(If) Christ Has (Not) Been Raised
If Christ Has Not Been Raised, then we are dead in our sins. But, Christ Has Been Raised! You can see in 1 Corinthians 15:12-22 that Easter changes everything. Easter changes you. April 19, 2009.
Have you ever slept through your alarm clock? One of my classmates from the seminary, known for sleeping through class, used that skill in his first congregation one Sunday when the service was ready to begin and he was nowhere to be found. The elders actually went to his house to get him out of bed. I am guessing that some of us here today have missed a day of work, or at least a few hours, because we did the same thing. What else have we missed because we slept through the alarm or napped a few extra minutes too many?
With similar thinking the Bible asks the question, “What could we miss If Christ Has Not Been Raised? And it offers some disturbing scenarios as answers.
If Christ Has Not Been Raised then ...
· eternal life is a pie in the sky human concoction that became dogma when enough gullible followers accepted it as a fairy tale ending, and Freud is right that Christianity is for wishful thinkers; we and fellow believers who have died are not really going to a better place when our life ends, we just think we’re going to a better place, “there is no resurrection of the dead.”
· God is big liar who has pulled off a successful scam; “not even Christ has been raised.” That makes our faith useless and supported by nothing except empty promises. The Bible is not God’s love letter to a fallen race he wants close to himself but a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of religious terrorists. Our certainty must come from security systems like 401(k)s and insurance companies and Chevrolet, which are supposed to protect us better than God ever could.
· grab all the gusto you can, and live in the moment until the party just ends; of course, this makes life entirely meaningless and empty, a useless wandering from nowhere to nowhere; the pursuit for worldly pleasure is fun but only temporary, and death is a permanent exit.
· Jesus is not the Almighty God who came to save us but just an awfully nice guy who showed up to give us lessons about life like Oprah and Dr. Phil; there may be some higher power out there but whoever or whatever that higher power is hasn’t communicated much to us except that he or she or it expects us to be good people and we’re pretty sure we’ve done that except for a few minor infractions, so we’re not exactly sure where we stand with that higher power and whether he, she or it is pleased or perturbed, therefore when it comes to our eternal destiny we just shrug our shoulders and sigh, “Who knows,” and then the same must be true of our everyday conscience …
· sin is the virus that corrupts relationships and kills dreams, guilt is the driving force behind our attempts to do good, shame stares at us in the mirror every morning and we spend the day trying to cover it up, inferiority chases us so that we fill our schedules with busyness that makes us feel important at first but in the end burns us out; “[we] are still in [our] sins.”
· “we are to be pitied more than all people.” It’s a much worse situation than sleeping through the alarm.
One blogger posted her frustration on sleepnet.com, “I sleep through alarm clocks. I turn them off in my sleep. Does anyone else have this problem? Any solutions? I have tried every trick in the book. The intensity, placement and/or duration of sound doesn’t seem to matter. I am beginning to believe the problem is not the alarm clock but the way I sleep. I must be in a very deep sleep.” She answered her own question. In most cases it’s not a problem with the alarm at all, but with the person sleeping through the alarm. It could be a sleep disorder or poor sleeping habits that, when addressed, allow a person to wake up to an alarm clock. To remedy the situation, the person, not the alarm clock, needs to change. If Christ Has Not Been Raised then every problem in your life must be remedied by you personally changing. This is humanism at its core. Without a God we are god. There is no problem bigger than we are.
Hmm. If humanism is the answer for the world than how can it be that world hunger remains unresolved while a small percentage of people living in overdeveloped countries have more food in our cupboards and refrigerators than we know what to do with? And world peace remains an impossibility because Muslims, pirates, homosexuals, Brewers fans and Cubs fans, squeaky clean conservative Christians, office personnel, roommates, parents and children, students and teachers, families and in-laws can’t live in perfect harmony. If Christ Has Not Been Raised then solutions, and salvation, are supposed to be found in us. Since they cannot be found in us, then we have become our own worst problem and we can’t change it. All hope is dead.
One Sunday morning outside Jerusalem changes everything, however. The Bible triumphs with a confident cheer, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” Here is a unique scenario in which the alarm itself solves the problem. The essence of your saving faith is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. God’s remedy for humanity is historical, while all other world religions are hypothetical (“if you behave this way …). You are at peace with God because of what has already happened, not because of what could possibly happen. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” therefore ...
· The inevitable has been reversed. Adam, our first father, became the originator of sinfulness and death for all humanity – no exceptions, no exclusions! What a fate! However, Jesus Christ, our first fruits, became the originator of salvation and life for all humanity. It applies to anyone! “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” What is true of the one is true of all. Your forgiveness and eternal life are activated by Jesus, not you, as guaranteed in his payment for sin received when his Father raised him from the dead.
· You have a personal Savior who has been exalted by God the Father to the supreme position of authority and power over everything out there in the world, and everything in your little world. No job insecurity can out muscle Jesus Christ. No abusive spouse or aggressive superior can bully him. No attractive offer from the devil can bribe him away from standing by your side. No sickness or sticky situation can manipulate or outwit him. God the Father “raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:20,21). Jesus is Lord. Jesus is your Lord. Jesus is your Lord of your fears, your problems, your guilt, your ill health, your life, and your death.
· Death has been destroyed. The gates of heaven have been opened for all believers. “Do not be afraid,” our risen Lord announces. “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death” (Revelation 1:17,18). Death cannot lock you or your departed Christian loved one out of heaven, because Jesus has locked death up forever.
· You are being raised to a new level of spiritual strength that has power over Satan’s temptations and sin’s control. “We were therefore buried with [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). Your baptism killed the old you, connected you to Christ and his resurrection, and raised to life the new you. Baptism means your personal resurrection in spiritual living every day through the repentance that comes by faith.
· You have a peaceful relationship with God. “Peace be with you,” (John 20:21) Jesus assures his disciples after rising from the dead. You can pray to him without standing in line or first earning the right to be heard. You can ask for him to forgive your worst sin knowing that he already has. You can ride out the stresses and storms of life with the confidence that he allows troubles to visit you only to help you.
· You and all believers will bodily rise from the dead on Judgment Day like Jesus, and live soul and body forever in heaven with him because he promises, “I am the resurrection and the life, everyone who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).
Easter changes everything. Easter changes you. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Of all the benefits of a good nap or a good night’s rest, the one letdown is that the bliss of sleep is only temporary and will soon be disturbed. The opposite is true spiritually when we die. When we die, the bliss is ours not because we have died but because we will wake up from death. On the Last Day our bodies will be awakened to join our souls in eternal life, and today our old self is crucified, dead, and buried while our new self rises again to live a new life to the glory of God. This is the alarm of Easter that echoes for all to hear. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on April 19, 2009
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