Doesn't Make Sense

According to Luke's Gospel, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and others with them told the apostles of the encounter with two men "in clothes that gleamed like lightning" at the empty tomb. They shared the message that "Jesus has risen!" But the Eleven did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

The modern celebration of the most holy of days for Christians must seem like nonsense to an unbelieving world. Someone obviously dead for days coming back to life? That is the stuff of science fiction. It just doesn't make sense. Faith in a triune God that acts mysteriously in the world and in our personal lives doesn't make sense either. That is just the point. Easter reminds us that our faith will never make sense. Until such time that our personal encounter with the living Christ changes us, breaks through our need for reason and logic, and opens our eyes to see in new ways the reality of God working in us, through us and the totality of creation.

The Church struggles with its mission, mostly because its people want it to be sensible. Letting go of control and trusting in an all powerful God is hard work and often doesn't make sense. Sometimes we catch the blinding glimmer of God's love; healing, reconciliation, birth, forgiveness, miraculous happenings, generosity, acts of kindness, and countless other ways. God's greatest act of love for us was embodied in Jesus. Let us not lose sight of the incredible sacrifice he made for us and the opportunity we have for new life because of his life. This is indeed Good News. It is our mission as leaders to share it with joy and anticipation of its power to change lives. This is what missionary leadership is all about. Forget the baggage around the word 'missionary'. Let this Easter remind us of why we do what we do, even if it doesn't make any sense. The world aches for this Good News. Why should we act as if we are embarrassed to share it?