Resurrection - Week 3
LIBERATION LECTIONARY
Recognizing the Resurrection
Ameh Egwuh - Infinite Rest Series
“Exactly what kind of redemption will be championed through the Christian martyrdom of a Black man’s body, and the suffering of Black people?” Qiana Whitted, from “In My Flesh Shall I See God”
Daily Scripture Readings
Through the next few weeks, our weekday reflections will be on the power of the Resurrection as taught in the book of Colossians. Sunday readings will reflect the honoring of Resurrection Day as a day of worship and praise. In the Christian tradition, we meet as congregations on the first day of the week because Jesus came back to life on the first day of the week. So during Resurrection Season, Sundays hold remembrance for this sacred return.
Sunday: Psalm 118. 19-23 Open to me the gates of dignity, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; people of goodwill shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Monday: Colossians 1. 11-12 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Tuesday: Colossians 1. 13-14 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Wednesday: Colossians 1. 15-16 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.
Thursday: Colossians 1. 17-18 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
Friday: Colossians 1. 19-20 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Saturday: Colossians 1. 21-22 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him.
Meditation & Prayer
A prayer for the people in need of resurrection power.
For people whose days are spent peering into the tombs of the dead.
A prayer for the people who speak life, while feeling surrounded by loss.
A prayer for the doubting depressed, for the distant and distressed.
A prayer for the rising and waking, and for those who can’t sleep at night.
We pray God’s revealing power to make us blameless by Their might.
We plead God’s promise to make all that is messed up reset and made right.
Creator, Redeemer, Spirit of Life. You told us that if we know you, we will know life anew. You have told us that when we see Jesus, we see life.
Lately, dear Lord, it is hard to recognize the marks of redemption that tell us there is a resurrection. It is hard to believe that the resurrection is real. We are humbled by our own humanity, and we tremble to even ask - but - Lord, sometimes we wonder, how can it be true?
We long to look to you without doubt. We want to follow you without dilemma. Help us O God of the future, present and ancient age. We want to see life signs, and your word tells us that you are the first and last sign of life. You are the guidepost for our journey: a pillar of clouds for the daytime and a pillar of fire by night.
Give us strength to make life’s journey, oh traveling God. Give us strength to carry each other - baggage and all - when you have caused our paths to cross and our hearts to commune together.
And if you will, Lord, we’d like to ask our great Black Jesus of victory and abundance to look back, and to look down. We know that you are now seated in prayer at the Creator’s right hand. We know your work is done and now sits warming a hunger for justice in our hearts and homes.
But Lord, we spend many nights still weeping at the foot of your cross. We spend many mornings confused as we stare into the tomb.
Loved ones stolen by state sanctioned violence - we are still at the cross
The suffering of your children under oppression, climate disaster, poverty and constant crises - we are still at the tomb.
Sickness, disease, diagnosis of death: loss of life that is so-called natural, but makes every step toward dying more painful - we are still at the foot of the cross.
Lack of resources: no place to call home. No room in the job market and no Good Samaritans on the road for rescue. - we are still staring blankly into the tomb.
Will you send your angels to give us a message from you? Will you meet us in these desolate places and call our names, just like you called Mary and opened her eyes too?
Please reveal the mystery of your suffering and death. Please show us the meaning in your sacrifice. Help us to lay our hands on some small corner of the unknowable, like the woman who reached out to perform her own miracle by drawing power from you.
Let your power meet us in our times of doubt and disengagement. We want to recognize the resurrection. We want to see these powerful truths told of you fulfilled. We want to know life’s tedious journey through the exchange of our scarcity for your abundance.
We would see you, O Lord, we would see you. We would look into the places where we thought we’d meet death - and instead see rest and renewal. In the places that were famed for decay, let us look again and see flourishing.
Teach us to see these signs of life, even amidst the world’s daily strifes. Show yourself, firstborn of Divine power, firstfruits of Divine healing, First and Last of Divine purpose. Show us who you are, Word of God - Word of Life - the Word become Flesh - so that we can see you more clearly in everything you have made new, including each other.