In the busy time of Easter week, I took a moment to sit back and listen to some music. I was drawn to a song by one of my favorite bands from the 90’s, INXS (Yes, I do listen to things other than Amazing Grace). One of their songs, The Stairs, speaks of how we all exist each day without really thinking about each other. A section of lyrics are, “Listened to by the walls, we share the same spaces, repeated in the corridors, performing the same movements. The nature of your tragedy is chained around your neck. Do you lead or are you led? Are you sure that you don't care? There are reasons here to give your life and follow in your way. The passion lives to keep your faith though all are different all are great. Climbing as we fall, we dare to hold on to our fate and steal away our destiny, to catch ourselves with quiet grace… we pass each other on the stairs.”
I think that these words speak to the human tendency to exist each day without really paying attention to the world around us. I think this song touches on the universal importance of seeing other people as… people just like… you and me.
It can be hard to value one another. Different ideas, different views, different political and economic situations make it is easy to overlook others who are not like us. While we live in an age of vast communication, internet, cell phones, (even my children text each other on their Nintendo game player), yet we are ever more isolated in a world of cyberspace. Real relationships are becoming less meaningful. It has gotten more and more difficult to know each other. Bible teacher Beth Moore commented that she finally realized how much time she spends emailing people she never even sees, yet ignores those people she sees everyday spending little or no time at all with them. Do you see people each day and yet really ignore them?
Yes, there are reasons here to give your life. Christians are called to rethink their lives. Once you become a Christian, then… suddenly… it’s not all about you and your needs. Life becomes something that is given away to those people that we pass on the stairs, or in the streets, or wherever you might go. The gospel of John 15:13 states “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The Church that is only concerned about itself will not continue to thrive. The Church must teach its members to be passionately active in seeking to introduce Christ to others. Such churches work hard to make people who are “un-churched” feel welcome and provide a message in a context that is meaningful. Thus, today we live in a world where the people we pass each day generally live in the bondage of life without Jesus. Should we try to do anything about it or simply walk on by without thinking twice, too scared to speak and too afraid of failure? Jesus lived, died, and rose from the grave so that you and I can, through faith in Him, live with Him forever. That is “Good News!” That’s what Easter is all about.-not rabbits or eggs or baskets or lilies or pretty white outfits. Easter is about a God who refuses to let us remain in our bondage. Easter is about the passion of God that burns to reclaim us from sin and death. Easter is about once we know Jesus, we live to spread the news to those who are yet to meet Jesus. And in all of this, we might find our destiny (purpose) and live lives in the light of God’s grace.
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