How the resurrection changes everything

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. It’s the central event of Christianity and, as such, is sometimes merely assumed rather than truly celebrated. But we can’t overestimate the significance of what happened that Sunday morning, and we should take every opportunity to remind ourselves of this astounding reality and its implications for everything—all our lives, all our dreams, all our hopes.

We breathe in so many of our worldviews from what others take for granted. This is another reason why celebrating the resurrection is valuable; it’s a story powerful enough to jolt our worldviews, opening us to not just a new way of looking at life but a new kind of life.

Perhaps the resurrection has its most profound effect on how we measure our attitude to winning and losing. Ron Sider puts it like this: “Those who understand the empty tomb can afford to lose now” (I Am Not A Social Activist).

Because of the sacrifice—the loss—of Jesus and His resurrection victory, faithfulness is always more important than success. Not only is what Jesus did the foundation for this reassessment of life, it’s also the model: “He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward” (Hebrews 12:2, NLT).

When “we understand the empty tomb,” we can confront our inevitable disappointments and losses. No longer do we have to win, guard and maintain our image or be a “success” to justify our place in the world or our sense of worth. No longer does our opinion or even belief have to win every argument or have the last word. The last word—or the Word that will be the last word—has already been spoken.

The resurrection must change everything—including our perceptions and preoccupations about winning and losing. If it doesn’t, the resurrection is merely a historical oddity, barely worth remembering at all.

Inspiring, encouraging but not living out mission

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The One Project gathering in Seattle last month may have been the second most inspiring and encouraging event for which I have been privileged to attend. I applaud and support the impulse—Jesus. All.—behind this movement.

The need to refocus on Jesus is a perpetual task—He can so easily be obscured by our arguments, our busyness, our stuff, even our “churchness,” and the day-to-day mechanics of all of these. So, it’s inspiring to be reminded Jesus has been our focus in the past, even amid disappointments and frustrations, and to recognise He’s transforming people’s lives and communities today. And it’s encouraging to gather, to share and to worship with others of like mind.

Two weeks later, in Portland, I and 4500 academics, activists, artists, ministers and students from the US, Canada and 18 other countries attended the Justice Conference. Its focus: the Bible’s call to “do justice” and what this tells us about the nature of God and who we are called to be in His world. The conference may have been the most inspiring, encouraging and challenging event for which I have been privileged to attend. I didn’t just go home changed; I went home to change the world (if you’ll forgive me for being a little grandiose).

The One Project is a step—and a vital, positive, healthy one—but it isn’t the journey. The Justice Conference is a further step and a worthwhile one beyond that of The One Project, but it isn’t the journey either. The journey begins after I leave the hotel ballroom or the convention centre. The journey is me living out the mission of Jesus by working for justice in my community on the other side of the world. And you in yours.

The One Project Sydney, July 28-29, 2012.
Early registration closes March 28.
www.the1project.org

The significance of the question of motivation

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education

Before Kevin Rudd disappears into obscurity, it’s worth remembering what may have been his most significant achievement as Australia’s foreign minister.

Last year, under Rudd’s leadership, the Department of Foreign Affairs reviewed overseas aid for development and poverty alleviation. Australia has now become a leader in moving toward dedicating 0.5 per cent of its gross national income to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. More important: the profound change in rationale. Instead of furthering Australia’s national interests, “the fundamental purpose of Australian aid”—the new policy reads—“is to help people in developing countries overcome poverty.”

This policy may not look radically different from the previous policy but the question of motivation is significant. An apparently identical act or idea is rendered profoundly different by its why.

The Bible says we should do some things simply because they are the right things to do. As Jesus said, part of living humbly as His disciples is to be “hungry and thirsty for justice” (Matthew 5:6, NLT), to seek goodness in all its forms, including working for more goodness in the world beyond ourselves as agents of God’s kingdom here and now. In theory, it’s straightforward. In practice, it’s more complicated—our motivations get so muddled and muddied.

So, let’s applaud anything that moves our national, corporate and individual actions beyond self-interest. Whether this new policy changes priorities or survives the loss of its political champion remains to be seen, but we can be encouraged by this impulse.

We should also consider our motivations. We might find ourselves doing some things differently and other things similarly but with radically different motives. That will be good for us, as well as for those—and for Him—we seek to serve.

Advice for life from the Australian of the Year

Nathan Brown
Book editor
Signs Publishing Company

Australian of the Year Simon McKeon is an advocate of corporate philanthropy and individual giving. His message: where any of us have any capacity for giving, we should consider that as a valid option to make a difference in the lives of those who need it.

McKeon says giving is not just important for the beneficiaries, it is also vital for the giver. As an investment banker, he is attuned to the business realities. He says the most successful organisations are those giving to and working with their communities. “They will be connected with their community, not operating out of an ivory tower, and they will be better for it because they will understand what the community is needing and asking for.”

While the church should be more than a business, McKeon’s insight is helpful to our practice of faith, individually and corporately. However we might judge the success of the church, our connection with the community will be vital.

Church should never be about “ivory towers” or merely looking after ourselves. As Jesus taught, the church should be salt and light in the world. We should give because of what we have received, and we should serve primarily for the benefit of others, but when we do this, we will find we receive more again in return. Perhaps this is one of the meanings of this statement from Jesus: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance” (Matthew 25:29, NLT).

And there is also a personal benefit for those of us who work as a church to connect with and serve the community. Rather than risking becoming “an unnecessarily narrow and unsuccessful person”—as McKeon says—we step into a life of generosity and cooperation, created and creating anew “in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT).

McKeon was talking about business, but his wisdom also reveals a dynamic of life—and even more so of the life of faithfulness.—Adventist News Network

Nathan Brown
Book editor
Signs Publishing Company

Many of the year’s big news stories have focused on economics. From stock markets and exchange rates to debt issues and financial regulation, our economic systems continue to be questioned, particularly regarding sustainability. As Christians, we are asked the same questions but these offer the opportunity to seek different answers.

One of the first realisations is a reminder that many of these systems—based as they are on greed, exploitation, injustice and over-consumption—are wrong. The prevailing theory is that which “inspires our pursuit of as much resource use and waste production (also known as economic growth) as possible, as fast as possible” (Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change). The comparative privilege enjoyed by most in the developed world is subsidised at the expense of the rest of the world.

Those who promote and profit from our economic systems have powerful voices, tuned to convince us of their importance and pre-eminence. In Colossians Remixed, Brian J Walsh and Sylvia C Keesmaat describe the prevailing economic forces as “a religious movement of previously unheard-of proportions. Progress is its underlying myth, unlimited economic growth its foundational faith, the shopping mall—physical or online—its place of worship, consumerism its overriding image, ‘I’ll have a Big Mac and fries’ its ritual of initiation, and global domination its ultimate goal.”

In the face of rampant market-driven capitalism, it becomes increasingly clear why Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24, NLT). He urges us not to worry about what we should eat, drink or wear—and the list would probably be longer if the Sermon on the Mount had been preached to 21st-century consumers in a shopping mall rather than to rural peasants on a hillside—and reminds us to look first to God who “already knows all your needs” and “will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern” (Matthew 6:32, 33, NLT).

Even as we ask these questions, we need to realise the poor are always first to suffer. We must be asking how we can reach those who are hurting financially and emotionally.

Giving is the ultimate rebuttal to an economy built on getting and having. We must resist the temptations uncertainties bring to build walls of protection around ourselves. Instead, as Jesus recommended, by our generosity and faithfulness we demonstrate our treasure is to be found in the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 6:20).

Seventh-day Adventist writer Chris Blake offers an inspiring alternative vision: “Let God’s people transition to new models of transforming grace of Christian community. Christianity has never been about isolationism, and never will be. . . . In the midst of imminent collapse, Adventist homes open to the dispossessed and fearful. Adventist churches and schools become cities of refuge and outposts of mercy. Sanctuaries house the homeless. Playing fields plough up into gardens. As a world self-destructs, chapter 2 of Acts emerges before our wondering eyes. . . . This is our finest hour.”—Adventist News Network