Lifestyle

Remember the Resurrection
2 Timothy 2:8

For a short while yesterday I was magically transported back to the days of my youth, as I settled into my seat at AT&T Park to watch to the Giants do battle with their arch rival, The Dodgers. For just a few moments yesterday my mind was filled with the names of baseball superstars from a distant era—Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Maury Wills, Willy Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal just to name a few. Of course the big difference for me is that, in the old days, I was a diehard Dodgers fan. Yesterday, I was pulling…in vain, as it turned out…for the Giants.

Another element that added a measure of excitement to yesterday’s ballgame is the fact that the 2007 baseball season is less than a week old. And that means that…right now…all 30 teams in Major League Baseball are playing every game with the sincere hope that this will be the year when they win it all. Right now every team is genuinely hoping to win the World Series. That will not be the case later on in the season.

Some teams will under perform. Others will be decimated by injuries to key players. Some teams may even see their superstar indicted on various charges…sorry, that one hits a little too close to home. But the point is that, many of the teams filled with hope today will have watch their hopes fade away as the circumstances and the often harsh realities of life unfold over time.

It happens in baseball. And it also happens in life. It happens with our marriages, our families, our retirement plans our waistlines. As the years go by all of us become well acquainted with the reality of dashed hopes.

And that is precisely why we must not let go of Easter. We cannot let go of our confidence in the resurrection of Jesus, because the resurrection of Jesus fills us with a hope that cannot be diminished by the circumstances of our life. So, we celebrate Easter and we remember the resurrection!

I love the powerful simplicity of 2 Timothy 2:8 which says: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead.”

It reminds us that while there are a lot of things in life that we can forget with little or no consequence, the resurrection of Jesus is not one of them. Instead, we need to live everyday in light of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And, this morning, I want us to consider why.

The first reason is this: We need to remember the resurrection because the resurrection keeps our message simple.

Now, please notice, that I didn’t say “simplistic.” I said, “simple.” The distinction is important. A simplistic message would be a superficial message. A message that sounds appealing but, doesn’t have any power to bring about real, lasting change in our lives. So, make no mistake about this—there’s nothing simplistic about the resurrection.

When I say that the resurrection keeps our message simple, I mean that it keeps it clear. It keeps it focused. And a clear and focused message is a powerful message. A message with power sufficient to bring profound, positive and permanent change.
Folks, every single day we rub shoulders with people who are hurting, confused and scared. Their marriages are shaky. Their kids are out of control. Their jobs are uncertain. Life wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. Oh, wait, it appears I may be talking about us!

So, what word of hope do we have to offer to people like this? What message of hope do we need to cling to when we are one of those kinds of people? The message is simple: Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. Folks, we need to tell others and remind ourselves that the same God who breathed life back into Jesus’ lifeless body can also breathe:

…clarity into the midst of our confusion;
…hope into the midst of our despair;
…peace into the midst of our insecurity;
…restoration into the midst of our brokenness;
…and joy into the midst of our heartache.

He can do it for “them.” And He can also do it for you.
The message is incredibly simple. Jesus was dead, but by the power of God He is alive again. And if God could turn the death of His Son into a victory then, He can lead us to victory in the problems we’re facing as well.

We also need to remember the resurrection because the resurrection keeps our message distinct.

I went into a local bookstore this week to prowl around in their “religion” section. It was an interesting prowl.

They have a section devoted to Buddhism with titles like, “101 answers to Life’s Daily Dilemmas.”

They have a section devoted to Hinduism. The jacket of one book, offers this advice, “think of god as the highest potential you can imagine for yourself.”
A book in the Sufism section promises to “help you connect with the Eternal Now and feel aligned with the Divine Ground.”

And as you continue to stroll through the “religion” section you’ll find books on Taoism, Wicca, shamanism, Celtic Tree worship and on and on. So, what’s the point? The point is that we’re living in a spiritually hungry society. People are desperate to fill the spiritual void they sense in their lives and they’re willing to look anywhere and try anything to fill that emptiness believing that all paths ultimately lead in the same direction. But, folks, there is only one path that leads to an empty tomb and a risen Savior.

Buddha may be able to offer 101 answers to life’s daily dilemmas. But Buddha comes up short on the problem of death. I walk each day with a risen Savior.
Hinduism can tell you to “think of god as the highest potential you can imagine for yourself.” I choose to think of God as the one who defeated death. I walk each day with a risen Savior.

Sufism may be able to help you, “feel aligned with the Divine Ground.” I’d rather be aligned with the one who couldn’t be contained by the ground. I walk each day with a risen Savior.

It is not surprising that a pluralistic culture like ours would bombard us with a dizzying array of confusing, spiritual messages. But out of the midst of all of that confusion is a single word that distinguishes our message from all the rest. The Lord is risen! He is risen, indeed!

We also need to remember the resurrection because the resurrection keeps our message true to the scriptures.

Folks, our faith is not a novelty. And our faith is not a fad. And our faith is not the result of human thought and creativity. Our faith is rooted in the divine purposes of God revealed in the scriptures. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to the teachings of the scriptures.

Luke 24:45 says that Jesus, “Opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.’”

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul described the Gospel he preached like this: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...”

Ours is a society that fixates on the latest and the newest. We chase after trends in everything from the clothes we wear, to the foods we eat and the words we use. Heaven forbid that we would ever be “out of step” with whatever happens to be new.

But, folks, far beyond our preoccupation with all things “new and improved” are the eternal plans and purposes of God. And the resurrection of Jesus is at the very center of God’s plans and purposes. Plans and purposes revealed to us in His scriptures.

And, finally, as I said at the outset of this message, we also need to remember the resurrection because the resurrection guarantees that our hope is secure. How is it that we can live today with the unshakeable hope that after we die, God will raise us up to live with Him in heaven for all eternity? God’s promise alone would be enough, but we have more than a promise. We have proof. The resurrection of Jesus proves that death is powerless to thwart the purposes of God.
Jesus was dead. Hundreds of people watched him die.

God raised Him back to life. Hundreds of people saw Him alive after they had seen Him die. The resurrection of Jesus secures our confidence in God’s promises. And in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 we have this promise from God: “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

Death is not the end for those of us who have bound ourselves by faith to Jesus Christ, our risen Savior. Death, for us, is simply the beginning of our eternal life with God in heaven.

If you’ve already trusted Jesus as your Savior, your eternal destiny is rock solid secure.

If you’d like to experience that same sense of security, you can do so by asking Jesus to be your Savior. I hope you will, even today.