I was recently talking to some fellow Christians about my belief that the Glory of the Cross turned upside down the whole idea of glory. Glory no longer belonged to the victor, but now belonged to the victim. The immediate response was, “Are you encouraging suffering?” Not at all, there’s plenty of suffering out there. I’m more concerned with how we view justice. The Good Samaritan didn’t tell the broken man on the road, “I’ll go find those bandits and kill them for you.” He bound his wounds and paid for his recovery.

In fact I’d argue that a triumphalist view of the cross and resurrection is what encourages suffering. It tells us to endure our suffering until that final day when Jesus’ victory comes to fulfillment. I want it made clear that leaving others to endure their suffering is not what I mean when I speak of living life as if we’re already dead. 

Ivone Gebara, the feminist theologian I respect the most, speaks of salvation as living a life of resurrection. She works with the poor women of Brazil, whose suffering is practically invisible and hear triumphalism as a command to suffer silently.

Jesus was sent to us because God heard the suffering of Her people. I think especially the ones who suffer in silence do to oppression. Sister Gebara reminds us that Jesus did not suffer alone; that the women were with Him to the end and tended to His body. Women’s’ work (Whether it’s women who do it or not) the work done behind the scenes to maintain community is mostly taken for granted.

And for Gebara, it is there you will find salvation in the here and now. Resurrection is found in the midst of suffering through the daily ways we nourish love, our bodies, and our lives. We must search for these moments every day just as we begin the actions of eating and drinking. Resurrection is closely linked in the Hope to carry on. So when I say live as if you’re already dead, that is a daily process a daily commitment.

This brings me to our readings today. As John says in his letter, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” And I would say this still is true. This world does not want to know the hungry, the naked, the prisoner, the refugee; it does not want to know Christ. It does not want to know to whom the glory belongs. It does not acknowledge daily resurrections these people find to carry on; daily resurrections that Glorify God.

The world doesn’t want to know the Children of God, who are the ones living as if they are already dead and free from the perishing world. And by the perishing world, I very much mean the oppressors, not those who struggle to find resurrection in their daily oppressed lives.

I also feel the need to mention that when John speaks of lawlessness, he is referring to the law written in our hearts, not the laws of the oppressors. The righteous from my point of view, are those people who search for daily resurrection. Who search for love, for tending to bodies and lives in the here and now, our own included.

Our other two readings mention being witnesses; witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In a world where far too many people think being a Christian is primarily about being a homophobic anti-abortionist, Christ need true witnesses. Part of my daily resurrection practice is to find opportunities to tell people who the glory really belongs to, who Christ is.