Chapter 14 –
Under New Management:
Easter and
Beyond
I am gone
this week attending the annual ELCA Senior Pastor Conference in Sanibel,
Florida. I know, poor me! Since the last couple chapters have been
rough going, I’m happy to see that this chapter reads much smoother and should
offer good conversation. I’ll see you
all next week for our final meeting!
1. Easter marked the beginning
of a new world. Wright goes to great
lengths to define “heaven” and “earth” and how they intersect in Jesus, who
becomes the prototype of the resurrected life we anticipate sharing upon
his return. Wright especially addresses
the multiple misconceptions and abuses surrounding popular (and often
non-biblical) notions of heaven.
What does
it mean to you that Jesus is the prototype of the new creation? How might you see yourself participating in
that new life/creation? (Dream a little
here...but dream big!)
2. Wright notes that this new
creation simply overflows with the power of love. “The resurrection of Jesus doesn’t mean,
‘It’s all right. We’re going to heaven
now.’ No, the life of heaven has been
born on this earth.”
As new
creations already in baptism and through the gift of faith, where do you see
this heavenly “power of love” active in your life? Where are you touched by it, both as receiver
and giver?
3. Jesus’ ascension is about his
enthronement as the one who is now in charge of this new creation. “So for Jesus, ‘going to heaven,’ isn’t a
matter of disappearing into the far distance.
Jesus is like somebody two has two homes…next door to each other. One day the partition wall will be knocked
down and there will be one, glorious, heaven-and-earth mixture. Heaven permeates earth. If Jesus is now in ‘heaven,’ he is present to
every place on earth.”
Imagine
the peace this must have given to the disciples following his ascension. How does thinking of Jesus in this way give
us peace? What does it imply about
Jesus’ involvement through the Holy Spirit in our lives today?
4. “Look out of the window,” say
the skeptics. “If you think Jesus is
already installed as king of the world, why is the world still such a
mess?” Fair question, notes Wright. But Jesus resurrection and ascension were
never intended to signal the end of this life as we know it, but the beginning
of the something completely new…to be realized in full totality and
glory upon Jesus’ return. “Jesus’
kingdom must come, then, by the means that correspond to the message”…as
suffering servants in Jesus’ name.
Forget all the “rapture” nonsense, Wright says…it’s a complete
misunderstanding. Rather, Jesus will
bring heaven to earth…a new earth! God
will “judge” the world by cleansing, redeeming, and restoring it…as God
intended his creation to be.
How do
Wright’s biblical vision of “the second coming” and our consequent hope for
this “new creation” give you hope for today?
In the face of so much violence and destruction all around us, why does
this biblical vision matter?
5. “What about Jesus
today?” Wright concludes. “Jesus is the one who sends the Holy Spirit,
his own Spirit, into the lives of his followers, so that he himself is
powerfully present with them and in them…to bear witness to him as the world’s
true Lord and work to make that sovereign rule a reality.” “He won his victory through suffering; his
followers win theirs through sharing his.
The Spirit and suffering. Great
joy and great cost. Those who follow
Jesus and claim him as Lord learn both of them.
It’s as simple as that.”
As Wright
himself asks, “So how does all this work out today? How does the vision of Acts look…when we come
forward twenty-one centuries and into our own day?” Your
response?
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