2 Corinthians 5:17-20
“…anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.”
As Easter approaches, inevitably my thoughts lean toward hope and new life. Jesus led a life that embodied the love of God for His people and taught us how to live a life aligned with how God has called us to live. But our perspective on who Jesus was and what he continues to teach us, only becomes clear in the hope of the Resurrection. For many who encountered Jesus when he was alive, his teachings may have been confusing or angering because they questioned many of the firmly held beliefs of those around him. What Jesus did and what he called his disciples to do, turned Him into someone who was seen as a traitor, an instigator, and even a criminal who should be put to death.
But death was not the end of the story! On Easter, we celebrate the risen Christ and how God continues to do a new thing – in, around, and among us.
Easter is about new life. It is about fresh starts. It is about accepting things in our lives that may not be healthy for us or that go against what God truly wishes for us, and inviting Christ and the Holy Spirit in, so that we might be transformed.
At AMOS, as we work with community leaders, chronic patients who live with diabetes or hypertension, and medical personnel at our clinics or who serve with the government health system, we are blessed to be witnesses to the new life and the fresh starts that are possible. God’s love is transformative and is fully present as we seek better health – together.
Just as the church, the community of believers in Christ’s transforming power, is not made up of isolated individuals, so too we see and believe in how health and healing happens most vividly in relationship and in community. When doctors really listen to their patients and make sure they know they are loved as they provide them with medical care, lives are transformed. When chronic patients gather as a group to learn about their condition or joyfully dance as they move their body and care for their hearts, healing blossoms. When community health workers in remote rural communities go the extra mile to work with whole families and help them understand what the signs of danger are for pregnant moms, lives are saved.
Look! “The old life is gone; a new life emerges!” May the Hope of Easter be with you and may you be encouraged by the message of New Life in Christ to continue to build the Beloved Community together with those around you.
Reflection by Christy Lafferty, International Ministries Missionary serving with AMOS
Wonderful words of encouragement to those who suffer and those who care for the suffering. Thanks for sharing.