A lot of books, videos, conferences, workshops, and seminars in the religious marketplace make us believe and promise us that we can master our spiritual formation.

Eugene Peterson (the author of The Message) calls these forms of consumer-driven “packaged spiritualities” “idolatry.” These products may be advertised under the adjective Christian, “[b]ut idolatry it is, nonetheless. It's God packaged as a product.”

In contrast, Peterson makes it clear in his book Living the Resurrection that the formation of our faith is God's work. The essential cause for our spiritual formation is Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Easter may be one particular day on the calendar. But it is more than that. Because of Easter our whole lives and our prospects have changed.

In three inspiring chapters, Peterson anchors the resurrection experience in the keeping of the Sabbath, in the Eucharistic Meal, and in Holy Baptism and connects them to our spiritual “formation-by-resurrection,” which becomes manifest in the “ordinariness of life.”

In chapter 1 (Resurrection Wonder), Peterson observes that the resurrection took place after the day of rest, after the Sabbath. He goes on writing “that rest and leisure ... allows us to see the primacy of God's presence and work in all of life. In other words, we enter conditions in which we are capable of being surprised by what is other than us, other than what we do or don't do. And we are then in a place where we are capable of wonder and astonishment at what is – and who God is. Sabbath-keeping is the sacramental act that our people-of-God ancestors have employed, under commandment, to preserve a reverent and worshiping capacity to be aware of and responsive to what is other than us, so that we are responsive to formation-by-resurrection.” (Italics added.)

In chapter 2 (Resurrection Meals), Peterson focuses on the aspect of eating after the resurrection. Eating is something very mundane. We all need to eat. But eating, at the same time, can be a very spiritual act, a sacramental act for “it enacts the sacrificial exchange between life and death, giving and receiving. That provides our access to formation-by-resurrection. ... Jesus' meals held a central place in the exposition of his life and ... two of these meals were primary events in the recognition of resurrection. The Eucharistic Table – the Lord's Table – then becomes the sacramental practice for Christians that maintains our resurrection focus in the dailyness of life. The Table and the Meal engage us in the sacrificial exchanges of life and death that cultivate formation-by-resurrection.” (Italics added.)

In chapter 3 (Resurrection Friends), Peterson explains the ties between resurrection and Baptism, noting “that naming and being named [in holy baptism] is the act that sets us apart as unique image-of-God creation – souls. In the company of other souls, it asserts the dignity of our personal identity in formation-by-resurrection. The sacrament of holy baptism is the practice that keeps this in focus. In baptism, we are personally named. ... Holy baptism is the sacramental act that maintains that identity and keeps it in focus as we are engaged in formation-by-resurrection” (italics added), which is accompanied by the disciplines of repentance (our “no” to the forces of evil that stand against Jesus and our pre-baptismal life) and obedience (our “yes” to follow Jesus as a result of our post-baptismal life).

I have found this book to be a gem, for in it Eugene Peterson gives God the glory and honor. I would like to recommend it to you. Read it for yourself!

Better yet, discover and experience how Jesus' resurrection has transformed your life as well; how your life, because of Jesus' resurrection, has taken on new meaning and purpose. This is something no book can convey to you.

Because God rose Jesus from the dead on Easter morning, every day has become a resurrection day for us!

Yours in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord,
Bjoern E. Meinhardt, Pastor