Hi neighbor!

I met an old neighbor this morning. He was going for his morning coffee break and I had a chore that I needed to take care of. We talked for a few minutes, and he gave me some advice about some problems that I am having at work. It was a friendly meeting between neighbors and friends.

What I left out was some of the choices that my neighbor made, in his younger life. I believe he had made some moral choices that I had not made.

We live on opposite sides of some moral and lifestyle choices, and somehow we are still able to communicate, in public places.

I am writing this as a Christian, and you should not be surprised that I went to a Bible study at someone’s home, a few days ago. If any of the people who were there, read this, I can honestly say they are a nice group of people. We talked like neighbors and friends, and I enjoyed the evening. A few times, we even laughed together.

Also, we are close to Easter, as I write this. Our topic, for that evening session was related to Easter. More specifcally, it was related to Good Friday, the day when Christians remember that they follow a leader named Jesus, who died on a cross.

We probably all know that Easter Sunday is when we remember that Christ came back from the dead, in the Bible story. We call that the “Resurrection” and we are also told that “If Christ [Jesus] has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15: 17) and … “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead ...” (verse 20)

I think that is more shocking than most of us know. We can be so used to Easter happening that we miss the point, the celebration is not about bunnies and colored eggs. It is built on a story that is humanly impossible. 

A good man was arrested and given a phony trial, by his enemies. That is easy to believe. 

After the trial, He was taken out of the city and given a gruesome execution. Even that is easy to believe. Those enemies were power hungry people, and that good teacher and preacher interfered with their ambitious plans. It is easy to believe that some people are like that.

The strange part of the story is that the dead man came back to life, and He is still alive today. We are told “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (verse 19)

So, are you shocked? We all should be. 

I was jolted, in our friendly evening meeting. For us, the focus was on Friday, and not so much Sunday.

We watched a video where actors showed us the arrest, trial, and execution of that good man. And then someone commented on why that is important to us.

“Us” was a group of people who go to the same church, and usually try to do the right things. I’m sure our group did not include criminals, or anyone who does immoral things. I’m sure that I could leave my car unlocked, in the parking lot, and no-one would open the door and take my property, for example.

The shocking message was that the good man who was executed on a cross, died for us. There was a reason, a spiritual cause, for that man to die. He died for me, and all of my good friends.

If Jesus didn’t die for us, we are completely lost, just as much as we are lost if he did not rise from the dead.

We should think about these impossible things.

In that group of clean living church goers, someone mentioned smoking. It was surprising when one woman told us about her smoking habit, which she broke free from when she was in her twenties. She was honest with us, and her story was interesting.

And then we were shocked when a man in the group told us that he had smoked heavily, for about thirty years, and maybe more. I think he was a two pack a day man. I think his wife informed on him, but he agreed and told us his smoking story. That was more than surprising, it was shocking, in our group.

And now back to the video that we watched; The actors showed us the story of how that good man suffered and died a painful death. We were reminded that Jesus prayed, before he was arrested “My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26: 39)

If we identify Christianity as a “religion” it is easy to forget that the whole belief system is based on that story of a man dying, and later rising from the dead. On the video, the teacher who explained the story also told us why that happened.

“Why” is important in this story. 

We were reminded that the death on a cross was a price paid for each one of us. That includes the ones who did not smoke two packs a day. If we were shocked that one of us fell into that habit for so long, we were also reminded that each one of us needed someone who would pay the price for us; or we had no hope.

It is easy to see some of the neighbors as really bad or incorrect people, and we might even be correct. The shocking message, in our meeting, was that we all needed that good man to pay that price for us. The best of us need to be forgiven by God.

We are all neighbors, probably more than we know.

The best of us are not good enough, even though we can point at some who are clearly making bad choices in life. The old saying is “There but for the grace of God go I.” In the Bible we are told about some of those things. 

All Christians have these words: 

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6: 11)

If you want to know what those “such” were, I invite you to read the Bible verses that come before verse 11.

We are not better, we are forgiven and hopefully we have accepted that gift.

And happy Easter.