If Jesus had a favorite word, what do you think it would be?

Some might say love. And fair enough. Jesus talked about love quite a bit. Love one another as I have loved you, was essentially Jesus’ parting sermon to the disciples. 

Or perhaps you might say fear. How many times did Jesus say do not be afraid? Perhaps more than any other phrase in all of scripture!

Or you might go in a different direction and say something like forgiveness. That word may very well define Jesus’ mission on earth. He suffered and died for the forgiveness of sins. Mine. Yours. Everyone’s. Forgiveness is a powerful word and as my friend Allen Hunt says, everybody needs to forgive somebody. 

But I don’t think that’s the word. 

I think the word is: rise. 

Now when most of us hear that word we think of its most obvious and famous use. Rise is the word Jesus used every time he described how he would establish his Kingdom and unlock the gates of heaven. He would suffer. And he would die. But, and this is the most important claim in all of human history, he would rise. He would rise from the dead so that he could do the same for you and me. He did it so that at the moment of my death and yours, instead of being alone, we might hear a simple word of life whispered into the depths of our souls…Rise. Rise to life again. 

But the scene of the transfiguration suggests that rising is not just a word applied to life after death. It applies to the here and now. 

The disciples are prostrate on the ground, gripped with fear after hearing the voice of God, unable to comprehend what they just heard, and how does Jesus respond?

He comes over to them. He comforts them with a touch. And he says rise. 

To rise is to go from who we are to who we could be. More than that, to go from whatever our present reality is…gripped by fear, lost in the darkness of unholy moments, sick, discouraged, broken, whatever it might be…to a future of goodness beyond comprehension. A future of peace, vitality, wholeness, and life. 

There is no story more universally attractive to the human person than the story of someone rising. It’s the underdog story, the redemption story, and the ‘never give up’ story. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it best: Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. 

God doesn’t prevent us from failing or falling. He lets it happen. He does so for many reasons, most of which are too mysterious for us to ever know. But one of the reasons we do know is this: nothing transforms the soul into something beautiful quite like rising—like getting up when everyone thought you were destined to stay on the ground forever. 

If there are things weighing you down in life. If there are things that make you doubt the hope you carry within. If you are weighed down by the sense of your own inadequacy, the past, the opportunities missed, the burdens and cruelties of life, or the faces of those you wronged. 

If you’re on the ground because your dreams are lying dormant somewhere in a forgotten corner of your heart. If every day feels like an overwhelming blur of activity. If there is something you need to do but don’t want to because it’s hard or painful or you don’t think you can do it. 

If you’re growing restless or stuck in a rut. If you’re limping through your days, just trying to get by. If life has placed an unfathomably large burden upon your shoulders, and you have no idea how you’re supposed to carry it.

Or, if the reality of who you are in relation to who you thought you were has shattered your world. If you might move through your day feeling dazed, disoriented, and uncertain of what to do next. 

Here the word Jesus wants to use to breath life and strength into your soul:

Rise.

Rise now. 

Do the next right thing. 

Start with the first Holy Moment that comes your way. 

Rise believing who you could be is not a forgotten dream but your destiny.