Resurrection in Unlikely Places

This Lent, I have been thinking about and studying the unlikely people who show up in the last week of Jesus’ life. This week in our Unlikely Lent Bible study, we reflected on Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.

Be honest. Those are not the first names most of us think of when we think about faithful disciples. Yet when it mattered most, they showed up. Joseph asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. Nicodemus helped prepare it for burial. It was quiet, tender, courageous work. While others hid in fear, these two men, both connected to the religious leadership, stepped forward with love.

But isn’t that often how faith works?

Most of the time, it is not loud or dramatic. Faith is often simple, quiet, and tangible. Faith looks like showing up. Sometimes it looks like doing the next right thing. Sometimes it looks like honoring the brokenness right in front of you with courage and care.

A powerful example of this kind of faith is Dr. Heber Brown. After the racial unrest in Baltimore, he saw a need and responded in faith. What began as 1,500 square feet of grass behind his church became a garden. With faithful gardeners and holy imagination, that small patch of ground helped feed the city and grew into the Black Church Food Security Network.

This is one of many resurrection stories in our world. Life rising where others only saw loss. Hope growing where others saw empty ground.

Maybe that is the invitation of Lent and Holy Week for us. You do not have to be the obvious hero in the story. You do not have to have all the answers. You simply have to be willing to notice, to care, and to respond in faith. To let your faith be present with others in daily life.

Who knows? What seems small in your hands may become the very place God’s resurrection begins.

With Gratitude,