Resurrection Matters
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BMX for Jesus
BMX for Jesus
Pool about 6 feet from building.
Jumping off the roof into the pool. Awesome.
What is the natural next step? Clearly we should form a chain gang from ground, passing to someone standing on the fence, passing to someone reaching down off the roof… we should pass up my Mongoose BMX stunt bike. Naturally. Obviously.
and then, once you have a bike on the roof, of course you ride it off the roof into the pool.
… then fish it up from the deep end and pass it back up. I think once my parents killed that particular activity… and maybe we were a bit relieved when they did. Have you ever been in the middle of doing something and thought: I hope someone stops me!
Because this was insanely risky. And it was all or nothing. (Or rather, it was all in or severely broken).
You can’t “kind of” ride a bike off a roof into a pool. You go… or you don’t. and you go all in, fast enough, sure enough, leaping hard enough that you make it across the gap… or you don’t. Better to not go at all then to try for halfway.
Are you all in?
Christianity without Resurrection
Christianity without Resurrection
Yesterday we had a seder together, the Passover Feast. This was the meal Jesus would have eaten with his disciples the night he was betrayed - the same meal we remember in communion. Last night was essentially a large communion, the full version of which our regular practice is a piece.
There was so much symbolism there pointing to the Messiah, pointing to his suffering, and above all, pointing to his fulfillment as the Lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away the sin of the world.
In so doing, we remembered the cross, we celebrated the cross.
Today is “Holy” Saturday. also called “Black” Saturday. (or Black Sabbath).
The disciples in a room mourning. Not full of power, full of grief. Not full of faith, full of desperation.
Now what if it all stopped there? What if that was the end? Lots of people believe that Jesus was a good man or good teacher, maybe even a prophet, but that his story ended there. And I have these talks with friends all the time, and they affirm my faith for these kinds of reasons:
“Christianity” makes you a good person.
Jesus teaches us to love each other.
Church forms a good social community.
So in light of all these great things, does the whole “resurrection” thing really matter? Does the resurrection matter?
Now there is truth in all those things… but none of those are the reason we gather. None of those are central to who he are and what we are doing as a people.
None of those are why I am all in.
and I don’t think any of those would have been enough to hold the disciples together. They would have mourned and then scattered. And the walking and teaching Jesus would have been a fun couple of years they spent awhile back. Probably never written down.
The crucifixion would have been a tragic event better left behind.
Instead, something happened that transformed a grieving group of men and women into a tidal wave sweeping across the world. Something happened that transformed disillusioned fishermen into titans of faith, preachers and teachers, evangelists who changed the world.
This is the great mystery of history.
Something happened that changed everything. The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So does the resurrection matter?
All-In Paul
All-In Paul
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Some people are saying that it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if there is resurrection.
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And does that matter?
Does it really matter if Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
Yes, then EVERYTHING IS FALSE!
We are lying about God
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.
That’s bad news.
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 expresses here reality as he experienced it. Think about how radically Paul has now based his life on the resurrected Christ.
Paul changed everything, risked everything, based his whole life on the resurrected Jesus. As we will come to read in Acts, he abandons his career as a rising star, a religious professional… then he meets Jesus. And he throws his life away and lives the rest of it in poverty, in trouble with the law. It is an absolute disaster… if Christ is not risen.
Right now, where we are in Acts. Peter and John have abandoned their jobs. Peter at least is married, but here he is in Jerusalem about to get arrested for the name of Christ. He is risking it all, recklessly for the name of Christ… because He is risen.
Is that your present reality?
Are we all in like Paul is all in? Like Peter and John are in?
Am I that bold in the name of Jesus? Am I safe or am I Recklessly His?
If you woke up tomorrow and somehow “discovered” it was all a lie. What would change?
If Jesus’ resurrection was just a metaphor, how much of your life would change? How much have you bet on the truth of His resurrected life? Are you recklessly bold for the name of Christ, recklessly chasing after the Risen Christ, recklessly abandoned to Him, are you Recklessly His?
The answer is “yes” even if I think the answer is no. Even if my current experience is “no”.
Here is the funny thing. Regardless of how you experience the resurrection of Jesus as the foundation of your life… the truth is that the resurrection is the center of your life and mine… The resurrected Jesus is the center of the universe.
It is the resurrection that justifies everything Jesus ever taught. Everything he ever claimed about who he was.
It is the resurrection that reveals the power of the cross. It is the resurrection that transforms tragic execution into absolute victory.
We understand the birth of Jesus in the light of the resurrection. The teaching of Jesus. The suffering of Jesus and, above all, we understand the cross in the light of the resurrection.
This is, by the way, the best and most powerful argument for going to church on Sunday. Let’s give our brothers and sisters in faith this credit: it was on Sunday morning that the women and then the apostles discovered the empty tomb.
and that is the VERY BEST of reasons to celebrate.
We Are All In
We Are All In
Not that Paul says “we”. “We are of all people most to be pitied.” We, including ones who thing the resurrection is “no big deal”.
There is no halfway Christianity. It is all in.
In poker terms, this is pushing all the chips into the center. Anything held back is just a mistake, it’s just a loss, it’s just an illusion of security.
If we are in Christ, we are already on the roof. We are already on the bike. We are already launching off the roof.
The question is “do I want to pretend I have some kind of control… hold back.. and so hurt myself?”
Or dive into the deep end.
We are on the roof, on the bike. There is no halfway, half-hearted, partial attempts.
There is no halfway Christianity.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Pure gospel. This is who we are. This why we are here and why we are.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
He is risen!
he lives!
In fact: He lives!
and because He lives, I live. Because He lives all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, the empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
Because He lives, I am all in.
And so, I am pushing all my chips into the center. I am riding my bike off the roof. I am all in.
What does the resurrected Jesus require of me? That’s what I am going to do.
And as he calls me to do things beyond my power, beyond my capacity? I am going to go and try… trusting that the resurrection Jesus will accomplish in me all that He desires to do.
If I am wrong, I am of all men to be pitied.
But… I am not wrong, for “in fact” Christ has been raised from the dead!
He is risen!
Because He lives, you are alive. Because He lives, you know that you are forever free from sin and death, by His death and resurrection.
Because He lives you know that you can talk with him and walk with him, and follow him.
Because He Lives… We Worship
Because He Lives… We Worship
There are a hundred thousand things we could say about resurrection. So let’s say them now! /s
And the present reality of the resurrected life… the applications of that are literally “all of Christian faith and practice.” This is our foundational and fundamental truth: He lives. Nothing we do here makes sense outside of that. Nothing.
But I think anything and everything I can possibly say… well it’s better sung than said. God gave us this medium where the music can help capture and communicate emotions in the music we can’t get out in words.
Because He Lives… let’s worship.
Let us hear the story in anticipation of Easter morning, Resurrection morning, and respond in worship:
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.”
While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers
and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’
And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”