Second Sunday of Easter - Year A

Lectionary Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NRSV)

The idea standing out for me in this Sunday's epistle reading is our spiritual inheritance that is a part of being in Christ.  Usually inheritance is considered in terms of material goods that we receive upon the death of our last living parent.  It can be cash accounts, stock or property such as homes or cars.  It may come from a life insurance settlement.

In the first century, inheritance meant that you had come into your own as the adult of the family.  It is your turn to call the shots.  Others may be looking to you for leadership.  At this point, you might have greater respect as the senior member of your family.  Your responsibility to those under you in the family hierarchy of the time would also rise.  Their fortunes and future depended on your decisions for how you utilized the resources at hand.

With COVID-19 targeting people over 60 as vulnerable, we have seen a great rise across the country in people tending to their wills and estates.  Our sense of duty in how we pass along our resources to the next generation becomes more prominent in our thoughts as we prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.  Lines of inheritance get especially tricky for those who have remarried after divorce or the death of a spouse and have children from the former marriages. 

Issues of inheritance can be difficult for the surviving children if things are not laid out clearly.  The affection between siblings can be damaged to the point where it is difficult to repair.  This is common to the human condition and even in Jesus' day we saw this in Luke 12:13-14:

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Even Jesus wants to avoid the trap of coming between a family squabble!

The inheritance I receive and hope to pass on
in Christ is life after the cross.

If we think about the inheritance we pass along from a spiritual sense, it may be that our duty to our loved ones changes a bit.  As the markets show us, money comes and goes but spiritual discipline and awareness are resources that help us in any crisis that we face.  They certainly help us to move through uncertainty with a greater sense of confidence.

I find it interesting that the epistle speaks of inheritance as something we receive after we die.  Rather than waiting for our parents to pass on, we are the ones who inherit when we leave this earth.  The factor mentioned in providing for our inheritance is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  While most of the atonement theories on how we receive our salvation involve the death of Jesus, we see here that it is the resurrection that seems to bear more weight.

What does it mean to focus more on the resurrection of Jesus rather than the sacrificial imagery of the cross?  How does this speak to us as we are in the grips of such wholesale change in our lives? 

I hope to continue to wrestle with this idea as we worship on Sunday and I would be happy to have you join me at 11 am CST (or some time after this) either on Facebook or YouTube!

In Christ,

Sam

Photo by Gabriel Acevedo via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.