Apr 12, 2015 Second Sunday of Easter Trinity Lutheran Church, Cottage Grove, OR James L. Markus

See it. Hear it. Proclaim it.

1 John 1:1–4 (ESV) — 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Earlier this year, Time Magazine did an extensive feature on possible breakthroughs in human longevity. If I remember right, an article suggested that soon it would be possible for humans to routinely live over 120 years up to even 150 years. Of course that is nothing when compared to Methuselah who lived 969 years. While we might not want to live that long in this corrupted body in this evil world, we certainly can be grateful for medical technology which is lengthening the human life span. And, we do look forward to eternity.

I find it interesting that it is more than simply Christians who believe in an . The great pyramids of Egypt were built to assure the Pharaoh of a great afterlife. The Vikings looked forward to . The great Plain

Tribes thought they went to the Happy Hunting Ground. Muslims believe in

Jannah, which means garden. And in our culture, we hear of the dead going

1 to a Better Place. It is only a small percentage of people who have ever lived who do not believe in life after death.

This observation raises a simple question for me. Why? Why do people believe in an afterlife and why do they believe that it is a good and blessed state? I'm not asking that question of Christians, for we have a different answer. But why do non-Christians believe in a blessed afterlife? I think that is a fair question to ask people. People ask us about our beliefs, why can't we ask others about theirs? You might just ask your friend, "Hey, can we talk about spiritual things for a moment?" If they agree, ask them if they believe in an afterlife and why.

I can anticipate some of their answers. Someone might say, "This life is just so short, there has to be more." Others will believe in an afterlife in order to satisfy some standard of justice. There must be an afterlife in order to compensate a person for the suffering they have faced in this life. For others, it is simply self-evident that there has to be a place following death where good people receive reward and bad people get punished. It would be difficult to believe that life is good if we knew there was nothing beyond the grave to compensate for problems of inequality and unfairness. Others will believe in the afterlife due to near death experiences or to supposed evidence that points to reincarnation. Lastly, still others will believe in the afterlife

2 since, they believe, the soul is spiritual, it has to go somewhere when the body becomes lifeless.

All of this pondering confirms Ecclesiastes 3:11. "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." God has set the craving for eternity in the heart of man. But sadly, just because one believes in the afterlife, desires the afterlife, does not mean that one will experience the glories of the afterlife.

So the question comes to you Christian. Why do you believe in life after death, and why do you believe that you will enjoy such life?

As we talk to our friends, we will discover that some beliefs are based upon wishful thinking. There is no evidence for what our friends believe.

They simply create a belief or gravitate toward a belief that makes them feel good.

Our belief is not based on wishful thinking. Our belief is not based upon subjective feelings. There is no greater evidence for the existence of life after death than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament predicted a Messiah who would overcome sin and death for His people

(Isaiah 53; Daniel 9:26). The testimony of Jesus’ followers is that he did just that. He voluntarily died at the hands of executioners, was buried in a

3 borrowed tomb, and then 3 days later left that tomb empty. Witnesses said that they had seen not only an empty tomb but a resurrected Christ who appeared to hundreds of people over a period of 40 days before ascending to .

One of those witnesses was the writer of our Epistle lesson. The author of I John does not directly identify himself, but he claims to be an eyewitness. He has heard, he has seen, he has touched the Word of Life.

Due to the similarities of this letter with the Gospel of John, and church history, we conclude that the author is the apostle John.

Think about what John witnessed. One day, he and his brother James were repairing their fishing nets when Jesus came by and said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Think of all that John saw and heard.

He saw Jesus turn water into wine; multiply bread and fish; walk on water; give sight to the blind; hearing to the deaf; mobility to the paralyzed. Along with Peter and James, John saw Jesus transfigured. He heard Jesus speak of the Kingdom of God. John was right there when Jesus taught, what have come to be well known, parables of the Good Samaritan, the Sower, the

Wedding Banquet. John heard Jesus predict his suffering and death. John saw Jesus arrested and is the only disciple mentioned as a witness to the crucifixion. The next Sunday morning, John outraced Peter to be the first

4 disciple to witness the open tomb. That evening, along with the other disciples except for Thomas, John saw his risen Lord. Wow, there really is life after death. There really is eternal life.

John speaks of this life in an interesting way in our text. "That which was from the beginning…" He doesn't say "he who was from the beginning" but "that." He is speaking of life in an impersonal way. But then he goes on to say "which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." That life which is from the beginning became manifest. Do you hear echoes of John 1:1?

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." And then that Word was made manifest. V. 14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." The word Word is another name for Jesus. The word Life or Eternal Life also refers to Jesus.

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

5 I John 5:11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true

God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Eternal Life is inseparably linked to Jesus. He was with God from the beginning of creation. He himself has eternal life. Death could not hold him. Jesus lives forever. And if you want to live forever, your life needs to be wrapped up in his. We only receive eternal life through him.

Those who don't believe in him, trust in him, put their faith in him face eternal death. We can't call it life, even though their existence continues. There are plenty of people around us, who are physically alive, but are dead. Spiritually dead. They don't have eternal life.

John saw, heard, touched and proclaimed the Word of Life. Based on his testimony we have believed and have received this life. Now, let us also proclaim it.

That is why we hold our Friendship Sunday. This gives us the opportunity to invite our friends to consider the claims of Jesus and that there is life in his name.

Pray for friendship Sunday.

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