What I always say on Easter

The following is my so-called Easter Manifesto, which I read at the conclusion of my Easter sermon at FPC in Reading each year. I know the time has come and gone, but perhaps you may still enjoy it.

The scope of redemption is every bit as far-reaching as the scope of the fall. When mankind chose disobedience, every aspect of the universe was corrupted, including every aspect of our lives. And redemption is God's answer to that corruption, redemption is the renewal of every aspect of our lives. Nothing is outside the realm of the fall and redemption: not work, family, sexuality, music, recreation, visual arts, mathematics, engineering, philosophy, communication--nothing. Hence why the Apostle Paul writes that Christ's death was for the reconciliation of all things.

In each aspect of our lives we have a choice: renewal or perversion. Obedience or disobedience. This is true for bankers as well as stay-at-home-moms, for writers as well as engineers, for actors as well as scientists, for mechanics as well as musicians, for government employees as well as small business owners. Each one of us can choose to perform our duties at work in a way that pleases God, in a way that restores and reconciles our particular institutions or vocations, or to perform our duties in such a way that is a perversion of God's will.

If we choose obedience in our jobs, we will be renewing the industry, institution, or vocation in which we work. We will be reconciling it to God. Al Wolters writes, "The gospel affects government in a specifically political manner, art in a peculiarly aesthetic manner, scholarship in a uniquely theoretical manner, and churches in a distinctly ecclesiastical manner. It makes possible a renewal of each [aspect of creation] from within, not without."*

It is a mistake to separate the so-called "secular" from the "sacred." Such a distinction leads to either complete disengagement or complete assimilation. This is why we see churches and traditions that encourage their members to avoid the "secular world" all together, suggesting that it is completely evil and without hope. This is also why we see other churches and traditions completely assimilate to the "secular world" without thinking critically about any of its aspects. From a biblical perspective, there is no secular /sacred divide. Everything belongs to God. The creation was good when God made it, but human disobedience has marred it. Redemption is here to renew it. Technology is not evil. It can be used for evil (biological warfare), or it can be used for good (medical advancements). Sexuality is not evil. It can be practiced in a deviant manner, contrary to God's intentions for it, or it can be celebrated and practiced as the blessing it was given us to be. The same can be said for art, music, writing, dancing, food, drink, exercise, agriculture, education--in essence, all aspects of life.

We are invited, we are called by God himself, to join in this effort of reconciliation. We are called to choose obedience. We are called to renew the institutions we work for, the traditions we belong to, the families we raise, and the communities in which we live. God's Spirit renews each one of us, and empowers us to work for the renewal of every aspect of life. The question that lies before us today is, will we respond to his call? Will we have an active faith that joins God in his effort to reconcile all things, or will we passively sit by and await an ethereal existence in some far off, spiritual place?

Will we answer Jesus' invitation for forgiveness and reconciliation, and join with him in the cosmic effort to restore all things? Will we work to renew the Reading Hospital? Will we work to bring restoration to justice in Berks County? Will we work to achieve God's will as we raise our children? Will we commit our lives to bringing renewal and reconciliation where we work, whether it's at McDonald's or Macy's? Will we bring hope, faith, and love into the Reading School District? Or Wyomissing? Or Wilson? Will we faithfully communicate and allow people to experience God's grace through the music we write and perform?

My hope, my vision, my challenge for us today, is that we might be a people who answer God's call. May we be a people who join with him in the restoration of the universe, in the reconciliation of all things, in the renewal of every aspect of our lives. May we be a people who celebrate the resurrection, and live in light of its significance. Amen. 

* Albert M. Wolters, Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 90.