This is an Easter like no other. With COVID-19 impacting everything, from the way we shop to the way we worship-life has been upended. Initially, I had hoped that by Easter, we could be out and about again. Hoped that life could return to some semblance of normal, that the curve could be flattened. It seemed like a good plan, a hopeful goal until it was clear that it wasn’t to be. We can learn a lot from 40 days of Apostleship.
This disappointment has given me pause. I’m no different than the disciples—they, too, hoped for a quick Kingdom victory. Instead, they lost Jesus to crucifixion. After, the disciples hid in fear—we are sheltering in place. The disciples feared they had no future—we are consumed by constant bad news. The disciples did not know about Jesus’ resurrection; we are agnostic about when and how this nightmare ends.
We say we are an Easter people, but the persistent question is, can we rise again?
It's not easy to maintain a strong belief in possibility in the face of frightening news. Even the disciples had a hard time with it. Click To Tweet
Forty Days of Apostleship
As we complete these 40 Days of Apostleship, we have focused on expanding our faith from believing in Jesus to believing like Jesus. As we explore Jesus’ beliefs, we have identified six key ones.
- First, he believed in his partnership with God.
- Secondly, his prayers had power.
- Third, he had superpowers.
- Fourth, his life had a purpose.
- Fifth, he had potential.
Today we come to the sixth of his most important beliefs: Jesus believed that he would rise again. In other words, Jesus believed in possibility.
Jesus Believed in Possibility
Several times in the Gospels, he confided in his disciples that things would get very dark, very bleak. However, the light would dawn again. Jesus told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days He will rise.” Mark 9:31
Not only did Jesus believe in the possibility for himself, he thought it for his disciples. He told them that even though they would all scatter once he was threatened, he would still be there for them. “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Mark 14:28 Indeed, he met them on the path as they headed back to Galilee.
Soulful Step
Right now, right here—amid disappointment and social disconnection—it’s time to up your faith in a positive, albeit unseen, future. The bleaker the circumstances, the more critical it is to believe in possibility. Besides practicing social distancing, washing your hands, and taking other precautionary measures, thinking in opportunity is the most critical thing you can do right now.
Embrace the Belief
As your soul makes room for this new level of belief in possibility, use the DARE model to embrace and embody the idea. Adapted from Dream Like Jesus: Deepen Your Faith and Bring the Impossible to Life, this model invites you to use your imagination to call forth something new into being.
DARE to Dream
DREAM:
- Begin to dream now of what a positive future could look like.
- Focus on your future habits, gratitudes, family life, or congregational structure.
- Consider how the pandemic will bear good fruit for the state of medicine, community services, and the health of the earth.
- Allow the Holy Spirit, rather than the newscasters, to shape your vision and guide your thoughts.
ALIGN: Align yourself with God by receiving divine courage, comfort, and confidence to dare to dream. Then invite others into your dream of a new future by sharing it out loud. One caution: don’t share your sacred vision with naysayers whose only interest is in doom and gloom.
REALIZE: We have realized just how precious our human connection is. Precisely because they are sheltering in place, one friend is hosting weekly neighborhood potlucks by Zoom. My own four siblings and I are gathering weekly with my parents via House Party. This week, we’ll have an online Passover Seder. It’s been years since we’ve all been together on holiday. I dream that after the pandemic has passed, we’ll continue our precious new habit.
EXPAND: Watch how one good idea expands into others. Watch how spirits rise, buoyed on the life-giving stream of possibility. To broaden your dream, even more, collage, paint, or draw it. Engaging in this level of imagination isn’t wasted. Nor is it pie in the sky. This expression of possibility is co-creation with God.
Apostolic Action
Build your resilience to fear, resignation, and hopelessness by carrying good news on your lips. Resist the temptation to repeat the latest talking heads’ talking points. Instead, make it a point to note that He is Risen. And that we too will rise again. We will.
I know it’s not easy to maintain a strong belief in possibility in the face of frightening news. Even the disciples had a hard time with it.
So well and hopefully said !! Thank you Rebekah…I needed that !!
Ginny Biglow
Thank you, Rebekah. Very powerful words to guide us in this trying time. Grace and peace.
This is so in tune, on stride and in sync with the Father’s dream and is a wonderful perspective!
This is a season not to follow the status quo and shrink back but to forge forward in faith expecting extraordinary outcomes!