Episode 236: We Don't Believe Our Own Stuff | Resurrection
It seems Latter-day Saints most often speak about resurrection in the literal sense: the reuniting of spirit and body. Jesus rising from the tomb holds promise for us after our own inevitable physical death. But as Richard Rohr says, “Literalism is invariably the lowest and least level of meaning.” So what else can we take from this concept? Actually, the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about renewal! In Episode 236, Cynthia and Susan explore resurrection. It’s a conversation not about what happens after we die, but about the possibility of experiencing transformation in our lives here and now.
Notes & Quotes:
ALSSI Ep. 230, Creating Your Future | A Conversation with Jody England Hansen
An Early Resurrection: Life in Christ before You Die, by Adam S. Miller
Breaking Down Patriarchy podcast, Ep. 9, When Women Were Priests—with Dr. Karen Jo Torjesen
Resurrection, Church website
At Last She Said It: Honest Conversations about Faith, Church, and Everything in Between, by Susan Hinckley and Cynthia Winward
Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense, by Francis Spufford
Yes, and...: Daily Meditations, by Richard Rohr
Do We Want to Believe in Resurrection, by Kimberleigh Buchanan, reallifepastor, 4/21/2019
Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far From Home, by Barbara Brown Taylor
The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young: Volume 2, 1853 to 1856, by Richard S. Van Wagoner
Learning to Hold On, Learning to Let Go, Kate Bowler with Richard Rohr, Everything Happens podcast, Season 7, Ep. 13
Come, Follow Me, by Russell M. Nelson, 04/2019
Wholehearted Faith, Rachel Held Evans with Jeff Chu
Think of yourself as dead.
You have lived your life.
Now take what’s left
and live it properly.
—Marcus Aurelius
“Jesus came out of the tomb having been transformed. We don’t know exactly what took place on a cellular level. We don’t know exactly what that promised rebirth could mean for the cells of our used-up human bodies either. But we can understand that it means something. Whether we know what it means for us personally or what it will look like in the end, we can trust ourselves as our lives pull us toward our own transformation.” —Susan Hinckley, p. 251
“Is the damn story true? Not what its history is, or what literary category it belongs in; whether it actually happened. Well, I don’t know. I think it did, miracles, resurrection and all. But I don’t know. And you will have to judge for yourself, too.” —Francis Spufford, p. 225
“To take the Scriptures seriously is not to take them literally. Literalism is invariably the lowest and least level of meaning.” —Richard Rohr
“Like all good stories, [resurrection] can’t just be understood one way. It creates a repertoire of possible understandings, and right from the beginning these understandings have ranged across several things Jesus could have meant when he said he came to bring “life in abundance,” life without limits….You can take the story as meaning that if you believe in Jesus you’ll live for ever with him in heaven. Many Christians have and many Christians do. You can; but you don’t have to. You can also believe that Jesus’s death and resurrection “redeem” us right now, in our lives, by acting to free us from our pasts;.....I’m a very this-worldly Christian. I am averagely afraid of dying, but I don’t believe because I expect, or want, to have an unlimited future, tweedling about with a harp while the stars of the Western Spiral Arm burn out one by one. I believe because I know I’ve got a past and a present in which the HPtFtU [sin] did and does its usual work, and I want a way of living which opens out more widely and honestly and lovingly than I can manage for myself, which widens rather than narrowing with each destructive decision. Like the Christian Aid slogan says, I believe in life before death.” —Francis Spufford, pp. 164-66
“Our calling as followers of Jesus is to open our minds and our hearts to being transformed… because transformed people is what the world needs…people who aren’t afraid to change…people who live God’s love boldly and creatively…people who are kind and generous and imaginative…The world needs followers of Jesus to believe in resurrection because the world is suffering. Earth is suffering. People are suffering. Christians aren’t the only people who can heal the world, but we have a responsibility–an opportunity–to contribute what we have to act the world into wellbeing: our belief in resurrection.” —Kimberleigh Buchanan
“Most Christians are content to think of it [resurrection] as something metaphysical that happens after we die. However we do or do not understand it, the basic reasoning is that since God raised Jesus from the dead and took him to heaven, God will do the same thing for those who believe in him. So far, so good. But if that is the best we can do, then today becomes the day we thank God for what will happen when our lives are over, and Christian faith becomes the faith of those who care less for life than afterlife.” She continues that she once heard one of her Religion 101 students say, “I love studying other religions because they have so much in them about how to live. This is different from my own religion, Christianity, which is about going to heaven when you die.” —Barbara Brown Taylor
"I would not give the ashes of a rye straw whether you believe what I tell you about the resurrection, or anything else, or disbelieve it, if you love God and serve Him with all your hearts. You may believe what you like, if you will do good continually, and no evil; if you will never suffer yourselves to commit another sin against God or your neighbor, but always from this morning be full of good acts, serving the Lord with all your hearts." —Brigham Young
"The only way to save myself from the future’s tyranny is to willingly sacrifice that future on God’s altar. I have to give the future away. I have to let it go. I have to stop trusting in it or hoping for it. I have to hand it over to Christ. I have to consecrate the whole of it. And I have to do so while remaining alive and embedded in time.” —Adam Miller
“This kind of rest is a very precise description of what the onset of a resurrected life in Christ feels like. In my everyday life, fallen and forgetful, I feel the weight of time. Time is heavy and demanding. I rush from place to place. I forget where I am and what matters. I feel guilty about the past. I’m bored by the present. I’m stressed about the future. There’s never enough time. It’s hard to sleep at night. Anger and regret are close at hand. Life is slipping away. But Christ is offering something else. Not just rest in the next life, but rest as a way of life. Life in Christ offers a way of handling time that allows us to enter into the rest of the Lord right now.” —Adam Miller, p. 24
“Some erroneously believe that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ provides a promise that all people will be with their loved ones after death. In truth, the Savior Himself has made it abundantly clear that while His Resurrection assures that every person who ever lived will indeed be resurrected and live forever, much more is required if we want to have the high privilege of exaltation. Salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter.” —Russell M. Nelson
“I’ve spent a lot of time trying not to be weak. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to put myself beyond the need for care. I’ve worked hard. I’ve exercised. I’ve earned degrees. I’ve written books. I’ve bought new clothes. I’ve driven new cars. These things aren’t bad in themselves. They can be good. They can, in fact, be done with care. They can be undertaken as acts of love, as means of service. But, as a rule, I haven’t done this. I’ve treated these things more as idols than as occasions for care. I’ve pursued them as props for projecting a fiction of worthiness, independence, and strength. But I am tired—so tired—of pretending not to be weak. I’m tired of pretending I’m not going to die. I’m tired of pretending I don’t need Christ. If I’m serious about Christ, then my only hope is to let these idols die. My only hope is to practice living with as much care and patience and attention as I can. In this sense, care is the work of no longer pretending to be strong. Care depends on finally being honest.” —Adam Miller
“But death is something empires, not resurrection people, worry about. In any case, I wonder sometimes whether we’re playing at death and calling it life. Maybe we’re playing dead when we refuse to ask the big questions.” —Rachel Held Evans, p.100
“I am not afraid to say that, if the church in the US is dying, let it die. Let it die to the old ways of hegemony [dominance]. Let it die to violence. Let it die to control. Maybe the church in the US is already dead. But the fear of death is the province of those who do not believe in resurrection. Aren’t Christians supposed to be living testimony to the miracle of the resurrection? May the church be resurrected to the way of humility. May the church be resurrected to the way of curiosity. May the church be resurrected to the way of mercy. May the church be resurrected to the way of service. May the church be resurrected to the way of wholeness. May the church be resurrected to the way of the cross. May the church be resurrected like Jesus. May the church be resurrected by love.” —Rachel Held Evans
“May the news of Christ’s risenness touch the dead spots in your heart and bring them back to life, so that you become part of the good news that flows forth from this place today. May you be springs of living water in all the dry places on this sweet, parched earth. May the fresh life that God has given you spill over to freshen all the lives that touch yours—in your homes, in your work, in your schools, and in your cities. May you be Easter [Resurrection] people, this day and forevermore.” —Barbara Brown Taylor