Leave It in the Tomb

Today, on the most important day of the liturgical year, the Apostle Paul is calling us out.

“I see you hiding in that tomb,” he says. “I see you baking with that old, stale yeast, thinking no one will notice.”

He says it a little more elegantly, I’ll grant you. But the message is this: If you want to be raised with Christ, you’d better be ready to step out of the shadows. Seek what is above — not what is on earth.

I can feel myself responding almost reflexively, “Great idea, Paul — but I’m pretty comfy here.” Because sometimes, it’s just easier to stay in the tomb. It’s easier to crouch in the shadows and look outward at everyone else, thinking of the changes they could make or the sins they could overcome.

Today we are called to embrace newness. New hearts, new lives, new futures, new chances. If there’s anything keeping you from that, you need to leave it in the tomb. It’s a little scary, sure — maybe Jesus thought so before he stepped into the light of that first Easter morning. But no loaf of bread worth eating was ever baked using stale yeast that wouldn’t rise. No new life worth having was ever lived through the broken sins of yesterday. No Easter morning ever dawned without the tomb sitting empty.

Step into the light. He is waiting for you.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS