Portraits of Jesus
The Risen Savior
Luke 24:1-12
(Story of Jesus on trial at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington DC. Emphasize the remark by ACLU advocate Bruce Fein.)
Is it possible that the resurrection is not all that important? Is it possible that our sins could be forgiven without the resurrection? Was the resurrection really necessary? Is the resurrection important?
Obviously the NT writers believed that the resurrection was important. In the book of Acts it’s just about all they talked about. There were some false teachers who were trying to diminish the power of the resurrection to the believers at Corinth. So Paul writes to the Corinthians and says in 1 Cor. 15:12-19 (read).
Is the resurrection important? It’s the foundation of our faith. Let’s consider for just a few moments some reasons why the resurrection is so important for those of us who follow Christ, and why we wish for the whole world to embrace a resurrection faith.
The resurrection is important, first of all, because we have loved and we have been loved.
Christine Fodera of Louisville, Kentucky wrote in Reader’s Digest about an amusing experience she and her husband had. Her husband, Sam, had been asked by their minister to do some rewiring in the sanctuary of their church building.
The only way to reach the wiring was through the attic. That meant crawling over the ceiling by balancing on the rafters. Christine was concerned for Sam’s safety so she waited in a pew.
Without her knowledge, some people were gathering in the foyer. They didn’t pay her any attention, probably assuming she was praying. She was getting worried about her husband, so she looked up toward the ceiling and yelled, “Sam, Sam—are you up there? Did you make it okay?”
There was a great commotion from the foyer when the people heard Sam’s voice echoing down from the rafters, “Yes, I made it up here just fine!”
For those of us who have had the experience of losing a loved one to death, it’s a great comfort to us to know they made it “up there” okay.
When C. S. Lewis lost his friend Charles Williams, he wrote something which he said he thought he would never write. It sounded like so much sentimental drivel. He wrote that since Charles had died, heaven was no longer a strange, far-off place. Why? Because now his friend was there.
Later, Lewis’ beloved wife, Joy, died, and he said the same thing. Heaven was closer still, because Joy was there.
Separation is difficult for us who remain in the flesh. It’s difficult for us because we have loved. So the resurrection is important to us because of what it says to us about our eternal relationship with those we have loved, and those who have loved us.
The resurrection is also important because life is so precious.
None of us is eager to die! You probably heard about the rancher who told the funeral director he wanted to be buried in his pickup. The funeral director tried to talk him out of it, but the old farmer was adamant. “It’s like this,” he said, “I ain’t ever seen a hole that old truck couldn’t get me out of.”
We might appreciate the farmer’s sentiment, but death is one hole that’s going to take more than his old truck to get him out of. I read just recently of a young man who was dying from a rare blood disorder, and he had requested that his body be frozen. Why? So that some time in the future when a cure has been found for the disease, his body could be thawed and brought back to life and his disease would be cured. (And some people say it’s hard to believe in God?)
We all want to live. Life is beautiful, and rich, and wonderful! Still, death is one reality that confronts us all.
A newspaper in Nashville carried a story about a small town hospital that received a bomb threat. Officials decided that they had to take it seriously and evacuate the hospital. Some patients were shipped to the local rescue squad building and some, due to a shortage of space, had to go to a local funeral home.
One woman, who had been in surgery when the bomb threat first came, came out from under the anesthesia and realized that she was in a funeral home. She was quite concerned until the situation was explained to her.
Although she initially misunderstood her situation, she was not wrong in her conclusion—just premature. Eventually all of us will face a day when our life on earth will be over.
Is the resurrection important? It is if you have ever loved or been loved. It is if you value the life God has given you.
One more thing. The resurrection is important if we want a proper perspective of life.
You see, the resurrection is important not only for what it says about life beyond the grace, but what it says about life on this side of the grave.
If Christ lives, then life has meaning. There is hope even in the most difficult circumstances. Even at the very end of my rope, the resurrection is a knot that I can hang on to. If Christ did defeat death, if my life goes on forever, if the gospel is true, I can live with courage and boldness; I can live as a victor, not a loser. I can overcome my fears by his grace and I can be all He intends for me to be. I don’t ever need to worry about the possibility of absolute futility and falure—not if Christ is risen from the grave. It is this knowledge that has given the followers of Jesus Christ power over their circumstances for over two thousand years.
It was Easter Sunday, 1973. Idi Amin was the absolute dictator over Uganda. Kefa Sempangi was a native minister in that country. Uganda was becoming a land of terror under Amin. Sempangi’s memory was still fresh with images of faces burned beyond recognition, soldiers cruelly beating a man, and the horrible sound of boots crushing bones. The minister was exhausted and wondered what difference his sermon would make that Easter Sunday morning. He prayed for wisdom and strength and then delivered his sermon to seven thousand people.
Afterward he made his way to his office, tired buy joyful. Five men followed him into the small building and closed the door behind them. Sempangi turned around to find five rifles pointed at his face. He had never seen any of them before, but immediately recognized them as the secret police—Idi Amin’s assassins. Their faces were full of pure hate and rage.
“We are going to kill you,” the leader said. “If you have something to say, say it before you die.”
Sempangi stood there feeling himself lose control. He thought of his wife and child and began to shake. Somehow he managed to speak.
“I do not need to plead my own cause,” he said. “I am a dead man already. My life is dead and hidden in Christ. It is yoiur lives that are in danger, you are dead in your sins. I will pray to God that after you have killed me, He will spare you from eternal destruction.”
The leader looked at him, then lowered his gun and ordered the others to do the same.
“Will you pray for us now?” the leader of the assassins asked.
Fearing it was a trick, Sempangi asked them all to bow their heads and closed their eyes.
“Father in heaven,” he prayed, “you who have forgiven men in the past, forgive these men also. Do not let them perish in their sins but bring them unto yourself.”
He lifted his head, waiting for the men to pull the triggers. But then he noticed their faces. The hate and rage that had been there earlier had disappeared, and when the leader spoke again, it was without any contempt.
“You have helped us,” he said, “and we will help you. We will speak to the rest of our company and they will leave you alone. Do not fear for your life. It is in our hands and you will be protected.”
Sempangi’s heart praised God. God’s love had given him the strength to say a simple prayer—one that changed the lives of those five men forever.
What was it that gave him the courage to face the enemy’s guns? The same thing that gives us the courage to face our own problems: the resurrection. If Christ is raised from the dead, there’s nothing in this world we should fear. We can love and be loved. We can enjoy the wonder of life and escape the fear that one day it will be snatched away from us. We can face our deepest fears with the knowledge that there is One who has faced it all before and conquered it. And by His grace, we can be conquerors as well.
Is the resurrection important? Where would we be without it?
