Dead already. I have been thinking about this for a few weeks. We, as Christians say that we have been crucified and buried with Christ at baptism. We die Him in a death like His and when we come up out of the waters and we are live in Christ. We live no longer for our own petty desires, but to strive to live as Christ on earth, to be Christ-bearers in the world. If, in fact, we are dead to this world, to our sins, and alive in Christ why then do we seek out other things to distract us from the Gospel, from the life-giving, love creating words that we love one another just as Christ loved us? I think of the Band of Brothers episode when a solider was so scared he could not move and many other soldiers came to him to tell him how to behave in a war zone. Finally, a soldier who had displayed amazing courage, told him that he was looking at it wrong, and that he was already dead. Then he could go do the work of a soldier. I wonder if we think of ourselves as already dead what we could achieve in truth and love. Would we be afraid to reach out to our brother who suffers if we already knew we did not have to worry about keeping everything together? If we were not afraid of losing our home and security, would we reach out to those all around us who suffer in silence or right out loud? As we approach the death and resurrection of Christ this weekend, as we travel under that winding sheet and and kiss the gospel, maybe we can remember that we are already dead, and alive in Christ. If we are alive in Christ, let us embrace each other even those who hate us and forgive all by the resurrection of Christ.
