Untitled Sermon (45)

March 28

Charles Betters / General

March 28

This past week, a date that changed everything for me passed by.

March 28th. This past Tuesday.

One of the most important days of the year for me...for my wife, Melanie.

Because March 28th is the anniversary of our very first date. Melanie was a senior in high school. I was a softomore in college. We grew up together in the church but our paths didn’t cross very often because I was a couple of years older…and back then older kids didn’t associate with the younger kids. Melanie and her friends would congregate right over there after church and talk. Much the same way groups of young people hang out here after church…and so I started to lurk around her group.

Melanie had a boyfriend. Why she dated him, I will never know.

I had a girlfriend. Both were LONG term relationships. Serious. I played the piano for the choir. Melanie sang in the choir because she wanted to get as close as possible to me. I would try not to stare at her like a creep. So it is 1991, two Saturdays before Easter and we are here at church for an all-day rehearsal for our concert. A bunch of people went to Wendy’s for lunch. I figured out a way to sit right across from Melanie and her best friend who is the daughter of one of our deacons. I looked Melanie square in the eye and I said, I think you should break up with your boyfriend. He’s no good. She claims to this day that she was going to break up with him before I offered my loving and caring and non-agenda driven advice. So she breaks up with him, I had already broken up with my girlfriend. Such a sad story for Easter. It gets happier.

Now back then, in the olden days, you had a matter of hours when a girl broke up with her boyfriend to swoop in before someone else would. Such a sad story for Easter Sunday.

That Tuesday night, I was in my college apartment. And I picked up this thing called a land line phone that was actually plugged into the wall. And I called Melanie. And I had to speak to her Dad first. Imagine that. And I asked her to go out on a date with me that week.

As I wrote the directions to her house on a piece of paper, I wrote “this is the one I am going to marry.” And on March 28 we went to Chi-Chi’s…and then we went to a park…I was a perfect gentleman. We sat on the see saw…on opposite sides. And we just had the most amazing talk.

Everything Changed

March 28…a day that changed everything for me. There was my life before March 28th and my life after March 28th. Everything in my life changed. For the better.

And we have moments like that in life. It could be the first date with a soul mate. It could be the date of a significant accomplishment. It could be the birth of a child. A day when you find your purpose in life. A date when everything changes.

From that point on, everything in your life can be categorized as before that day and after that day.

Easter Sunday-the Day that Everything Changed

For the Christian, and for everyone quite frankly, today is that day. Easter Sunday is a date that changes everything. Easter is a day that changes the way you see the world. Your priorities. That which you worship and value. Easter is a day that changes the way you relate to others. The way you raise your children. Easter changes everything.

Because there is the pre-Easter way of living and the post-Easter way of living. There is living on the wrong side of Easter and living on the right side of Easter.

2 Corinthians 15: What if Jesus Wasn’t Raised

In 2 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul gives us the most detailed defense of the resurrection of Jesus. He begins with the Gospel. And from there the verses rise together to a giant crescendo like the last movement of a great symphony. He tells us that Jesus appeared to his disciples. That he appeared to 500 others.

But for a few verses, Paul imagines what life would be if Jesus had not been raised from the dead. He imagines a perpetual pre-Easter world and what that would mean. Paul said if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead our faith is pointless, our sins remain unforgiven, those who have died before us are just gone, they just cease to exist, that we are wasting our lives, and people should feel sorry for us. Paul envisions a perpetual pre-Easter world. CS Lewis called it an eternal winter without Christmas.

ESV

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 ESV

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul says if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead our faith is pointless, our sins remain unforgiven, those who have died before us are just gone, they just cease to exist, that we are wasting our lives, and people should feel sorry for us. Paul envisions a perpetual pre-Easter world. CS Lewis called it an eternal winter without Christmas.

In other words, Paul says if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead our faith is pointless, our sins remain unforgiven, those who have died before us are just gone, they just cease to exist, that we are wasting our lives, and people should feel sorry for us. Paul envisions a perpetual pre-Easter world. CS Lewis called it an eternal winter without Christmas.

In other words, Easter is the whole ball game.

UCONN

The women’s basketball team from the University of Connecticut is a perpetual powerhouse. They are not only the most dominant team in women’s college basketball, they are one of the most dominant organized sports teams to ever exist in any sport. They have won 6 NCAA championships. They were undefeated last year in the regular season and undefeated this year in the regular season.

However…last year they were shocked in the semi-finals of the championship tournament. And just this past week, the same thing happened again, they were shocked in the semi-finals, losing on a last second shot by Notre Dame. They are 146 and 2 in their last 148 games. But for the past two years, they lost when it counted the most. Their head coach said, “it’s as if all of our wins over the past two years were all for nothing.”

If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, all of his miracles, his life, his words, were all for nothing. Just like the championship round is everything for a team like UCONN, everything rests on Easter for Jesus.

Jordan Peterson

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, was a day of despair for the disciples and the followers of Jesus. All of their hopes were crushed when Jesus died. They ran and hid wondering if they were next. They began to go back to their old lives. A dead Messiah was no Messiah at all.

If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, it is still Holy Saturday. And if Jesus wasn’t from the dead, it shouldn’t even be called Holy Saturday because if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead there was nothing holy about that Saturday at all.

Pre-Easter and Post-Easter: What Your Life Could Be

Which side of Easter are you living on? I didn’t ask you if you believe whether or not Jesus was raised from the dead. I am asking you which side of Easter you live on…because there are only two ways of living…as a pre-Easter person and as a post-Easter person. Every day, all of us, whether we have been a Christian for years, or whether we are still searching, either live as a pre-Easter person or a post-Easter person. Many times on Easter Sunday preachers will tell you the “what”….that Jesus has risen…and give you proofs for how we can know Jesus has risen…but I want to focus more on the “why”…why is Easter important….how does it change your life…what could your life be if you lived as a post-Easter person?

Supernatural versus Natural

Those who are pre-Easter people live in the natural and not the supernatural. Pre-Easter people believe ONLY in what they can see. In hard work. In your own efforts. In climbing the ladder.

A post-Easter person lives in the supernatural. Because Easter is supernatural.

ESV

Matthew 28:1–10 ESV

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

An angel of the Lord descends from Heaven and rolls away the stone…supernatural.

An angel, with an appearance as lightning, white as snow, appearing to the women and speaking to them…supernatural. Jesus appearing to the same women after having been butchered on the cross on Friday…supernatural.

It gets better…

Luke 24:30–37 ESV

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

ESV

A man disappearing and re-appearing as if he were teleporting or being beamed to different locations…supernatural. It gets better…

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

Luke 24:50–52 ESV

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

A man disappearing and re-appearing as if he were teleporting or being beamed to different locations…supernatural. It gets better…

ESV

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

A man standing on planet earth who begins ascending up into Heaven in plain sight. Supernatural.

Application

Living in pre-Easter is believing in only what you can see. Only in the natural.

But Easter changed everything. Post-Easter living is living in what you can’t see.

So practically, it is trusting God when all seems lost. Instead of feeling the need to control situations and people it is knowing that God is somehow at work usually in a way that you can’t always see. That God is always working. Living on the wrong side of Easter is an incessant need to have all the answers and to only believe in what you personally can see. Living on the right side of Easter is believing in what you can’t see and when you don’t have all the answers.

Think about what this means for a church…or for a family…a post Easter church, a post Easter family believes in God doing the impossible. A post-Easter church believes in God using us to reach all people with nothing but Jesus. In God supernaturally using each of us to reach others.

Easter changed everything and to live on the right side of Easter is to live in the supernatural.

Living as a post-Easter person is to live a lifestyle of worship

When Jesus’ followers see Jesus resurrected what is their response? To worship.

Matthew 28:9 ESV

And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

Luke 24:52–53 ESV

And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

John 20:27–28 ESV

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Living as a post-Easter person is what FREES you to live a life of worship and obedience to Jesus. A post-Easter person hears the Law of God, hears what is pleasing to God, and joyfully begins to do it, begins to change, because we have been brought from death to life.

Me Being Tested After Preaching (Romans 12)

It almost never fails...in the days leading up to preaching and the days immediately after preaching…I am almost always tested on the exact issue I preached on. It never fails. That is what I mean when I say I am preaching to myself. I am not in an ivory tower preaching. I am on the beach with you. And I am bleeding with you. Believe me. So last Sunday I preached on a very difficult chapter in the Bible, , which is almost purely the Law of God. Do this, treat people this way and not that way. Do not repay evil for evil. Bless those who persecute you. Sure enough…I was tested...

CJ and Texas Roadhouse

Tuesday was CJ’s birthday. He is our youngest. He looks forward to his birthday every year. He plans it well in advance. And so he wanted to go to his favorite restaurant for his birthday, he loves the peanuts there. And I won’t tell you which restaurant it was except that it is named after a state where George Bush was once the governor and a movie that starred Patrick Swayze. But I won’t tell you which restaurant.

So we went to dinner and Melanie told the waitress that it was CJ’s birthday—hint, hint…can you guys do your thing and sing to him…she said of course. A few minutes later, a bunch of the waiters come out and one of them hollers out to the whole room, “attention everyone, we have a very special birthday today...” and Melanie and I look at each other thinking wow that was fast. But it wasn’t for CJ. No big deal. A few minutes later, another one. Attention everyone we have a very special birthday. Not for CJ. Again, no big deal. It happened again.

Three birthdays for three adults who didn’t even look like they wanted the birthday recognition. So we are coming to the end of our meal—maybe they forgot. No big deal. So our waitress comes over and we reminded her and she said, “oh I’m sorry, I asked and the waiters and waitresses don’t want to do it.” We thought she was joking. She wasn’t. She said she would ask again. We sat there in shock. She comes back and says the same thing. In front of our son. I said, are we on candid camera? CJ handled it perfectly. He didn’t seem to care.

But then we started thinking about it. Who do those punk waiters think they are? I started to plot revenge. I said, I’m going to stand up on the booth like they do when they get everyone’s attention, Melanie you can video-tape it…stream it live to social media and tag the restaurant, this will go viral.

I am going to stand up on the booth, and shout out, can I have everyone’s attention please. Tonight is my son’s birthday and he has been looking forward to coming here all year long. Because he loves the peanuts. But we were just told twice that the lousy staff here doesn’t want to sing to him. So let’s all raise our glasses and instead of shouting out yeehaw, let’s all relentlessly boo them.

All week long we are tested (chief of sinners, long obedience in same direction)

All week long we respond to challenges, to relationship issues, to whether or not we will love our spouse, whether we will serve others, whether we will plot revenge…it’s so easy to say NBJ when things go your way, but how about when things don’t go your way? When you are offended. When you are mistreated.

Living in pre-Easter means always having to press your case. It means needing to get even. Living as a post-Easter person means living a life of worship. A life of joyful and glad obedience. Paul said, I am the chief of sinners. Luther said if you aren’t the worst sinner you know, you don’t know yourself very well. A post-Easter person responds to the resurrection with a long obedience in the same direction…a life of worship.

Living on the right side of easter is living in the supernatural, living on the right side of Easter is living a life of worship, and living on the right side of Easter is to be a NBJ person.

Jesus Plus Something Versus Jesus Plus Nothing

A pre-Easter person is a Jesus plus something else person. It’s a person who sings your grace is enough and in Christ alone on Sunday but is an anything but Jesus person on Monday through Saturday. In other words, a pre-Easter person is someone who has muddied the message of Jesus with the addition of noise.

PR Problem: How Christians would define Us

Christians really do have a messaging problem out in the world. We have a PR problem. As a result, we have become part of the noise. If you were to ask non-Christians to describe evangelicals they would say a bunch of different things because we have had a bunch of different messages.

They may identify us with a political party. Or a political hot button issue. Or people who supported this candidate or that candidate. Or people who are judgmental. Or those who don’t drink, who don’t dance, who don’t smoke, or only like Christian movies. Or people who focus on theological minutia, or those people who fight over style of music or the color of paint on the walls.

Christians have a PR problem because we live on the wrong side of Easter. Before Easter, there was mass confusion over who Jesus was and what his message meant. Jesus wasn’t confused but the people were, even his disciples were…but post Easter, after the day that changed everything, the message was crystal clear. The disciples got it, Paul got it, which is why he said in I want to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified.

NBJ Sunday

This morning, all across the country, and world, churches will turn their focus to NBJ. This is NBJ Sunday. But one theologian said that every Sunday should be a “little Easter.” Today is just Big Easter. Every Sunday should be a NBJ Sunday.

Standing Up For Your Faith

This past week, I was teaching a Bible class to some high school students, and one of the students read her assignment out loud and the essence of what she wrote was to learn to “stand up for your faith.” And so I pushed back and asked the class what is it exactly they are standing up for. And sure enough the answers were all over the map. Defend against this issue. Defend against that issue. Honestly, it’s alarming.

And I told them that when they stand up for their faith that means standing up for Nothing But Jesus. That’s it. That’s the whole ball game. And I said to the students that if they were all over the map when asked what it means to stand up for your faith, if you were to ask people in the world what a Christian is, they also would be all over the map.

Vegetarian Illustration

And I could see a light bulb went off for the student who had read her assignment out loud. And she gave this awesome example…she said, when you think of a vegetarian, you immediately think of someone who doesn’t eat meat because they believe eating meat is cruelty to animals, so that is why they eat vegetables. Period. Full stop. That’s it. That’s what a vegetarian is. A vegetarian doesn’t only eat vegetables because of fighting for world peace. It’s because they have an issue with eating meat. They are nothing but vegetables people. And it is almost offensive to an activist vegetarian when people become vegetarians not because of shared conviction of cruelty to animals, but in order to eat healthy and lose weight, because the message of a true vegetarian is don’t eat animals, that’s cruel, eat vegetables.

Is it possible that vegetarians are more laser focused on what they are all about than are Christians? Is it possible that those in the world, our children in the church, are more clear on what a vegetarian stands up for, and the concise message of a vegetarian than they are clear on what a Christian is?

A pre-Easter person living on the wrong side of Easter doesn’t have their message straight.

Great Commission Poll: 51, 25, 17

In a recent study, 51 percent of Christians, 51 percent, when asked, have you heard of the Great Commission answered NO. An additional 25 percent said yes, but I can’t recall the exact meaning. Only 17 percent had heard of the Great Commission and could say what it meant.

That’s because we are pre-Easter people still confused about Jesus.

The Great Commission is when Jesus said to his disciples, go into all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples of all people. In other words, live to reach all people with nothing but Jesus. That is the great commission. That is our message.

John 20:27–28 ESV

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

My Lord and my God. Nothing but Jesus. Those living on the right side of Easter get that. They are laser focused, not looking to the left or to the right.

Those living on the right side of Easter live in the supernatural, those living on the right side of Easter live a life of worship, those living on the right side of Easter are NBJ people with a laser focus on NBJ, and those living on the right side of Easter live in bold, confident, hopeful anticipation of the future.

Fear Versus Hopeful Anticipation

Those who are pre-Easter people are gripped by fear, by anxiety…think about the disciples on Holy Saturday. Hiding. Wondering if they were next.

Holy Saturday not a Destination Point

I believe that we should walk through Good Friday and through Holy Saturday. We shouldn’t rush to Easter Sunday. But Holy Saturday isn’t a destination point, it’s a place that we visit. It’s a place and time that we remember and ponder. But isn’t a place that we stay.

Disciples Post-Easter, Colson

But think about the disciples post-Easter. After the day that changed everything. These are 12 men who pre-Easter, on Holy Saturday and even before, were cowardly, were confused, were looking to add something, anything, something political, something moral to the message of Jesus. Post-Easter they are openly preaching the Gospel all over the place. 12 men, plus many others, don’t die for something they would have known to be a lie. One of them would have buckled.

Charles Colson who was a close advisor to Richard Nixon spent time in prison for his role in Watergate. He became a Christian and became one of the most influencial Christians of the late 20th century. He said

I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. These men were beaten, tortured, stoned, and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world—and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.

-Charles Colson

The pre-Easter disciples? Bound by fear, focused on themselves, lots of anxiety, focused on the moment.

The post-Easter apostles? Relentlessly preaching the Gospel. Boldly anticipating the future.

The Apostle Paul closes out his long defense of the resurrection in showing us that a post-Easter person, a person living on the right side of Easter, has their eyes on the hope and glory of the future…

ESV

1 Corinthians 15:51–58 ESV

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

My Nightmare

Gripped by fear. Palpable fear. Living on the wrong side of Easter.

A person who lives on the right side of Easter knows that we are strangers in this land, that we are citizens of another time of another place…they keep their eyes on the crown of life Jesus promised to those who trust in him, on his death bed, Paul said, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing”.

A person living on the right side of Easter sees death as a beginning and not an end, departing from this life as setting sail to a greater land, as Paul said, “we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”.

A person living on the right side of Easter is confident that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…that if God is for us, who can be against us, that God fights for us all we need to do is be still, that the Lord watches over us, that the Lord will watch over our lives, that the Lord will watch over our coming and going both now and forevermore, that there is no judgment, no hell for those who are in Christ, that we are welcomed home into our eternal rest.

A person living on the right side of Easter can say because he lives, I can face tomorrow, because he lives all fear is gone, because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives.

A person living on the right side of Easter can say when we’ve been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.

And that until then he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. That if the son has set us free we are free indeed. That all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

Are you living on the right side of Easter? Easter was the day that everything changed.

Jordan Peterson? Invitation—Liar, Lunatic or Lord? If he is Lord, Easter is a day that everything changed and will change your life.

Untitled Sermon (45)

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