A PERSPECTIVE: “GETTIN’ READY FOR THE MIRACLE”

by Rev. Dr. Terry L. Irish, Chaplain

PWN -March 2009

Night” One of the great traditions of our Christian holiday celebrations is the music. Just a title like or “Joy to the World” probably brings a smile to your face as a melody runs through your mind. Prior “Silent

to coming to COH, during our thirty-plus years of local parish ministry, I directed many Christmas musicals while my wife Carol also directed numerous children’s musicals celebrating the coming birth of Jesus Christ. If I’m not mistaken, her favorite is entitled “Gettin’ Ready for the Miracle.”

As I reflect on the month of March and the approaching Easter celebration on April 12th, it seems very appropriate to suggest that this is another time that we, as Christians, should be gettin’ ready for the miracle. However, contrasted to the Christmas celebrations when we remember with great joy and thanksgiving the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the season of Lent (for those who observe the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday) and Easter remind us of some even greater and more wondrous events – the suffering, death, burial, and Easter Sunday resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The summary statement about this incredible act of sacrificial love is a verse many of us learned when we were very young. And yet, its truth continues to speak volumes generation after generation: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).

I would remind us all, however, of a vital fact today: Christmas would not be the celebration it is today without the Easter Sunday resurrection event we share together every spring. The angels who told the shepherds where to find the Messiah, the newborn King of the Jews (Luke 2:8-12), were also on hand that first Easter Sunday. Two of them were on duty when the women came to the tomb seeking to prepare Jesus’ body. They didn’t find their Savior, but received another angelic message, this one telling them were they would not find Jesus! (Luke 24:5b-6a, NIV) “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!”

Earlier during his earthly ministry, Jesus had reminded a desperately earnest, seeking father, “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23b, NIV). Yet, the healing this man sought and desired for his son, as well as the healings we long for in our lives and relationships today, are only possible because the One who was speaking to a frightened father that day – Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of God – willingly laid down his life for our sins. Then, three days later, he was raised from the dead, defeating forever the last great enemy of mankind – death!

Gettin’ ready for the resurrection miracle of Easter, 2009: What miracles are you longing to see happen in your life, your family, your faith community, and your world this year? In what places do you long to see newness of life this Easter, much like the spring brings a rebirth to the earth? Where do you desire a resurrection of relationship with someone you know and love, but with whom you have become distant or estranged? The good news for us today is the same news offered nearly two thousand years ago: “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23b, NIV). May Easter, 2009 be a wonderful, healing, renewing time for you in your personal faith and walk with Jesus Christ, as well as in your other relationships! 

Scripture:  (Revelation 5:12-14) (NIV)