Resurrection

Steve's men's group meets early Wednesday morning. They are currently reading the Ortberg book "Everybody's Normal Till you Get to Know Them. I was looking for a blog post topic for today, so I picked up this book (I've already read it once: my comments about it are here.) In fact, one of my favorite parts of the book is in Chapter Two -- their chapter for tomorrow. I really like his description of how the Trinity is an example of community (post here).

Today, as I was looking through the chapter, I noticed this sentence:

"A community is not simply a group of people who live together and love each other. It is a place of resurrection." (Jean Vanier)

That sentence stopped me. How is it that community is a place of resurrection. In Christianity, using the word resurrection MEANS something. It's a powerful word; it implies the involvement of God. So how is community a place of resurrection?

• I think that in true community, we are recreated. We have new life because we are able to serve and to love -- those are God given pursuits that we cannot accomplish on our own.
• If God experiences community through the trinity, and we are created in the image of God, then we have a need for oneness that we can only find in community. We are closer to the image of God when we are in community.
• When we are sinking into the depths of sadness, friends -- community -- can lift us up and bring us new life. That's resurrection in a way.
• Have you ever sat with friends, laughed, talked, and felt the measure of time change? It's energizing and it brings us joy. Happiness, yes, but JOY. I think joy is found in being close to God. That's a means of grace and a way to resurrection.

We are made for community. We are made to be transformed and to find resurrection. Amen.