Stories.

For I have handed on to you as of first importance what I, in turn, have received; that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

I received my first bible around the time I was in Kindergarten, a collection of short bible stories with artwork opposite of the written text. I can still see many of those pictures when I think about them. Ever since then I have had a deep love for the sacred scriptures. A copy of the bible has always accompanied me wherever I’ve been led. I received my first study bible, which I still have, when I was preparing to be confirmed in the Church, gifted one, which I took with me to Basic Training, and purchased a new bible when I began attending a Lutheran church. It is the one book in my house that is opened every day for study, reading, or prayer. The words of the scriptures have been a faithful, and sometimes mysterious and challenging, friend.

I don’t fully understand them. I have more questions and fewer answers when I read. I miss things in the readings. I question what and why God reacts the way God does. What is deeply intriguing, can be outright frustrating! And yet, I still love them, and want to learn more, and be challenged, and proclaim the whole point, that Jesus has died, Jesus was buried, and Jesus was raised. 

We have been given this beautiful library of God’s faithfulness, generational questioning, and witnesses of love, hope, and faith in a challenging world so that we receive what was handed on before us. Like family histories told around supper tables and at the foot of a grandparent’s recliner, these stories, poems, and theological discourses bear witness to the ways that God shows up, cares for us, and triumphs over the seemingly impossible challenges that we are faced as a human family. 

Christ is risen to us today! Christ is risen to us when we read the bible. Christ is risen to us when we hear the public reading of God’s word in the liturgy, the preaching, and the Eucharistic meal we partake. The words have been given to you of first importance that what you have received may be handed on to others, in accordance with the scriptures.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!