The Passions of Christ: a PASSION for LIVING
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The Passions of Christ: A PASSION FOR LIVING Luke 24:1-12 Easter means our faith is not futile, our failures are not fatal, and our death is not final. A sermon preached by Dr. William O. (Bud) Reeves First United Methodist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas April 24, 2011 There‟s a cute story about a mother who had been trying to teach her young son the proper Easter greeting. She explained the Easter story. Then she would say, “Christ is risen!” To which the boy would reply, “Christ is risen indeed!” He was going to try that on his dad first thing Easter morning. As soon as he heard his dad stirring, he ran down the hall to deliver his greeting, but he was so excited he got confused and said, “Daddy! Daddy! Uh… God‟s back!”1 That‟s really the Good News we share today, isn‟t it? God‟s back! Back from the dead—alive! Back from the battle with evil—victorious! God‟s back—that‟s why we‟re here today. The death and resurrection of Christ is perhaps the most famous story ever told, the most important event in the history of the world. If you know the reason you are here this morning, you know that is the reason you‟re here. Christ died, and Christ rose from the dead. Unfortunately, the story is not that familiar to everyone. To many people in our culture today, Easter is all about the bunny, new clothes, and family get-togethers. Even if it‟s a day everybody goes to church, many people are not sure exactly why. And to those who have heard the story a thousand times, it can become so familiar that it is not thrilling any more. The wonder and the joy and the fear of that first Easter morning can be lost to us through years of repetition. Try to imagine yourself walking with the women to the tomb 2,000 years ago. The gray, misty dawn, the quietness of the city, the calm, cool air—the atmosphere is one of sadness and despair and heartbreak that Jesus is dead. Then as we approach the tomb, we see that the stone over the mouth of the tomb has been rolled away—a relief, because we were going to have to move it, but what was going on? Had somebody desecrated the grave of Jesus? We look in and—good Lord!—there‟s no body! We saw them lay Jesus right there, and now he‟s gone! The linen cloths are still there. This is so weird. Then suddenly the little tomb is awash in light, and two men stand there. We hit the floor and cover our faces. They say to us, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”2 Yeah, we remember, but we‟re not going to hang around to discuss it! So away we run, all the way back into the city, where we tell the disciples what we saw. But just like a bunch of men, they pay no attention. Except Peter, who runs back to the tomb and looks in for himself. He sees the cloths that wrapped the body of Jesus, but no Jesus. So he comes back to where we are still waiting, amazed, perplexed, confused at what this might mean. So what does it mean, this story of Easter? What does this Easter Gospel mean for us as we live 2,000 years after the fact? I‟d like to borrow a line from Max Lucado‟s book, Six Hours One Friday, and say that Easter means your faith is not futile, your failures are not fatal, and your death is not final.3 Your faith is not futile because it‟s true. To the skeptical mind, the Easter faith is preposterous. We believe in a man whom we claim is God, who was executed as a criminal two millennia ago in an obscure part of the Roman Empire. We believe that God raised him back to life, and that by believing in him, we will find meaning in life now and life eternal in heaven when we die. Either that is the most ludicrous pipe dream ever to float through the human brain, or it is the greatest plan of salvation ever preached. Even Paul admits, “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”4 Is that it? Are we fools under a theological delusion? Paul quickly adds, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.”5 But in fact—it is all true. But in fact—Jesus is alive. But in fact—our faith is not futile. If it‟s false, it‟s foolish. If it‟s true, it is the foundation for a life that is powerful and positive and productive forever. Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the great Methodist missionary and evangelist, stood in the pulpit when he was 83 years old and made a remarkable statement. He said, “The next ten years are going to be the greatest I have ever had!” The congregation looked at the feeble old man before them and wondered how that could be. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, E. Stanley Jones said, “I didn‟t say where they were going to be, but „here‟ or „there,‟ they will be the greatest with Christ.” Life lived with faith in the risen Lord is not a life of futility and defeat; it is a life of purpose and victory. It is the greatest life there is! Easter means your failures are not fatal. Easter is all about overcoming the apparent fiascoes of life by the power of God and turning them into occasions for celebration. Look at our Lord. Was anybody ever more utterly defeated and destroyed than he was? He was betrayed and deserted by his closest friends, convicted in a travesty of justice, beaten within an inch of his life, and then subjected to the cruelest form of execution ever devised by an evil power. His enemies took great pleasure in mocking him to his face and spitting on him as he hung dying on the cross. Then he died and was laid in a borrowed tomb. It appeared his failure was fatal. But then Easter came, and Jesus burst the bonds of death itself to live again. He rose up and walked out and appeared to his disciples. Then he ascended into glory at the right hand of the Father in heaven. His “failure” was not fatal; it was the gift of life to everyone who followed him. Think about Peter, the disciple who vowed at the Last Supper never to leave or forsake his Lord, even to go to death with him. Before the night was over, Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times. He was an utter failure. But then came Easter, and Peter was the one who ran to the tomb when the women came in with this outlandish report. He was the first disciple to see the empty tomb, the folded linen grave clothes, and Jesus nowhere to be found. In time he was reconciled to Jesus and became a great leader in the early church. His failure was not fatal, either. So how can you consider yourself a failure if you are a follower of Christ? Yes, we mess up. Yes, we betray, deny, and desert our Christ. Yes, we are victims and perpetrators of every kind of evil known to human kind. And yes, we suffer the blows of life that sure seem like failures—death, illness, divorce, job loss, addiction, and so forth. But we are an Easter people. We follow a living Lord. We believe in the redeeming power of God. Our failures are not fatal; they are opportunities to learn and grow into the likeness of Christ. Easter means that our death is not final. Jesus was not held by the prison of death, and in his resurrection, he paves the way for those who believe in him to inherit eternal life. Because he died and rose again, so can we. Paul says, “For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.”6 Jesus has been through the door, and now he stands at the door and holds it open and lets us get a glimpse of what is on the other side—and it‟s all glory! So when someone we love dies, or our own time to die comes, we know what is going on. The perishable is putting on imperishability; the mortal is putting on immortality; this physical body is putting on a spiritual body; and death is being swallowed up in victory! “Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory in Jesus Christ!”7 Death is not the final word of life. That is our hope. Dr. Gary Habermas is a university professor who is considered one of the world‟s authorities on the resurrection.