Quality of Life Part 2

I went to church on Easter Sunday.  Everyone seemed so excited.  They had a chance to dress up, enjoy a sensitive, well-crafted sermon about Jesus’ sacrifice, and then have a wonderful meal with family, followed by chocolate eggs or bunnies. I also enjoy these Easter delights, but instead of being distracted by them I tried to follow through on my self-assigned project from the previous blog – to consider what “quality of life” I desire in light of the Resurrection.

A great place to look when setting a vision for one’s life is towards Jesus – “the way, the truth and the life.”  We could read 100 biographies of men who filled their lives with notable accomplishments, read every self-help book written and still never learn how to live an “abundant life.”  We can look to others for inspiration, but if we fail to model our lives after the short 3 1/2 years of Jesus’ recorded life, all of our efforts will be wasted.

So what kind of vision does His life give us for our own?  Things seemed to start off well for Him, but I wonder, after turning all that water into wine, why wasn’t Jesus invited to more weddings?  He didn’t have an abundance of friends; He was sort of a social outcast.  Somewhere around age 10 we begin to fight such labeling as if happiness is in the balance.  We spend our childhood and adolescence, for some of us our entire lives, trying to fit in, be liked by people, find a group we can socially relate to and settle comfortably into a life of supported narcissism .  But not Jesus.  He was no people-pleaser, or crafty politician, often confusing His followers with a leadership style unbefitting for a man running for the office of “King over the world.”  He was not pursuing the Jewish dream life.  Rather, it was the nature of His life that led Him to a gruesome and early death.

He lived as a dead man.  He died to man’s opinion of Him, to His society’s definition of success, to a quality of life 99% of the population was groping for.   He lived for a kingdom that was of another world.  There was such promise over His future as a newborn.  He was destined to save Israel from slavery, to take over the world and become King.   Instead,  He offended all the prominent leaders of His day,  was abandoned by His own disciples, was killed by His own kinsmen and buried in the first available grave.  He left no offspring to carry on His name. His short, somewhat odd ministry was on the verge of fizzling out.  Abundant life?

I do want the “abundant life” Jesus spoke of.  But this does not mean having the most eggs in my basket.  Nor does it mean having the brightest neon green, satin shirt with pressed khakis; nor is it a large family who I love and a delicious spiral ham on the dinner table.  An abundant life actually has nothing to do with our external attainments.  It has nothing to do with finding a good wife or raising a family.  It has nothing to do with my bank account, career or ministry in the local church.  Jesus had none of these things.  But there is that one important aspect of His story: the part where He conquers death and raises Himself back to life.
Likewise, if I want a good “quality of life,” I must die so that I can rise.  When we become Christians, our sinful identity is buried deep into the dust,  the spirit breathes into us and we are “born-again” as a new creation.  Our soul had been perishing while our fallen man was feasting.  So we invite death, joining Jesus by bearing a cross, and on a banqueting table the Lord prepares a spiritual feast for our inner man.  If we continue to feed here we will enjoy life; one which continues forever.  But if we refuse to die, seek a life that everyone else says is quality, seek what is American and not Christian, we will go to our grave without ever experiencing true life, one which is like a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14).

In light of the resurrection, I still want a good quality of life.  I want to enjoy every day, have peace, love God and others.  But if I want true rejoicing, peace and love, not the substitutes I am constantly being offered, I must pursue death.  Daily.  And like Christ, I will “…walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom. 6:4,5).

Advertisement