Day 8: Resurrection
published on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 by fg37@duke.edu
At a Glance
Theme
Resurrection
Faculty Speaker
Dr. Douglas Campbell, Associate Professor of New Testament
Lectionary Texts
Exodus 14:10-14,21-25;15:20-21; Psalm 118:1-214-24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-23; Luke 24:1-35
Reflections on the Lecture
"The Lord is risen indeed!" said the 11 disciples in Jerusalem to those who had encountered Jesus en route to Emmaus. So also have we been saying and hearing here at DYA today. Today we reflected upon and reveled in the resurrection of our crucified King, being led in our plenary session by Dr. Douglas Campbell. Walking us through a number of biblical passages, Dr. Campbell expounded on the centrality of the resurrection to our faith. We saw from Romans 1:1-3 and Psalm 2 that it was precisely by Jesus' resurrection that God "appointed" him the King of Israel and, therefore, King of kings. Then, looking at 1 Corinthians 15, we meditated upon the implications of the materiality of our coming resurrected bodies. Or as Dr. Campbell said, "When you are resurrected, you get a body. Get used to it." Finally, looking to Romans 6, Dr. Campbell introduced the notion of "inaugurated eschatology:" the idea that the world and life God promises us in the future is, even now, breaking into our present – first in our baptisms and subsequently in the Spirit's transforming work in our lives.
Quotes
“Can you get tatts [tattoes] on your spiritual body? Hmmm…” — Dr. Campbell, on the nature of the bodily resurrection
“Why is it that we have few problems with being heralds of bad news and, yet, are so hesitant to proclaim the Good News?” — Rev. Shane Benjamin in evening worship
“Look to the risen Christ and to live victoriously so that we continue kicking the devil's butt.” — Rev. Shane Benjamin, reminding us that truth and justice are to be sought in Jesus
Other Activities
This morning our prayer took on a joyful note as we turned our eyes toward Christ’s resurrection. After plenary, we returned to worship workshops as students prepare to lead worship during the rest of the week. In the afternoon, students explored their third Arts Village, while in the evening, we shared table fellowship with Urban Hope, a non-profit youth organization working in the Walltown neighborhood of Durham. The resurrection theme was brought home by our worship and the Rev. Shane Benjamin's soul-stirring sermon at evening worship.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow we welcome Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, as our morning speaker on the topic of Life in the Spirit: The Church as Witness. It promises to be an enlivening and challenging plenary! In the afternoon, we’ll immerse ourselves again in prayer as we explore different Christian prayer traditions before our first student-led worship service tomorrow night.
After a busy week, we were ready to switch to a different rhythm for our weekend. On Saturday, we experienced a powerful immersion into the historic Hayti community in Durham, a key player in the civil rights movement. We visited several important sites in Durham including the St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation and Black Wall Street, which serves as centers for the social and economic life of the African-American community. In the afternoon, we reflected on what it means to be part of the broader community as a member of the body of Christ, pursuing justice, reconciliation, and peace. In the evening, we were blessed and spellbound by veteran DYA storyteller Tracy Radosevic, who presented the Gospel of Mark from memory in its entirety. It was a beautiful transition to our Sunday Sabbath rest.
In our Friday morning plenary, Dr. Colón-Emeric guided students on the journey of Christ’s suffering and death. After exploring several Scriptures found in the law and prophets of the Old Testament (Isa. 52-53, Psalm 22, Exo. 12-14, Lev. 16, Num. 21), he pointed students to the fulfillment of these Scriptures in correlating New Testament texts (Lk. 9:29-31, Heb. 6:19-20 & Heb. 9). Dr. Colón-Emeric emphasized four interpretations of Christ’s passion, including the Suffering Servant, Christ as the Sacrificial Lamb, Christ as the One who leads those in bondage to freedom and Christ as Healer and Redeemer. He wove a variety of artistic paintings (classical and contemporary) to illustrate these motifs and also to facilitate reflection on how the Gospel may have been introduced and interpreted by various ethnicities and cultures in history. Finally, he challenged students to ponder where the cross fits in with the rest of the world and “how the story of Israel relates to the stories of other peoples.” 