Today’s 60-second question offers an opportunity to think about the impact Jesus’ resurrection that Christians celebrated yesterday on Easter may have on your personally. Often it’s said that Christians are so “heavenly minded they are no earthly use.”
N.T. Wright, one of our best-known and most prolific New Testament scholars, speaks to the apostle Paul’s ending of Paul’s great resurrection chapter, I Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, pp. 219–220)
What you do in the Lord is not in vain.
You are not oiling the wheels of a machine that’s about to fall over a cliff. You are not restoring a great painting that’s shortly going to be thrown on the fire. You are not planting roses in a garden that’s about to be dug up for a building site.
You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something which will become, in due course, part of God’s new world.
Every act of love, gratitude and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings, and for that matter one’s fellow non-human creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed which spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honoured in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation which God will one day make.
That is the logic of the mission of God.
God’s re-creation of his wonderful world, which has begun with the resurrection of Jesus and continues mysteriously as God’s people live in the risen Christ and in the power of his Spirit, means that what we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted.
It will last all the way into God’s new world. In fact, it will be enhanced there.”
Your 60-Second Question: What encouragement does it offer that Jesus’ resurrection empowers a new life partnering with God’s renewal of creation here and now?
In a society that often settles for easy answers, my 60-second Question posts are mini-voyages in self-discovery. They invite you to take just 60 seconds out of your day to ponder a question that may offer new insights into yourself, God and the world around us. You might be surprised with the new insights or feelings generated by pondering a thought-provoking question for just 60 seconds.
“An old man sweeps the dust swirling in the wind and gives life a purpose.”
I wrote this while watching an old man do just that in front of the Newman Center across from my dorm room at UC Berkeley in 1967. I wondered why he persisted in such a useless activity, but marveled at his dedication in doing so.
I have been retired for five years. I prayed that the freedom afforded by retirement would permit me to serve the Lord with abandon. I entertained grandiose thoughts of somehow “evangelizing” Nevada City – the quirky, wonderful little Gold Rush-era town where we now live and which I love, despite or maybe because of its reputation as the New Age mecca of the Mother Lode.
God must certainly have a wonderful sense of humor. Much to my surprise He has me now working as a volunteer sweeping a parking lot in downtown Nevada City. In the three years that I have been working there I have not only had the opportunity to serve along side other volunteers, but also get to know the many people who pass through the lot each day – shop keepers, local artists, tourists and the countless homeless who live nearby.
God knew that I am not an evangelist, but He placed me where curious people watch and ask why I am doing what I do. That often allows me to be His witness.
I am now that old man sweeping the dust swirling in the wind. In a sense I was watching myself those many years before, and God has given my life an unexpected purpose. Mysteriously, I have been empowered to partner with God in this small way.
Jim, thanks for giving us a great example of the kind of sharing and dialogue I hope my posts will stimulate! I SO appreciate you sharing this story! Many of us wondering how God can or could use us can relate to it.