Psalm 118:1-2,14-24

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his mercy endures for ever.

2 Let Israel now proclaim,
"His mercy endures for ever."

14 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.

15 There is a sound of exultation
and victory in the tents of the righteous:

16 "The right hand of the Lord has triumphed!
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!"

17 I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.

18 The Lord has punished me sorely,
but he did not hand me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter them; I will offer thanks to the Lord.

20 "This is the gate of the Lord;
he who is righteous may enter."

21 I will give thanks to you,
for you answered me and have become my salvation.

22 The same stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 On this day the Lord has acted;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Dead end or threshold?

I’ve got a favorite photograph hanging in my office. It shows a roadside sign on a rickety trailer, with letters you can move around like old movie theaters. The trailer is positioned on a country road in front of a small church. It’s clearly been set out around Easter, because here’s what the sign says: The Lord is risen. No bingo.

I value the photo as a reminder to me that Easter makes a difference. Our faith tells us that it can make the difference in each one of our lives. We wake up this morning to a new season. Easter, more than just one day, is fifty days given to help us focus on good news, the possibility of resurrection. Those fifty days are meant to be extended so that all our days are shaped by the good news of Easter. In my own mind, the difference Easter makes has to do with transformation. A dead end turns into a threshold.

That kind of transformation is described throughout the Bible, perhaps most famously at the shore of the Red Sea, a story always read at the Great Vigil of Easter. The children of Israel think they are doomed. Great sea before them. Approaching army behind them. Apparently, no way out of this mess. And suddenly what had seemed to be a great obstacle is turned into a way forward, providing entry into a new life. A pathway emerges in front of them, right in the middle of the sea. The sea, portrayed in scripture as a place of threatening chaos, actually becomes a means of salvation. What other biblical stories can you cite which describe dead end turned into threshold? Sarah and Abraham. Elizabeth and Zechariah. Hannah. Ruth. Job.

It’s the message conveyed in Psalm 118, heard in church yesterday and reprinted above. The psalmist prays in praise: Open for me the gates of righteousness. Not unlike Psalm 100 which invites us to enter God’s gate with thanksgiving.

It’s the story of Easter morning, when everyone thought that the ministry of Jesus was a thing of the past. Then the stone which blocked the entrance is rolled away. A new, perhaps unimaginable future emerges. It’s a future not only for the one resurrected person. Easter morning made a difference for those first disciples. Before Easter, they had abandoned Jesus and thought their movement was over. Maybe they even thought it had all been a colossal mistake. After Easter, those same fickle disciples sacrifice their lives in devotion to the risen Christ. The world is soon changed by their witness. Easter made the difference.

John’s gospel says that Jesus is a door. The image invites us in this Easter season not only to note this as a biblical theme, but to see where it applies to our lives these days.  I suspect we all have run into dead ends. Maybe you’re facing one now. Maybe it’s a health challenge. A dead end job. A relationship that has died. A faith that no longer stirs your soul. It may be nearly impossible to imagine any good outcome, any way forward. To sign on to the Christian faith, to swim in the Christian stream, is to hold on to the possibility that a pathway will emerge. John Lennon is credited with this bit of wisdom: In the end, everything will be okay. If it’s not okay, it's not the end.

So Happy Easter. Break out the alleluias. Give thanks for the new life that is offered in Jesus. Remember those times when you faced a dead end and a way forward emerged. And if you find yourself facing a dead end this morning, without a threshold in sight, hang on to the hope, the possibility of God making a new creation. Pray for that way to be set before you.

-Jay Sidebotham