A Reasonable Response to the Miracle of Resurrection

Posted on by Michele Morin

Even with a ham in the oven and the house mostly presentable, my Easter bonnet is all askew this year. Is it possible to celebrate Easter in isolation? Can we really observe the highest holy day of our church calendar without rousing hymns and communal breakfasts and the perfume of Easter lilies in the sanctuary? Even though we are nearly experts at social distancing by now, I’m afraid the collision of Covid-19 with Easter 2020 has caught me off guard.

I’m finding consolation in the truth that the first people to celebrate resurrection were also caught off guard. Disbelieving for joy at first, they recovered nicely, staking their lives on the veracity of an empty tomb and setting their faces to follow a risen Christ. Handing over their rights, their plans, their futures, they determined that their lives would now be considered fuel to power the message of forgiveness, mercy, and welcome that is the Gospel.

It seemed reasonable to them at the time.

A man of courage and conviction, Paul called himself the “chief of sinners,” but his vision of the risen Christ never dimmed.  With elegance, his pen connected the dots between sound reason and self sacrifice:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

Daily, gradually, our out-poured lives land before God one drop at a time.
Living sacrifies, we are enlivened and empowered by a Living Savior in times of gathering and feasting–and also in times of uncertainty and solitude. Our allegiance to Him is demonstrated by our quiet faith.

This is our reasonable response to the resurrection.

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!

Michele (1)

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Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and six adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

48 thoughts on “A Reasonable Response to the Miracle of Resurrection”

  2. This is beautiful encouragement >> “Our allegiance to Him is demonstrated by our quiet faith.” Grateful He is our risen Lord and with us, in the midst of us each and every day. Have a blessed Easter!

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  3. Blessings to all and Happy Easter it has been a long journey to the cross.May we all sing God’S praise
    and may we all have quiet faith each and every one of us .We all have so much to be thankful for and
    gratitude for each and every day.Thanks be to God!!

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  6. This, may actually be a miracle. Easter alone to reflect on all the Joys of Easter. What we really don’t need after all. It does seem, at least from what I’ve seen, God is everywhere lately. I have even seen State Leaders mention His name. Happy Easter.

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  7. “Living sacrifices, we are enlivened and empowered by a Living Savior in times of gathering and feasting–and also in times of uncertainty and solitude. Our allegiance to Him is demonstrated by our quiet faith.” Amen. Happy Resurrection Day!

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  11. As I was reflecting before we watched a livestream of our church’s service on the computer, I was struck by the powerful message we were sending our kids (and ourselves, I suppose). By still celebrating the Resurrection in our homes, we were highlighting the fact that the Resurrection isn’t dependent on our circumstances. He is risen even if we can’t gather. He is risen even during uncertain times. He is risen even during illness. Everything else about God stands true during these times, too.

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  12. Beautifully written as always, Michele. Your post reminded me of this quote by Miguel Petrosky: “We can believe that God is present and still be either six feet away or in the safety of our homes on Sunday morning. The church will always be the church no matter how physically close its members are. God isn’t just found in the confines of a physical church building — God meets us where we are.” Happy Easter!

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  14. Easter has been very different this year, but it is encouraging to remember that the hope we have because of Jesus’ Resurrection is just the same as ever!

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  16. I’m so thankful we’re “enlivened and empowered by a Living Savior in times of gathering and feasting–and also in times of uncertainty and solitude.” He is with us through it all–offering strength, comfort, wisdom, and peace–Hallelujah!

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  17. Hi Michele, I love how you connected the response of the Apostles to the resurrection and our response to the Resurrection. We are all called to be living sacrifices to the Lord, bringing hope to a dying world.

    This was beautifully written. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Over the years, I have realized that we all think differently about everything, including worship. Personally, I think God honors our hearts and not where our feet are at the moment 🙂

    I’m so happy that you joined us over at at ‘My Corner of the World’ this week!

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  19. Amen! When life catches us by surprise, it’s good to remember that because of the cross and resurrection, we don’t have to let our lives feel askew. There is comfort in knowing he has a purpose.

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  20. Michele, in this strangest of all Easter seasons (well, since the first one anyway), during a time when my own heart is at once sad because of the situation in the world and rejoicing because of what the resurrection means to me now, it’s comforting to remember that “Our allegiance to Him is demonstrated by our quiet faith.” Even when all the usual celebratory traditions are not present, we can still worship our risen Savior right in our own homes.

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  23. An Easter we’ll not soon forget, for sure! Our church did a beautiful online thing—3 separate online things actually. First, there was the sunrise service with Scripture reading in both English and Spanish (first time we’ve ever done anything in Spanish and about time!) in the pecan orchard. <—Yes, that's right, in the pecan orchard! We purchased a 5-acre pecan orchard a few years ago and occasionally we have the opportunity to use it for something like this. It was absolutely lovely! Then, there was a service with worship music and musical specials that included a men's ensemble. I really like men's ensembles! Thirdly, there was a message from our pastor. He preached outside and you could hear the birds chirping in the background. That was lovely too. And apparently, his son just home from college has been dabbling with video production and editing. There were different camera angles and panning and fading. Who knew he could do all that? I sure didn't! It was so professional looking. And you have to understand where our little church has come from—we have come so far with this online thing in the past few weeks! I think we are probably not the only ones. There are probably thousands of little churches that dot the countryside of this beautiful land that have been learning this new way of reaching people over the past month or two. I find it so exciting to think of how many more people can be reached with the Gospel!!!

    Thank you, Michele, for linking up at InstaEncouragements!

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  25. This is truly lovely, Michele. It was a very different Easter celebration this year, but so much to celebrate in the Resurrection nonetheless. Thank you so much for sharing this encouraging piece with the Hearth and Soul Link Party community. Stay safe and well.

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  26. Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too! Please stay safe and healthy. Come party with us at Over The Moon! Catapult your content Over The Moon! @marilyn_lesniak @EclecticRedBarn

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  28. Happy Easter Michele, I hope you still managed to have a joyous one considering it is such a strange time we are living in. To not be able to celebrate Easter in the church and with my family has definitely been the toughest part of this isolation for me so far but we managed to get through it. I am very grateful for my husband and daughters because they kept a smile on my face that day! #globalblogging

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