On a day that celebrates resurrection, or perhaps more properly on the day that celebrates resurrection, we should stop and ask ourselves what it means to live resurrected lives. Certainly Jesus’ resurrection is the promise of our future resurrection (read 1 Corinthians 15). But Paul also reminds us that Jesus’ resurrection is already at play in our lives since we in baptism have become participants in his death, his burial, and his resurrection (Romans 6).
What does it mean for me to live out the reality of my true and full self made possible in Jesus? What is different about my resurrected life than was true before I became a follower of Jesus? Frederick Buechner wrote about “our true and full self” in the following words:
“What we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else. It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are . . . because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing.”
What does it mean to be fully known? Are we willing to come face to face with who we really are? Do we feel compelled to maintain a facade? In resurrection, we are reminded of the possibility of newness, and we affirm that who we truly and fully are is no pretend matter, but that we are new creatures in Christ.