“On call…2 grandpas alive this morning after cardiac arrests and had arteries stented by me…God blessed my hands on a beautiful Easter Sunday. Cheers.”
After three full wonderful Easter morning services I joined my family and friends for a scrumptious late brunch on our deck. This was followed by a round of calling and texting a number of family and friends to wish them happy Easter. The above response came from a dear friend I have known since he was in our middle school youth group.
Of all the warmly returned well wishes, hearing that my cardiologist friend proclaimed his Easter faith through using the gifts that God had given him was truly inspiring. It was particularly pronounced for me, as someone who has been blessed to share in his faith journey from a young age.
As the women left the tomb, they were called to bear witness to the other followers of Jesus. Subsequently, through the generations, many have been called in all sorts of ways to share their resurrection faith with others, including us. Now, in this time in our own culture and context, we are being called to be those who share our resurrection faith.
There is no prescribed way of doing so. Rather, like my friend, we are called to use the gifts that God has given us to walk with others to new life – a life that transforms the darkness to light, despair into hope, and fear into love.
Opportunities to live a resurrected faith come our way every day. Sometimes in truly life saving situations and others in smaller, yet just as important possibilities. May this Easter season be a time for all of us to become aware of the opportunities, and become responsive to the invitations to use our gifts to bring the new life of our resurrection faith to others.