It was probably dead. It had grown sluggish before its skin peeled away to reveal the tough substance beneath. It stopped moving, encased within a hardened shell. To any passerby this lifeless object was barely noticeable; a minute inanimate object within a busy world. But one day that changes. The ‘dead’ thing shudders, it trembles once more before a crack appears, widening ever so slightly before it splits open and falls to the ground. A creature emerges, of no resemblance to what was once in its place. It is like something new is born, but— not. It’s a rebirth of sorts, a startling curiosity of creation.
A beautiful butterfly emerges into the spring day. This creature has limp wings that in time will harden. This creature flies. A camera strapped upon a caterpillar and then later put on a butterfly would be a totally different movie shot from an entirely different perspective. What had seemed dead now alive, but the transformation so profound that the creature isn’t even recognizable from its former self. Is it any wonder that we often see butterflies as a symbol of Easter?
Easter is a season of resurrection and new life. It is a call to transformation. On the surface that sounds good, but to live it out can be daunting.
During Lent we practiced the discipline of fasting, often taking things out of our lives to make more space for God. On Easter Sunday as we proclaimed the powerful ways God works in empty places. For those who have emptied out their lives during Lent in a time of prayer and self-reflection, it was Good News that the discipline of fasting could lead to God’s transformative work within our hearts and lives. God can work miracles in empty places. In this season of Easter we celebrate that life can be full and abundant when filled up with the things of God. When we clear out the empty distractions, empty words, and empty activities we make space for the fulfilling things of God to change us from the inside out.
That means that we, like our ground dwelling caterpillars, may need to shed our skins, shed our former ways. Find a place away from the busyness of life to stop and let God’s work begin. Pause and wait for it. Slowly release aspects of your old self that cannot make the journey into the resurrection life. Once you have stripped away the things of your old way of life: be still, be at peace, and wait for God.
When the transformation occurs don’t be surprised if you feel different. If the way you used to do things just doesn’t work anymore. You have been changed for a new way of living and the old patterns don’t fit with a new heart. Transformation is a beautiful thing, but it looks an awful lot like death at first. But as we have seen and heard through the resurrection story, death is no longer something to be feared, entering into the tomb Jesus brought our brokenness, emerging from the tomb He brings our resurrection!
When we have faith in that power, in God’s power, we abandon our fear of death. We do not fear the change that means shedding the old and embracing the new. We place our hope in the one who brings new life. We leave behind fear and enter into the life abundant. I recently heard it said that “Fear is disguised as practicality.”
How willing are we to abandon practicality, to abandon our fears of the unknown, the unplanned, the uncontrolled so that we can let go and let God do the work needed to change us from the inside out? The Christian life is one of abandon, dying to self so that our true self, by God’s power, can emerge and flourish. This Easter season it’s okay to let go of the old and allow God to work a new creation within you. God’s love is boundless and God’s power is mighty. Don’t let fear hold you back from the faithful discipleship to which you are called. You were meant to fly.
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Nicole Jones