that happens in us when we are born again, we still need to eclose: to fight our way out of the bonds of the old self and work the muscles of the new self. Using the picture of the Lazarus story, God raises us from the dead, but we're still wearing the old grave clothes that need to be removed.

And I'm so aware of this truth. In particular, I'm constantly reminded that we can absolutely have new life and still be bound by the grave clothes of religion and performance. In fact, if you have been raised in the church, there's a very good chance of that. 

I think about this with my students. I teach at a Christian school that has a focus on discipleship. These kids have grown up in the church. They know the talk, and they know the walk. They have been expected to look and act like good Christians all their lives, and most of them are really good at playing that game when they need to. So, what does "new life" look and feel like for them when they experience it?

Most likely, their experience will be similar to mine: it won't look that different at all. And honestly, there's a good chance it won't even feel that different at first. In my case, it took a lot of time and troubles and trials before I shed the Religion grave clothes I wore so easily and really found the Relationship that was what God had in mind from the beginning.

I pray all the time for my students to get past the Religion and experience the Relationship. Because being transformed from the broken mess that I was into a beloved child of the God of the universe . . . that is astonishing. Wow.