The world was turned up side down

As the disciples told the story of Jesus, the world was turned up side down, because these were people who were actually living as though it were true - loving and serving one another, giving up their goods to help the needy, and suffering and dying for the message. They were no longer living for the prestige, possessions, and pleasures of this world that so many of us today who call ourselves Christians still pursue.

A life-changing reality
The resurrection of Christ gives hope to us all. It offers the Muslim assurance that there is forgiveness. It offers the poor and downtrodden the promise that the suffering of this world is not all there is. And it offers to each of us the foretaste of God's new reality, the future made present, where we can begin to experience freedom from fear, shame, rejection, and slavery to destructive habits.

All of this is for us in Christ, if we will come to him to receive it. For we too can meet the risen Christ.

But the resurrection also declares that we can no longer live as though this world is all there is. And for those of us who do have the possessions, comforts, and power that this world offers, that is a challenge. For Jesus lays claim to our allegiance, and assures us that real life is not found in the abundance of stuff or adrenaline rushes we have, but in giving all for him. Shall we then live for Christ? Or shall we claim his name, but continue to pursue our own prosperity, pleasure, and preference?

"He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:15)