“If Christ is risen – then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – then nothing else matters.”
That’s worth memorizing, now as daily duties would pull you away from the decisive fact of Easter. Jaroslav Pelikan’s insight can make this Easter season as blessed for you as Easter Sunday was. Dr. Pelican, a graduate of Concordia Seminary, was a prolific scholar and church historian. As campus legend tells it, when he got bored, he would write and submit his assignments in Latin. A faculty member at Yale University, Dr. Pelikan died in 2006.
God has put His claim on every last one of us who celebrated Easter Sunday. Check your integrity. Do you believe that God has the power to raise the dead? Do you believe God raised Jesus? If so, everything you meet today can be met with hope and confidence. On the other hand, if you just went through the motions Easter Sunday but didn’t let the words of resurrection change your attitude, your conduct is hypocritical. Paul said it this way. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:17, 20). “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
I’m captivated by Parker Palmer’s observation that some of us Christians are guilty of “functional atheism.” Talk a good game Easter, but now we leave Jesus behind in church, moving on without Him. So this Easter season, and indeed throughout the year, see the resurrected Jesus standing with you before today’s challenges. “If Christ is risen – then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – then nothing else matters.”
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor
(This devotion was sent out by Dale Meyer as his “Meyer Minute” for April 18, 2017.” It has been ever so slightly altered.)