Resurrection at Work
When was the last time you saw a resurrection at work?
If you work in the medical field, maybe you’ve seen someone brought back to life. Most of us don’t get to see that sort of miracle unless we’re binge-watching the latest TV medical drama. But if we looked carefully, intentionally, perhaps we’d see resurrection all around us.
Small r resurrection
In her book Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World, Michaela O’Donnell calls these everyday instances of resurrection “small r resurrection moments.” Here’s how she describes them:
“Jesus was put to death on a cross on a Friday. He was exposed and ridiculed and condemned. A handful of followers laid him to rest in a tomb. But when a couple of faithful women went to the tomb to tend to his body on Sunday, he was no longer there. God had raised him from the dead. God had exalted him, and he was with God, having received the promise of the Holy Spirit to pour out. Death does not have the final word in God’s kingdom. What this means for us is that when we’re in the midst of suffering, setback, wondering and waiting, we can trust that God is present—that God is breaking into our pain. The assurance that death does not have the final word helps us hope for what might be and believe that new life is possible. When we orient our everyday actions around the hope of the resurrection, we build up the muscles of resilience.
So much of life—including our work—mirrors the resurrection arc. When we experience setback, change, and loss, we’re living in the wake of Good Friday. When we’re grieving what was and hoping for what might be, we’re in the holding pattern of Holy Saturday. And when we experience new life sprouting on the heels of pain, we’re invited by God to delight in the surprise and joy of Easter Sunday. I like to think of the everyday moments when our work and our lives mirror the resurrection arc as small r resurrection moments.” [1]
So let me ask you again. When was the last time you saw a resurrection at work?
Stories of Resurrection
As part of our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and as a way to shape our imaginations for what’s possible with God, we want to share stories of resurrection at work—your stories. When did you see God bring light out of darkness, hope in the wake of grief, newness in the shadow of death? We want to hear these stories.
Tell us what God’s been up to in the accounting firm, on the assembly line, and in the boardroom. What has God done in your relationship with your client, your coworker, or your boss? Where do you see signposts of the Kingdom in your company or industry? We want to know!
We will be collecting stories throughout the month of April. We’ll share some of the stories on our website throughout May and June. To learn more and to submit your story, click here.
Banner image by Renzo D’souza on Unsplash.
[1] Excerpt taken from Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World by Michaela O’Donnell (Baker, 2021).