Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009 (E1B)
at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas
Humorist Isaac Asimov tells the story of a fire-and-brimstone preacher looking down sternly at the worshippers in the pews and saying, "What a fearful thought it is that every member of this congregation is going to die."
He had evoked a somber-looking expression from everyone -- with one exception. A man in the front pew had a disbelieving smile on his face. The preacher's face grew red as he looked squarely at the man in the front pew and said, "I repeat! Every member of this congregation is going to die!" Again a disbelieving smile came over the man's face.
Now the preacher addressed the man directly. "May I ask you what you find so amusing in my statement that everyone in this congregation is going to die? To which the man replied, "I am not amused. I am relieved. You see, I am not a member of this congregation."
Regardless of whatever else you may choose to believe, you can believe that you are going to die. The first thing Paul says about Easter Sunday is that the Messiah died for our sins according to scripture. As we say in the Apostle's Creed, "He was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried." Jesus' death was part of God's plan.
God had a plan for your salvation and mine. Part of that plan called for the suffering of God's Son Jesus Christ. Part of that plan called for Christ to die on the cross. During that part of the plan the disciples did not understand that God's plan was proceeding according to scripture. They questioned God's plan. We are very much like the disciples in that regard. We question God's plan. We question God's plan for us and for this church because we are right in the middle of it. We are taking causalities. People are taking hits. People are dying. We are suffering down here. It feels like a battlefield some days. Marriages are breaking apart. People are searching for work. Some bad things are still happening. And so we sometimes doubt that God's plan is working. But I'm here to tell you that God's plan is still working for this congregation and for all creation!
Christ's work did not end when God raised him from the dead. The risen Christ got to work on that first Easter morning, appearing to a group of women who visited his tomb, telling them to go find the men and tell them they had seen the resurrected Christ. Thank God for the women. The ones who will come to your tomb to weep. The ones who care enough to call even when the men have given up hope. Thank God for the women of the church. The ones who bring you food when you've just had a baby. The ones who feed your family when you've just attended your spouses funeral. Thank God for the women of the church.
The risen Christ had to appear to over 500 people at the same time in order to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was indeed risen. Paul mentions the appearance of Christ to over 500 people at one time. Here is some strong evidence for the resurrection of Christ. When have you ever seen 500 Christians agree on an issue? Yet 500 Christians agreed that Christ appeared to them at the same time in the same place--after his crucifixion.
The risen Christ appeared to the Apostle Paul as Paul was on the road to Damascus in Syria. Paul was going there to persecute Christ's church. The risen Christ had to make a special appearance to Paul in order to convince him to stop killing Christians and begin planting churches all over the world.
The risen Christ still has some work to do today because it doesn't matter that Christ appeared to all of those people if he hasn't appeared to me and you! In the final analysis, Paul talks about his personal experience of Christ's resurrection. And that personal experience is the key to the Christian faith.
I'm with Paul. Christ has appeared to me. I've seen him in some of your eyes. I've heard him in some of your voices. I've seen the risen Christ in other eyes and voices. I've experienced the risen Christ in my heart. I've cried tears of repentance. I've been healed from maladies. I've been saved from despair.
What about you? Has the risen Christ appeared to you? Has the risen Christ appeared to you? Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Have you got one? You can have one. Ask the risen Christ to appear to you. That is the only evidence for Easter that will ever matter.
When the risen Christ appears to you He will explain the meaning of life. Easter is all about a four letter word — and Christians are full of it. Or at least we're supposed to be full of it. The four letter word is LIFE.
New life. Whole life. Abundant Life. Redeemed life. Resurrected life. The purpose of life is not death, Easter says. The purpose of life is life . . . a life that triumphs over death forever.
Celebrating Easter is the best thing that the church can do because it is a celebration of all that is good, all that is true, and all that is beautiful. In fact, I would make the case this morning that celebrating Easter is the greatest public service the church can perform for the world. Why? Because it is the reality of Easter that makes everything else we would do possible.
Remember Jesus' final words on the cross? "It is finished."
When the soldiers taking Jesus' body down from the cross stabbed him with a spear point, "blood and water came out" (John 19:34). That rush of fluids revealed what may have been the actual final cause of death for Jesus — a burst aorta. Jesus died of a broken heart. The breaking of Jesus' heart was what "finished" Jesus' sacrifice. On Easter morning the great surprise is that sacrifice was not the end of Jesus' mission. Out of Jesus' broken heart there emerged a new heart, a resurrected heart, an unbreakable, unstoppable heart. Out of the Last Adam's split side a new Eve was conceived, the bride of Christ, the church, whose life revolves around the water of baptism and the blood of communion.
Leonard Sweet says: "An Easter heart church is always in a state of arrhythmia, always experiencing adrenaline surges, always skipping beats, and always a racing pulse. An Easter heart is an arrhythmic heart because in an Easter heart church the unexpected is always happing. Resurrection happens. Miracles happen. Truth happens. Goodness happens. Beauty happens. Jesus happens." And that is what is happening at St. John's Presbyterian Church. We are an Easter church. We are alive! The unexpected is always happening here. Jesus is happening here!
A minister was preaching and during the course of his sermon asked, "Who wants to go to heaven?" Everyone held up their hands except one young boy. "Son, don't you want to go to heaven when you die?"
"Yes sir, when I die, but I thought you was gettin' up a load to go now."
That is probably the attitude of most of us. Most Christians DO figure that when we die we go to heaven to be with the Lord, even if we are not ready to make the trip tomorrow. (David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc.)
The profound message of Easter is that we can experience eternal life as human beings before we die! We may experience new life in Christ NOW when the risen Christ appears to us!
A man named George was accustomed to driving his wife, Rosie, to church every Sunday. And every Sunday, they parked in the same spot. George and Rosie had been married for forty years and they loved each other very deeply. They did everything together. They were inseparable in almost every area of their life, except one. When George drove his wife to church Rosie went in and George remained in the car. Where he would read the Sunday paper.
Rosie died, and for many Sundays after, church members looked wistfully at the parking lot because George's car was no longer seen there. Several months later, on Easter Sunday, George's car again appeared, and George went into church.
The preacher delivered a stirring resurrection sermon and then, as was his custom, invited the members of the congregation to respond. No sooner had the words left his mouth than George stood up and with deep emotion said firmly, "Rosie lives!" And then he began to sing: "My wild Irish Rose, the sweetest flower that grows . . ." One person joined in, then another, and another. Finally, everyone present was joyfully singing what someone later described as "The most beautiful Easter hymn ever sung in our church."
George came to know first hand, the truth of God's final answer. And it gave his life hope. Because Resurrection is God's final answer. (Author unknown )
May each of us come to know the truth of God's final answer. And may it give us hope. Then may we join with the Apostle Paul in the expression of our faith, as we say, "O death, where is thy sting?" For whether we live, or whether we die, we belong to the Lord.
