Easter Sunday has come and gone. All the memes about the people who come to worship two times a year can be put back on the shelf until Christmas. Honestly, I despise them. After all, how does it make someone feel when they see those and think, Oh, that’s me…? Shouldn’t we instead say, It was so great to see you, and I hope to see you again soon? Remove the pressure.
I think that is one of the places we see Jesus in the ongoing resurrection accounts. Rather than holding expectations about how, when, or where everyone shows up, he goes to them. He meets them where and how they are. This is truly one of my favorite parts of the story of Jesus.
He keeps showing up.
Not once. Not in a grand, singular moment that settles everything.
But again. And again. And again.
Behind locked doors.
Along the road.
At the shoreline.
In the middle of ordinary moments.
Which makes me wonder…
How often are we looking for one big, undeniable experience, when God seems to prefer a pattern of steady presence?
The disciples did not move from confusion to clarity overnight. They moved from confusion to encounter, to confusion again, to encounter again.
And maybe that is the rhythm of faith.
Not certainty, but continued showing up, from God, and from us.
So this week, instead of asking,
Do I fully understand this?
Maybe we ask,
Where is Christ showing up…again?
In a conversation that meets us right where we are.
In a moment of courage we did not expect.
In a quiet sense that we are not alone.
Resurrection is not a one-time event to believe.
It is a presence to notice.
And sometimes, the holiest thing we can do is simply stay open long enough to see it again.
Peace,
Pastor Carrie
Senior Pastor | Second Baptist Church