Resurrection as renewal

“See, I am making all things new." Also, he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." Revelation 21: 5-6a

What in our lives need to be made new? What in our world has the need to be transformed? We might be tempted to say everything. But our God, our Father and Mother, through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, has made all things new. We simply are not looking at the world, perhaps, through the right lens. And we see the newness of the world most clearly, perhaps, through the eyes of our children. They seem so entirely and completely of God that it is impossible not to see God’s renewal happening in them. But what of our sick and elderly? Can we see the Resurrection of Jesus and its transformational power in the lives of those who suffer, particularly the elderly sick and infirm? Admittedly, it is difficult, right?

Our elder citizens have a story to tell of God’s grace and love. Sometimes they are still able to tell it and we should listen attentively. There are many occasions, of course, when someone who is sick or dealing with the vagaries of aging, when a person is angry, bitter, hopeless, that they can be challenged to see any light in their lives. How can we make Resurrection, newness of life, real to them, even in overwhelming circumstances? By listening. Simply being present. There is a healing to be found in a ministry of presence when we bring the Resurrected Christ into the midst of a struggling person. We bring patience, hope, and love. We are all living in the shadow of God’s grace, a grace we must live into again and again; it does not always come easy. But if we believe God’s love in Christ’s Resurrected life is the way of life, we can be a powerful witness of God’s renewing love. All will, in God’s time, be made well. In the meantime, we would do well to understand that Resurrection can shine through us and illumine the light of another, who sits in darkness.