Amy and “Normalcy”

When will things get back to normal?

This is a question that is on my mind, and maybe yours, too. It certainly seems to be on the minds of our civic and corporate leaders, education officials, religious leaders.

I’m wondering if this is a question that the followers of Jesus asked themselves in the wake of his death, resurrection, ascension. In their bewilderment, their grief, their human desire for control and certainty and wanting to know and understand what’s going on and what’s going to happen, I wonder, if they, too, yearned for “normalcy.”

In the Easter season, the lectionary that we follow focuses on readings from the Book of Acts and on the resurrection appearances in the Gospel.

In the Book of Acts we hear about the immediate impact of Jesus’ death and resurrection and ascension on his followers and see the fullness of human response to these surely bewildering events. Conflict. Violence. Arguments about leadership and who’s qualified to lead. "Who speaks for God now?" Jesus’ followers ask. "What will life be like now?" they ask. What are they to do, now? When – will – things get back to normal?

The promise of the resurrection is an invitation to not go back to life as normal.

To be followers of Jesus now - as it was in the first century – is to commit and hold fast to a life of surrender, of not-knowing, of presence even in the face of absence; of hope, even in the face of death; of love for all people, in the face of hatred, suspicion and fear; and of peace, peace and reconciliation in a world that it seems often profits and seemingly spins according to humanity’s worst instincts.

As followers of Jesus now, trusting in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, we are invited to commit to and live a life that is not “normal,” that will never be “normal” in the eyes of the world. "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (I Cor 1:18)

(If you’re interested in looking at what those readings are that are appointed for Sundays through the Easter season, you can visit https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=A&season=Easter for a seasonal overview. )

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