Resurrection Is What Happens When You Stop Othering People
Finding Resurrection Meaning Beyond the Supernatural, Part 2
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…We proclaim the mystery of faith:
“Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.”
If you’ve ever been in a liturgical church, you have probably said that as part of the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper.
That’s a liturgical way of saying, “Jesus Christ is Lord, and his kingdom will have no end.”
But in our modern world, liturgy is a unique thing. It is not actually about what we explicitly believe theologically in a propositional sense. It is about using the church’s mythological language to assert that God is the Source of all legitimate authority in the universe—and that authority has an identifiable pattern to it.
At the core of that liturgy—a ritualized, meaning-bearing story of Ultimacy—the most basic pattern is that of call and response. Someone representing God stands before the congregation and engages in the call, and then the congregation responds.
Again and again, throughout the service.
As we continue through the service, movement by movement, we ritualistically embody that pattern within the community. In and through ritual, we function not as isolated individuals, but as a singular body. We become one. And we share a common identity as we identify with Christ and the various members of his body.
Theologically, I am less interested in identity and more interested in identification, because that is where we find the real power of the Resurrection in our lives.
But before we can even begin to talk about Resurrection, we need to lay some foundation.
Let me say this clearly: what follows is my personal theology. I am not making metaphysical claims about the structure of the universe. I am not attempting to describe what is “out there” in some objective cosmic blueprint. Rather, I am working within a narrative construct; or to put it another way, working within “my truth”. This is my way of making sense of the Christian story that is coherent, life-giving, and spiritually transformative.
What I am describing is not a physics of heaven.
It is a pattern of meaning.
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Kenosis
The word kenosis comes from what scholars call the “Christ hymn” in Philippians 2:6–11 (NRSVUE). It means “self-emptying.” That’s the technical definition anyway.
But I don’t think that definition captures the spirit of the word in the way I’d like it to.
So, here’s how I understand kenosis:
Pouring oneself out into the other for the sake of the other.
Kenosis is actually central to my personal theology. In fact, if you pay close attention, you will see that nearly everything revolves around the concept.
But, you don’t actually have to remember that word if you don’t want to because it turns out that we have a cultural word for that pattern of “pouring oneself out into the other for the sake of the other”. And that word is…
Love.
That’s how we experience kenosis, as love.
And, for me, God is Love.
That’s the gospel.
Which leads us to how this all comes together for me…
That means that God is this kenotic pattern of pouring oneself out into the other for the sake of the other. Whenever we see that movement—self-giving for the enrichment of the other—that is God manifesting in this world.
And here’s something I want to highlight in that understanding…
The purpose (or goal) of kenosis is always “for the sake of the other.” So,we see the fruit of that self-gifting blossom into the enrichment, enhancement, and deepening of lived experience. Theologically, I call the goal of kenosis “abundant life.”
For kenosis to be realized in this world, however, it must be enfleshed. It must take on form. It must become embodied in human action and human relationship.
And that brings us to Christ.
Postmodern culture is experiencing a meaning crisis.
Why have we lost sight of Meaning?
Is there any hope of getting it back?
Better yet, is the loss of Meaning really a bad thing?
If you long for a path forward, my theology book Drinking from an Empty Glass: Living Out of a Meaningless Spirituality is the book you’re looking for.
Christ as the Power of Identification
On the cross, as Christ forgives. But why? What is going on that draws out his compassion for his murderers rather than his ire?
