After I
the after By Mary C. Lindberg
Easter goes beyond our before and after vision
write oodles of children’s curriculum, so I’m typically boiling down a Bible text and fi nding age-appropriate ways to deliver
God’s truths to little ones. For example, with young children the concept of
“before and aſt er” works well as a way to teach about Easter. Before Easter, Jesus was gone, his friends felt sad and the world seemed gray. Aſt er Easter, Jesus had risen from the dead, his friends felt hugely relieved and color- ful new life sprang up all around. T is concept of “Happily Ever Easter” works well
for kids, and that’s great. Aſt er all, what more could we want for our children than to believe the Easter news that good wins over evil, Jesus is with us still and new life is at the center of our faith? In a sense, our popular culture looks at life in a
[Jesus] looked beyond the despairing lives to
see the beauty of God’s kingdom within each man, woman and child.
kid-like, before-and- aſt er sort of way. All around us we see before-and-aſt er shows and maga- zine articles about dramatic weight loss and home renova- tion. Just like it’s good news when kids appreciate posi- tive changes, it’s also wonderful for adults to improve their lives and get active. But Easter goes
well beyond our “before and aſt er” changes to God’s miracle of love and transformation.
Before the ‘before’ Viewing the world in Jesus’ time is kind of like looking at the before picture of the 1950s era kitchen in which the tiles are rotted and the cupboards are falling apart. It was a mess. Jesus lived within a context of oppression and
despair, where most people enjoyed neither dignity nor enough. But Jesus plunged right in to challenge and upend what was wrong and liſt up what was right. He looked beyond the despairing lives to see the beauty of God’s kingdom within each man, woman and child. Our lives can also be a mess, with power skewed,
love ignored and others mistreated. We can certainly look like before photos—stained by sin, seduced by addiction and weathered by life. It’s easy to see why we might want to hide from ourselves as well as Jesus. Or hope he might just stay in the tomb and leave us impris- oned in our personal cells of self-obsession. But that’s not how
God works, nor how the Easter message plays out. God sees our fl aws, uses our impediments, calls out our sin and dispenses a grace that
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www.thelutheran.org
Author bio: Lindberg is a Seattle- area ELCA pastor, parent and former teacher.
Write for fi ve minutes about one or more of these “before” questions or prompts.
• Before I can trust in life aft er death .… • Before Jesus calls us each day .… • Before the women went to anoint Jesus’ body .… • Before my life ends .…
a a a a a a a a a a a
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