“…receive the word with joy” (Luke 8:13).
Thomas Jefferson once edited his own version of the Bible. He wanted to create a more rational approach to Christianity, so Jefferson snipped out of his Bible all references to the supernatural. He deleted all the miracles and purged every mystery. Naturally, there was no room for the Resurrection. Jefferson’s Bible concludes with Jesus being laid in the tomb by his heart-broken followers. That’s the end of the story.
Jefferson’s brand of Christianity had ethics, morals, parables, wise teachings, but it never caught on because it was joyless. Remove the Resurrection, and you also remove the joy from Christianity. Take away the joy from our faith, and you don’t have any reason to be here today, you don’t have anything to sing about, and you don’t have Jesus Christ either. Joy is the surest sign of the Presence of Christ, and it is the hallmark of the life Christ calls us to live.
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