Spiritual Awakening

Spiritual Awakening

Acts 2: 42 – 47

Introduction

I have been thinking about Spiritual Awakening over the past few weeks.  I have been thinking about it, because I don’t believe what we have been experiencing as a church is not God’s best for us.  I believe God wants something else from us.

According to Jim Denison (of the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture), the Christian faith is growing faster today than at any other time in history.  It is estimated that at least 82,000 people are becoming Christians every day.  That is the lowest estimate.  Some people estimate that the number is over 200,000 new Christians every day.  (100,000 new Christians per day in China alone.)[1]

Of course, some of us hear those statistics and have our doubts.  We are not experiencing that kind of spiritual growth and spiritual awakening in Lufkin, Texas.  How can we say that Christianity is growing faster today than at any other time in history when we can’t see it happening in our own community?  There are two answers… 

First, there is a spiritual awakening taking place in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America.  But, there is no spiritual awakening taking place in Europe and North America.  For example, there are 82,000 people becoming Christians every day around the world.  BUT, only 6,000 people become Christians every day in Europe and North America COMBINED.  (That is to say, approximately 7% of all new Christians live in Europe and North America.) 

Second, spiritual awakening happens when we adopt a biblical view of God.  The Bible teaches us that God wants to be our King.  After all, Jesus came preaching about the Kingdom of God—the realm in which God is the King.  The church is supposed to demonstrate that God is our King.  When that happens, spiritual awakening takes place.  But, this is not happening in the United States of America.  In our country, we don’t like to talk about God as our King.  We prefer to talk about God as our hobby.  God is not our Monday through Friday work.  God is something we reserve for the weekend…like working in the yard, playing golf, going fishing, etc…

In the cultures where the church proclaims God as King, Christianity is growing at unprecedented rates.  In the cultures where the church proclaims God as our hobby, Islam is growing faster than Christianity. 

What would our church look like if God really was our King?  We could learn from the first church, which formed after the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

Acts 2: 42 – 47.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.

45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

(NIV)

After the resurrection, Jesus spent forty days with his disciples.  In these forty days, Jesus reminded the disciples of everything he had taught them during his earthly ministry.  Jesus also instructed the disciples in their new roles—they were to continue the work Jesus began.  When Jesus ascended into Heaven, Jesus would send them the Holy Spirit to be present in their lives and to be their source of Power to perform the same kinds of work Jesus performed in his earthly life.  But…Jesus told his disciples to wait.  They were not supposed to go to work until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 

The disciples obeyed Jesus.  After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the disciples waited in Jerusalem for another 10 days.  After 10 days, the Holy Spirit came, and a miracle took place.  The same disciples who were once so frightened they could not stand up with Jesus were now empowered with supernatural power to preach the Gospel to their friends, family members and neighbors. 

Remarkably, Peter stood up and preached to a crowd of thousands of people.  This was the same Peter who once denied even knowing who Jesus was, because he was afraid for his life.  The Bible tells us that Peter’s sermon led to an enthusiastic response to the Gospel.  Over 3,000 people placed their faith in Jesus as Lord…Affirming that God is the King of their lives. 

But what happened next?  What happened when the disciples stopped preaching?  These 3,000 new believers organized into the first Christian church.  This was no ordinary church.  It was unique because it was the first church.  But, it was also unique because it was a church which proclaimed God as their King.  If we want to be a church which proclaims God as our King, we ought to follow their example.

The Apostles’ Teaching

The first way the church demonstrated that “God is their King” is the way they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teachings. 

Before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, there were 12 Apostles and a total of 120 Christians.  All of these people had lived with Jesus.  The Apostles had sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to all his teachings.  The rest of the Christians had followed Jesus in the crowds, witnessing all the miracles and learning from Jesus’ public sermons.  They knew what Jesus had stood for and what he had come to accomplish in his death and resurrection. 

After the Holy Spirit came, over 3,000 new believers committed their lives to Jesus as Lord.  These people did not have the same kind of knowledge and understanding about what Jesus had done for them.  Therefore, it was now necessary for the 12 Apostles to share what they knew about Jesus with others. 

The most important thing we can say about the Apostles’ Teaching, is to say that they were teaching others what Jesus had taught them.  The Apostles were not making up new teachings to share with the new believers.  They were giving others what Jesus had first given them.  In the Twenty-First Century, this is the same thing as teaching the Bible.  We teach the Bible, because the Bible is God’s Word.  It contains the teachings of Jesus passed down to his Apostles, who in turn wrote it down so that we can know what Jesus has done for us.

The Fellowship

The church was also devoted to a new kind of fellowship.  This is the Greek word “Koinonia.”  It refers to fellowship in the sense of Christian brothers and sisters relating to each other through the love of Christ.  The heart of the word “Koinonia” is the Greek word “koinos,” which means common.  In other words, these new Christians had something in common with the original 12 Apostles and the original 120 Christians. 

I find it noteworthy that Luke does not say the early church was committed to “fellowship.”  He says they were committed to “THE fellowship.”  There is something different, something unique about the fellowship these Christians shared with one another. 

 For me, I have always associated fellowship with the church.  And, I have always associated church fellowships with pimento and cheese sandwiches with the crust cut off.  That might be “a fellowship,” but it is not “THE fellowship” Luke was talking about in this passage. 

THE fellowship is the significant bond we share with each other that can only come as a result of our relationship with Jesus.  When a man or woman places their faith in Jesus, something supernatural occurs.  At the moment we profess our faith, God places his Holy Spirit in us to begin the work of shaping us into the image of Jesus.  When a group of people whom God is shaping to become like Jesus get together in the church, God begins to work on that church.  God shapes that community of believers into the image of Jesus.  Just as God is working on you and me as individuals to make us more like Jesus, so God is working on our church to make us more like Jesus. 

THE fellowship of Christian brothers and sisters is different from the community life on non-Christians.  God is forming us into a community like no other.  He is placing in us the same loves and desires that Jesus demonstrated in his life.  THE fellowship we experience is a missional experience.  Sure, we like to hang out with each other and laugh together.  But, we also feel called—even compelled by God—to meet the needs of the world around us and to share the life-changing message of the cross.

One Demonstration of Fellowship: Selling Their Possessions, They Gave…

                This is a source of great debate.  Among many theologians, there is a belief that the early church practiced a form of socialism.  They claim that individual church members did not own property.  They think this is God’s ideal for us, even today. 

I do not subscribe to this interpretation.  In fact, there is evidence here that Luke did not want to communicate this kind of shared property.  Luke described the church’s action by using a Greek Imperfect tense.  The Imperfect tense is translated as “continuous action in past time.”  In other words, we can translate this as “they kept on selling their possessions to give to those in need.”  If they did this in a continual sense, then it suggests they continued to own property and continued to sell that property to give the money to the church.  Also, we later read examples of Barnabas as well as Ananias and Sapphira who sold their property at a later time, suggesting that they did not sell everything at this one time in history. 

The best way to describe what the Christians were doing here is to compare it with stewardship—stewardship as an expression of fellowship.  They used their personal possessions and their personal wealth in ways that demonstrated the life of Jesus.  They gave to those in need, and they gave to advance the Kingdom of God missionally.

The Breaking of Bread

There are at least three ways to interpret the words “the breaking of bread.”  This might be a reference to the Lord’s Supper—the act of eating bread and drinking wine (or grape juice) in remembrance of Jesus’ death on the cross. 

This might be a reference to the simple act of sharing a meal together.  There is no better place to see community life in action than to observe people who are eating together.  Some have interpreted this as a reference to the Lord’s Supper—the act of eating bread and drinking wine (or grape juice) in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrificial death.  Others interpret this as simply sharing food together.  I prefer to think of this as simply sharing a meal together. 

We believe the book of Acts is the second volume of Luke’s account of Christianity.  The first volume is the Gospel According to Luke.  One of the many consistent themes in the Gospel According to Luke is the criticism Jesus faced as a result of his eating habits.  In Luke, Jesus rarely ate supper with good, religious people.  Most of the time, Luke tells us that Jesus ate supper with tax collectors and sinners.  The religious folks did not like this, because it was against their customs to eat with people who were different from them.  Jesus broke the religious and cultural norms of his day by sharing his meals with “undesirable” people. 

Some of you are old enough to remember the civil unrest in our country during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s.  One aspect of the Civil Rights movement related to the restaurants and lunch counters in our country.  The burning question of the day was: Should black men and women be allowed to eat with white people?  The reason this was such an issue is because sharing a meal with another person is like saying we consider that person our equal.  All social barriers are broken down when people sit shoulder to shoulder at the same table. 

I find it remarkable that the 120 Jewish men and women who made up the very first Christians were comfortable eating at the same table with foreigners.  They abandoned their Jewish, social norms in favor of a new kind of community where all who believe in Jesus are considered equal. 

The third way we can interpret the words “the breaking of bread” is to observe one of the earliest practices of the early church.  The church ate a meal together as a part of their corporate worship.  Eating together demonstrated their unity BEFORE they entered into worship together in music and preaching.  As such, we can interpret this in the context of our worship.  A church who proclaims God as our King will be devoted to unity in worship… Worship that brings us together…Worship that demonstrates how much we have in common, rather than how much we don’t have in common

The Prayers

Literally, Luke tells us the new community was devoted to “THE prayers.”  This leads many scholars to interpret this as reference to the official Jewish practice of religion.  In other words, the church abandoned their traditional social norms but did not abandon the worship of God in the Temple.  In much of the Book of Acts, we continue to see the Apostles teaching and preaching in the Temple and showing how Jesus is the fulfillment of everything the Jews had been hoping for in the Old Testament.  As long as the Gospel was preached primarily in Jerusalem, the early church remained closely connected to the Jewish Temple. When the Gospel began to spread outside of the Jewish race, Christian worship became separate from Judaism. 

That is a great historical fact, but it does not translate very well to our Twenty-First Century American, Christian lives.  What does translate is the way the early Christians were committed to the power of God that is only possible through prayer. 

What do you think about people who pray?  Some people think prayer is a sign of weakness.  They think people who pray cannot take care of their own needs under their own power and abilities.  These people are exactly right.  This is why we pray.  We pray, because we need God.  We pray, because we cannot make it on our own power and abilities.  We pray in order to express our total dependence on God for even our smallest needs.  Without God and his power, we can do nothing. 

This is true for individuals.  This is true for churches.  A church that prays acknowledges God as our King.  A church that refuses to pray thinks of God as nothing more than a hobby.

Conclusion

A church in which God is only a hobby looks a lot like a country club.  Think about it.  A country club usually has a golf pro or a tennis pro.  The pro is the recognized expert, and he usually provides teaching and lessons.  A country club has a board of directors, who run the club, manage the finances and make sure the club meets the needs of their dues-paying members.  A country club has a staff who get their paychecks from the club in exchange for serving the needs of the dues-paying members.  In fact, that is the sole purpose of a country club—to serve the needs of the dues-paying members and make sure that everyone is happy with the club.

Sadly, some churches look more like country clubs than churches.

Are you currently praying for our church?  Do you spend time during the week praying for God to move in our church? 

What do you suppose would happen if we had groups of people praying for our church every day of the week?  What if your Sunday School class or your group of friends took time to pray for God’s leadership?  God would bring a Spiritual Awakening!

Frankly, we can’t have a Spiritual Awakening in our church by our own power or abilities.  We won’t experience Awakening until we stop treating God as a hobby and start living with God as our King!  God can use us to change the world.

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[1] http://www.denisonforum.org/redeeming-9-11/118-join-the-fifth-great-awakening ; Also, see Jim Denison’s presentations for Spiritual Renewal Weekend, FBC Shreveport, LA: “The Fifth Great Awakening,” http://vimeo.com/14557474 ; “Is God Your Hobby?” http://vimeo.com/14560144 ; “Is God Your King?” http://vimeo.com/14562875 .

The Perfect Church

1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 31.

Introduction.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Church?”  This is not a trick question, but your answer to this question will depend on the year of your birth.

For example, many of you were born into the generation we call the GI Generation—or the World War 2 Generation.  This generation returned from war, got married and joined a church.  For them, church was a normal and natural part of life.  Church has been a meaningful experience of religious expression.  Everyone was a part of a church.  There was no embarrassment in asking someone you met for the first time, “Where do you go to church?”

The children of the World War 2 Generation is known as the Baby Boomers.  (There is a generation in between these two known as the Silent Generation.  They are often overlooked, because they typically share characteristics of either the generation before or after them.)  The Baby Boomers grew up going to church every time the doors were open.  However, when they became adults, they expressed their independence by dropping out of church.  Church belongs to their parents.  Boomers were more interested in freedom of expression.  Some Baby Boomers came back to church when their children reached the teenage years.  Because of their background in the church, they saw something meaningful in the church which could help them rear their children.  Church was important as long as it provided practical application.

The children of the Boomers (and the Silent Generation) are known as Generation X—the no name generation.  We were rebellious and lost.  We began to doubt whether we would have a better life than our parents.  Many of my generation don’t have the work ethic of our parents and grandparents.  We rebel against institutions and organizations, including the church.  We tend to define ourselves as spiritual but not religious.

I’m still trying to figure out the generation(s) behind me.  They don’t like institutions or organizations, but they place a high value on community.  They long for the kind of community the church is supposed to offer.  However, they don’t like the church as an institution and reject what they think the church stands for.  They think of the church as an authority which threatens their individual freedom of thought and speech.  They think the church is exclusive in our beliefs about Jesus and salvation.  They think the church is judgmental in the ways we address sin and righteousness.  They prefer to form community at the local coffee shop.

How did the church get to this point?  In about 70 years, church has moved from being a normal and natural part of life to an out-dated, authoritarian institution filled with judgmental hypocrites.

I think there’s plenty of blame to go around.  On one hand, the cultural perception of the church is skewed.  People have formed conclusions about the church which are not based on real life experience.  On the other hand, churches are to blame.  Some people think the church is judgmental and hypocritical, because there are judgmental and hypocritical people in the church. 

I have heard it said, “If you ever find a perfect church, don’t join it.  You will ruin it.”  The church is made of people.  People are not perfect.  Therefore, the church is not perfect. 

One time I visited with a man in Mississippi about joining the church.  He said, “I don’t know.  I just think the church is full of hypocrites.”  I answered, “There’s always room for one more.”

I suppose our view of the church depends a lot on our view of ourselves.  For example, if I think I am a sinless and perfect person, I will expect my church to be filled with sinless and perfect people.  But, if I realize that I am a sinner—a sinner saved by Grace, but still struggling with sin and temptation—I will expect my church to be filled with people with the same struggles.

What does the Bible have to say about church?  Maybe we can open the Bible and read about the perfect church so we can help our church become the perfect church.

1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 31.

12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"

22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,

24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,

25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

(NIV)

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “New Testament church?”  Maybe someone looking for a church would say, “I want to find a New Testament church.”  Or, a member of a church says something like, “I want our church to be more like the New Testament church.”  There were several churches mentioned in the New Testament.  But, none of these churches were perfect churches.

The church of Galatia had a theological conflict.  Paul wrote a scathing letter to the Galatians to correct their theology.  They had teachers in their church claiming that Jesus wasn’t enough for salvation.  Salvation required Jesus plus the Jewish Law.

The church of Philippi had a personality conflict.  In the Book of Philippians, Paul begged Euodia and Syntyche to please learn how to get along.

And there is the church of Corinth.  They had church members suing each other in the courts.  They had a man who married his own stepmother.  They were abusing the Lord’s Supper.  And the Scripture we read today addresses a conflict over spiritual gifts in the church. So, Paul makes an appeal to church unity by comparing the church to the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ = The Church (verse 27).

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

What does Paul mean when he uses the illustration the Body of Christ?

The illustration Body of Christ appears at the end of Paul’s philosophical argument.  He began the passage by describing Spiritual Gifts.  He compared the different gifts to different parts of the human body.  Then, he makes his final point by telling us he is not referring to a human body.  All of this passage describes the Body of Christ.  But, what is the Body of Christ?

Our first clue to answer this question is the pronoun Paul used in verse 27.  He said, “You are the Body of Christ.”  If we were to translate this into East Texas language, we would translate it, “Ya’ll are the Body of Christ.”  In other words, this is not a charge to individuals.  This is a charge to a group of people.

There are two sides of the Christian life.  Christian life would be incomplete if we were to ignore either of these expressions of our life of faith. 

The first side of the Christian life is the one we as Baptists are very good about emphasizing.  It is the life of personal, individual faith.  Jesus died on the cross and rose again for you as an individual.  Jesus issues a call to individual men and women to enter into a life of faith with him.  As Baptists, we usually talk about how important it is for a person to be “born again,” or to “ask Jesus to come into our hearts.”  Both of these expressions mean the same thing.  It means every individual must decide what to do with Jesus.  Will you be just like the rest of the world and treat Jesus as just another person?  Or, will you hand over the controls of your life to live the rest of your days with Jesus as the Lord (the ruler, master, boss) of your life?

The second side of the Christian life is the corporate life.  Individual men, women, boys and girls must come together into a Christian community.  This community is the Body of Christ.  OR, as Paul says in verse 28…the church.

God Arranges the Parts of the Body (verse 18).

18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

There are various ways we can interpret the English word “church.”  On one hand, we sometimes use the word “church” to describe all believers past, present and future.  On the other hand, we often use the word “church” to describe the people who gather here at the corner of First and Bremond Streets in Lufkin, Texas.

The term “Body of Christ” does NOT describe the universal church stretched across the globe past, present and future.  I get this from two of Paul’s arguments in 1 Corinthians 12.

First, Paul says there is an interconnectedness within the Body of Christ that can be compared to the interconnectedness of our human bodies.  In my human body, my head is connected to my shoulders; my shoulders are connected to my arms and my torso; my torso is connected to my legs; and my legs are connected to my feet.  In addition, there are internal connections of vital organs—heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc…  The proper functioning of my human body depends on all these external parts and internal organs working together.  If one part ceases to function properly, my whole body suffers.  This image applies to the local church, but it cannot apply to the universal church.

Second, Paul says in verse 18 that God arranges all the parts of the body “just as he wants them to be.”  In other words, God has brought us together on purpose.  It is no accident that you are a part of Lufkin’s First Baptist Church.  God brought you to this church to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the Body of Christ.  If every member of this body functions in the way God intends, then the body will function properly.  If just one member of this body is lacking, then the entire body will suffer.

Since Lufkin is a football town, perhaps we could think of the church like a football team.  On offense, there’s a quarterback, who calls the plays and distributes the ball; running backs, who run with the ball after the quarterback hands it off to them; receivers, who catch the ball after the quarterback throws it; and linemen, who block for the ball carriers.  There are different players with different skills, who function together as a team.

Or, we could think of our church orchestra.  We have many different instruments: piano, organ, guitars, drums, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, flute, and others I can’t think of.  What would happen if we asked our instrumentalists to switch instruments one Sunday?  It wouldn’t work.  Different musicians have different skills.  But, when they work together, the music is beautiful.

Spiritual Gifts are Given to ALL Christians (verse 7).

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

The first half of 1 Corinthians 12 describes why God brings us together.  There is no one person capable of doing all the work of the Body of Christ.  My eye cannot do the work of my hands.  My foot cannot smell—well, I guess there are times when my foot does smell, but not the same way my nose smells.  We need each other, because we are each different.

Paul is clear in verses 7 and 11 that ALL Christians receive Spiritual Gifts.  Notice that he does not say “some of you.”  He says “each one” receives a manifestation of the Spirit.

Did you know there is no one exactly like you?  You are unique—even if you are a twin.  I have three children who all have the same mother and father.  But they are different.  They have different talents, abilities and gifts.

In the same way, there is no one in this church like you.  You have a Spiritual Gift that makes you different and important to this church.  Of course, there might be another person with a similar Spiritual Gift, but they do not have the same passion and experience that you have.  It is God’s intention for our church to have a diversity of gifts among a diverse group of people.  God doesn’t want us to be the same.  The church is a body, made up of diverse body parts.

God gives gifts to all Christians.  It is important to emphasize the fact that ALL Christians have gifts, not just some Christians.  It is also important to emphasize that these are gifts and not something you have earned.  A gift does not depend on who you are.  It depends on the generosity of the One who gives.

God knows what our church needs.  God is concerned with the way our church functions.  And God brings individual parts together to form a successful body.  God brought you here to make this body function properly.

Spiritual Gifts are Given for the Common Good (verse 7).

First Corinthians 12 is one of three places where Paul lists Spiritual Gifts (also Romans 12 and Ephesians 4).  I used to think that all three lists of Spiritual Gifts were the same.  But, then I read the lists.  They are not the same.  In fact, there is only one gift that is listed in all three places—prophecy.  (Incidentally, I believe the gift of prophecy does not describe a person with the ability to predict future events.  Rather, prophecy is the gift of “speaking God’s word to God’s people.”  We should probably compare it to our modern day definition of “preaching.”  The prophets of the Old Testament sometimes predicted future events, but this was only when they “spoke God’s word,” and God’s word was fulfilled.  Paul describes prophesy this way in chapter 14, where he describes it as an important and regular part of the Christian worship service.)

The fact that the three lists of Spiritual Gifts do not all list the same gifts leads me to believe these lists are NOT intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive lists.  These lists are simply representative lists. 

So don’t worry if you cannot find yourself in any of these gifts.  A Spiritual Gift is any gift God has given you that can be used to help the Body of Christ function properly.  “Prayer” does not appear on any of the lists.  But, I believe there are some people who have a gift of praying.  “Music and worship” do not appear on any of the lists.  Again, I believe this is a Spiritual Gift that can be used to build up the Body of Christ and to help us function properly. 

“Criticizing the pastor and church leaders” does not appear on any of the lists either.  But this is NOT a Spiritual Gift.  It does not build up the Body of Christ or help us function.  As you search for your Spiritual Gift, make sure it is truly a Spiritual Gift—a gift God has developed in your life which builds up the church and makes the church BETTER.

The key to identifying a Spiritual Gift is to determine if it is “for the common good.”  If the church does not benefit, then it is NOT a Spiritual Gift.

A Spiritual Gift makes all of us better.  A Spiritual Gift is something we cannot live without.  In other words, if you are not exercising your Spiritual Gift in the Body of Christ, then our church will be LESS.  What can you do to make our church better?  If you know what that is and refuse to do it, then we cannot do what God has called us to do as a church.

Conclusion

The perfect church is not a church made up of perfect people.  The perfect church is the church which functions as the Body of Christ.

While Jesus was on earth, he was complete.  He did not need anyone else to perform his God-given ministry. When Jesus ascended into Heaven, he commissioned his disciples to continue the work of Jesus in the world.  That work has been handed over to us as the church, the Body of Christ.  Preaching the Gospel…Teaching the church…Serving the needs within the body and outside the body.

The Body of Christ functions properly when all of the members are committed to Christ AND to each other.  

The Zacchaeus Rule

The Zacchaeus Rule

Luke 19: 1 – 10.

Introduction

Today is April 15, 2012.  Did you know that April 15 is an important day of the year?  More than just this year, April 15 is an important date in history.

Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865 after being shot on April 14.

One hundred years ago today—April 15, 2012—the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic and claimed the lives of 1,517 of her passengers.

On a positive note, Jackie Robinson made his Major League Baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers) debut on April 15, 1947.  Robinson was the first African American player in Major League Baseball.

April 15, 1987 was a very sad day in the United States.  On this day, seven million American children disappeared and were never seen again.  This tragedy was not the result of mass kidnappings across the country or even alien abductions.  It was because the IRS required American taxpayers to list a Social Security number for all dependent children.  And, just like that…seven million American children disappeared.[1]

Sorry to be the one to remind you…But, if today were not a Sunday, it would also be Tax Day.  This year, Tax Day is on Tuesday, April 17, because Monday is Emancipation Day.  I’m not sure what Emancipation Day is, but it does not refer to emancipation from taxes.

Taxes are getting a lot of attention right now, since this is a presidential election year.  Both political parties are talking about tax reform.  And the rhetoric is heating up.  The Obama administration is promoting something called the “Buffet Rule,” which is based on suggestions made by billionaire Warren Buffet.  (The suggestion is to raise the maximum tax rate for wealthy taxpayers to 30%.)

I don’t want to use my time in the pulpit to promote tax reform or to argue for or against the Buffet Rule.  Instead, I want to introduce you to the Zacchaeus Rule.

Zacchaeus was a First Century tax collector, who was hated just as much as Twenty-First Century tax collectors.  If you are familiar with the story of Zacchaeus, it probably brings back memories from your childhood and of singing the song: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see…”  But this is not a sweet, children’s story.  This is a scandalous story of Jesus reaching out to the untouchables.

Luke 19: 1 – 10.

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.

4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."

6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

(NIV)

When we read this story, we need to keep in mind something Luke told his readers earlier in Luke 9: 51.  Luke tells us that Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

That is significant, because we all know what was waiting for Jesus in Jerusalem.  We know it, because that is why we came to church last Sunday.  Jesus wasn’t going to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage or to pay a friendly visit.  Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be betrayed by one of his own disciples, handed over to the Jewish religious leaders, and handed over to the Roman political leaders.  The Jews would use their influence to get the Romans to beat Jesus and nail him to a cross.

Everything Jesus does at this point in the Gospel of Luke is intentional.  He has “resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”  He is going to the cross on purpose, because he knows what he has to do.  Jesus is not distracted from his purpose for salvation.  With this in mind, perhaps we can read the story of Zacchaeus in a different light.

For example, we read in Luke 19: 1 that Jesus was “passing through” Jericho.  On one hand, that makes sense.  Jericho and Jerusalem are close to each other.  It was common for travelers from the North to go through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem.  (Like going through Nacogdoches to get to Lufkin.)  On the other hand, Jesus was resolute about all he was doing.  So, maybe we should not think of this as an accidental meeting.  It may have looked like an accident…But, Jesus went to Jericho looking for Zacchaeus.

Of course not everyone thought Zaccaeus was the type of person Jesus should be looking for.  Zacchaeus was not exactly what we would call a righteous person.  In fact, Zacchaeus was hated by most of the people in Jericho.

Zacchaeus was hated for being Wealthy.  This is somewhat difficult for us to understand, because our culture looks at the wealthy differently than the ancient Jews did.  Late Jewish theology had developed an association of poverty with piety.  In the previous chapter (18: 24f) Jesus had described the difficulty of the rich entering heaven.  Wealth indicated independence & self sufficiency, even rebellious spirit…rebelling from religion.  Poverty indicated dependence & need for God.  Wealth was also suspicious in the ancient world.  Wealthy people were usually unscrupulous people, who often profited off of the suffering of poor people.

Zacchaeus was hated for being a Tax Collector.  Jewish people usually thought of tax collectors as traitors and thieves.  And they had good reason to think this.  Tax collectors in Palestine collected taxes for the hated Roman Empire from Palestinian people.  They took money from Jewish people and gave it to the Gentiles.  Tax collectors were not usually paid by the Roman government.  The tax collectors had to pay the Romans for a license to collect taxes.  Then, the tax collectors set the amount of taxes to be paid.  They had to collect enough taxes to pay for their license and to make a profit for themselves.  It was a very corrupt profession.

Zacchaeus was hated for being the Chief Tax Collector.  This is worse than being a simple tax collector.  The Chief Tax Collector set the fees & contracted lower tax collectors (Publicans) to do the actual collecting.  Zacchaeus, possibly had been so good at defrauding the people of Jericho that he rose to management.

Rich People Can Be Lost, too

Zacchaeus was the total package.  Luke described Zacchaeus as everything necessary to be worst possible sinner.  He would have been despised by the self-righteous Pharisees on hand at Jericho and Luke’s original audience would have known that.

This is remarkable when we compare Luke 19 with the story at the  end of Luke 18.  In Luke 18, we read about a man who was lost in blindness and poverty.  The blindness and poverty didn’t scare Jesus away.  Jesus saved him from blindness and poverty.  And, here we encounter a man who was lost in wealth and corruption.  Wealth and corruption didn’t scare Jesus away either.  Jesus saved Zacchaeus.

 The religious establishmen hated Zacchaeus, because the Pharisees were separatists.  They taught the Jewish people not to run around with “sinners.”  Separate yourselves from all evil people.  Some of the Pharisees were known to cross the street so they wouldn’t have to meet a woman walking on the same side of the street.  I suppose this was to avoid their own lustful thoughts.  There was even a common prayer among the Pharisees.  When they woke up in the mornings, they would pray, “Thank you Lord that I am not a Gentile, a woman or a sinner.”  They thought they could separate themselves from sin to the point that they no longer had a sin problem.

However, when we read Luke’s Gospel, we discover that Jesus spent all his time with people who were not like the Pharisees.  Jesus spent time with Gentiles, women and sinners.  Jesus offered the Kingdom of God to people who were outcasts and excluded from the religious establishment:  women, children, blind, lepers, Tax Collectors.  

This was an important and welcomed theme to Luke’s readers…Readers were just like you and me…Gentiles, non-Jews who were previously considered left out of God’s plan of salvation…And Luke shows us that it is possible for both Jews and Gentiles to be saved…Poor and Rich…Men and Women…Jesus came that everyone might be saved.

Jesus Spent Time with Lost People

When Jesus invited himself to go home with Zacchaeus, the religious folk began to whisper.  Jesus was “Guilty by association.”  Of course, I think Jesus had to invite himself to Zacchaeus’ house, because Zacchaeus knew what the religious folk thought about him.  He would have assumed Jesus was just like the Pharisees and wanted nothing to do with him.

There was a common belief that eating in the home of someone like Zacchaeus was eating food purchased with dirty money.  Eating food bought with dirty money was to participate in (or at least giving approval to) the crime that brought it about.  Therefore, Jesus was guilty in their eyes.  They accused Jesus of being Zacchaeus’ partner.

However, Jesus was not afraid of spending time with lost people.  Jesus touched unclean lepers, even though he knew this would make him unclean in the eyes of the Jews.  Jesus ate in Zacchaeus’ house, even though he knew this would make him unclean in the eyes of the self-righteous Pharisees. 

I like to think of it this way.  Imagine that after church today we all go out to eat together in a local restaurant.  We are all sitting together at one big table.  And right next to our table is a table full of sinners.  The sinners I’m talking about are the worst kind of sinners you can imagine.  They don’t look like you, dress like you or vote like you.  In fact, they don’t acknowledge anything you believe.  What would happen if Jesus walked into the same restaurant?  Would Jesus sit at our table?  Or, would Jesus sit with “those people?”

I have read the Gospels many times over the years.  And, every time I read the Gospels, they say the same thing.  Jesus wouldn’t sit at our table.  Jesus would sit with the other table.

But, notice what happened to Zacchaeus.  Once Zacchaeus had his encounter with Jesus, a real change happened in his life.  We know he was changed, because of several things. 

First, Zacchaeus’ actions demonstrated his change.  He offered to give away half of his possessions to the poor and to repay everyone he has cheated four times what he owed them. People who have received Grace always show Grace to others.  Forgiven people know how to forgive others.  When God has been generous to you, you can be generous to others.

Second, Jesus told the crowd of self-righteous Pharisees that Zacchaeus is a Son of Abraham.  This ought to remind us of the message John the Baptist preached at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke and one of Luke’s dominant themes.  John the Baptist told the Jews not to think they were safe from judgment because they were biologically the sons of Abraham.  John said, God could turn stones into sons of Abraham (Luke 3: 8).  This is why Luke often showed Jesus spending time with undesirable people.  Luke knew that the Kingdom of God was not something defined by race or politics.  The Kingdom of God is something we inherit by faith alone.  Zacchaeus became a son of Abraham by faith in Jesus.  The same way we do.

Third, we need to pay attention to Jesus’ use of the word “today.”  Jesus said, “Today, salvation has come…”  In other words, there was something different about Zacchaeus “today.”  He was not the same person he had been “yesterday.”  Zacchaeus had been changed.  He experienced a conversion.

When I use the word “conversion” I don’t necessarily mean sudden conversion.  But a change ALWAYS take place when a person encounters Jesus.  For some people, conversion takes place over a course of time, slowly.  For Zacchaeus, conversion was sudden.

When a baby is born, there is a certain degree of suddenness.  One day there are two, the next day there are three.  But this is not a sudden change, it is a process that took at least nine months to complete.

Jesus Is Our Model

At the beginning of the story, Zacchaeus was searching for Jesus.  Zacchaeus had everything money could buy.  But, he couldn’t buy Jesus.  He could not buy his way into the Kingdom of God.

In the middle of the story, Jesus took over.  Jesus looked into the tree and called Zacchaeus by name.  We don’t know how Jesus knew his name.  Jesus must have been looking for him.  Then, Jesus invited himself to eat at Zacchaeus’ house.  At the house, Jesus the guest became Jesus the host.  He invited Zacchaeus to place his faith in Jesus.

How many times have we heard sermon or bible lesson on this story with Zacchaeus as the hero?  Verse 10 turns this view completely around.

Luke 19: 10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

This is not a story about a man searching for Jesus.  This is a story about Jesus searching for all lost people.  Some people are lost in blindness and poverty.  Some people are lost in wealth and corruption.  But, everyone is lost at one time or another.  And, Jesus is searching for lost people.

If we are Jesus’ people, we are supposed to follow Jesus’ example.  We are to search for lost people.

Keep in mind, this is not a passive activity.  Jesus never waited for lost people to come to him.  Jesus is actively searching for lost people.

Conclusion

We make two big mistakes when it comes to searching for lost people.

Our first mistake is that we are passive.  We gather on Sunday mornings in a beautiful sanctuary and wait for people to come to us.  They know we are here.  All they have to do is walk through those doors and ask us about Jesus.  We will be happy to answer all their questions about Jesus as long as it doesn’t make us late for lunch!

Our second mistake we make is we expect people to clean up their own lives before we introduce them to Jesus.  This is what the Pharisees thought about Zacchaeus.  If Zacchaeus had not been a wealthy, chief tax collector, no one would have given a second thought about Jesus’ eating in his house.  This is also why people don’t walk through our church doors to ask us about Jesus.  They know we expect them to dress right and live right before they can meet Jesus.

If there is anything we can learn from Luke 19, it is that Jesus searches for lost people and meets with them before their lives are perfect. 

I once saw a church sign on the side of the highway that read, “Jesus called us to be fishers of men.  You catch ‘em.  He’ll clean ‘em.”

Jesus once told us to be the light of the world.  Light can only be effective in darkness.  That means we have to get out of the church and into the dark world.  We have to actively search for sinners and meet them where they are.  That is the Zacchaeus Rule.

The story of Zacchaeus is not a sweet, children’s story.  It is scandalous and offensive.  If you find this to be offensive, you are in good company.  The Pharisees found it offensive, but there is no other Gospel.

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[1] http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/dependents.asp

Just as He Said

Just as He Said

Matthew 28: 1 – 10.

Introduction

As a pastor, I often ask myself why people come to church.  Some people come to church for good reasons.  Some people come to church for selfish reasons.  But, one of the good things about Easter Sunday is the fact that we are here today for the same reason.  We are here because of the Resurrection of Jesus.

The Resurrection is the central belief of the Christian faith.  Easter Sunday is the day we celebrate the Resurrection and is, therefore, the holiest day on the Christian calendar.  Easter is our biggest day, because it focuses on the Resurrection—our most important belief.

There are three reasons why I say Resurrection is our most important belief.  First, in the New Testament Book of Acts, every Christian sermon preached by the Apostles focused on the Resurrection.  Second, there has never been a form of Christian faith without belief in the Resurrection.  Third, if the Resurrection never happened, the entire Christian faith would unravel…or as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 14, “our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  Of course, this raises the question, “How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?”  Can we know for sure that Jesus rose again?  That the Resurrection is a historical fact?

It may seem like there are a number of objections to the historicity of the Resurrection, but that is not true.  There are only five objections which have been repeated and modified over the years.

Some people say Jesus never rose from the dead, because Jesus never died.  Jesus only “swooned” on the cross.  That is, Jesus got close to death but never actually died.  Some have gone so far as to hypothesize that one of the others being crucified was a doctor, who administered first aid to Jesus in the tomb.  (This seems more difficult to believe than an actual Resurrection.)  This is not likely, because Roman soldiers were professional executioners.  They knew how to kill a man on the cross, and they knew when that man was dead.  It was widely known that Roman soldiers would be executed if they allowed a man to survive crucifixion.  This theory also has a problem explaining how Jesus was able to escape from a sealed tomb.  Both the Romans and the Jews were watching Jesus’ tomb and even sealed it with a heavy stone.  How could a man who narrowly escaped death, weakened from beating and crucifixion roll away the stone?  Also, where did Jesus eventually die?  And, where was he buried?  A man of Jesus’ public persona would have continued to make history that would have been written down for us.

A second objection is that Jesus never rose from the dead, because the disciples were simply hallucinating.  The problem here is the number of people who saw Jesus after the crucifixion and burial.  The eleven disciples saw Jesus.  Jesus’ brother James saw Jesus.  Jesus even revealed himself to a crowd of 500 people who were still alive at the time when Paul wrote the Book of 1 Corinthians.  Paul invited his readers to find any of those people and ask them what they had seen.  Hallucinations are internal experiences and would vary from person to person.  It would be impossible for 500 people to have the same hallucination at once.

A third objection is that Jesus never rose from the dead, because this is a conspiracy undertaken by the original disciples.  They beat up the Roman guards and stole the body of Jesus under the cover of darkness.  Then, they spread the lie of Resurrection around the world.  This view cannot account for the change that took place in the lives of the disciples or their willingness to die for their conspiracy.  Just take Peter and Jesus’ brother James as two examples.  Before the crucifixion, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus.  After the Resurrection, Peter stood before a crowd of 3,000 people and preached about the Resurrection.  He did this in Jerusalem, 50 days after the crucifixion, in front of people who would have known what happened to Jesus.  James the brother of Jesus never believed that Jesus was the Messiah before the crucifixion.  Then, the Resurrected Jesus appeared to James, and James became the first pastor of the church at Jerusalem.  Peter and James gave the rest of their lives to preaching the truth of the Resurrection.  Eventually, both Peter and James were killed because of their faith in Jesus.  And, neither of them ever said, “It was all a big lie.”  If the Resurrection had been a lie, at least one of the disciples would have told the truth to save his own life.

A fourth objection is that Jesus never rose from the dead, instead the disciples experienced a resurrection of faith in Jesus after the crucifixion.  This is impossible when you consider what First Century Jews believed about the coming Messiah.  The Jews believed the Messiah would defeat all Israel’s pagan enemies and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple.  Once the Temple was rebuilt, the Messiah would open up the Temple to all the nations so that all the world would acknowledge the God of Israel.  Crucifixion was not a part of the plan.  In fact, crucifixion was one common characteristic of a long line of self-proclaimed Messiahs.  They rallied support among some of the Jews.  The Romans viewed them as a threat and had them crucified.  The Jewish people would go back to their homes disappointed and looking for the next Messiah.  Crucifixion does not create faith.  It destroys faith.  It would be a sign of failure.

The fifth objection is the only objection which leaves me with nothing to say.  It is perhaps the strongest objection to the Resurrection.  It goes something like this, “No.  Things like that don’t happen.”

The reason I have nothing to say to this view is that it is illogical and refuses to look at the historical data. This is the most closed-minded point of view.  It is an arrogant view to think you know more than two thousand years of history and exploration.  If you will look at the historical data, you will discover that the Resurrection of Jesus can be proven with the same degree of certainty as other historical events—the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States or George Washington crossing the Delaware River.

If you look at the historical data, you will find that Jesus rose from the dead just as he said.

Matthew 28: 1 – 10.

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

(NIV)

It was early Sunday morning before the women could go to the tomb to dress Jesus’ body for burial.  Good Jews did not do any work on the Sabbath day, which ran from sunset on Friday through sunset on Saturday.  Jesus died on Friday afternoon.  The women didn’t have enough time to do their work before the beginning of Sabbath.  When the Sabbath ended on Saturday night, it was too dark for them to do their work.  They had to wait until sunrise.

Remarkably, the women did not find what they were looking for on that first Easter Sunday morning.  It is remarkable that they thought Jesus was dead, and they could find his body in a cemetery.  It is remarkable that Jesus’ dead body was not there.  The women were looking for a dead body but saw an angel instead.  The angel delivered a message to the women, “Jesus is not here.  He has risen, just as he said.”

That last clause really seems important to me.  It is Good News to say that Jesus has risen.  But, there seems to be something special about the news Jesus has risen, just as he said.  In other words, this shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who was paying attention.  If the disciples and the women had really listened to Jesus, maybe they wouldn’t be looking for a dead body in a cemetery.  Perhaps they would be out in the world looking for a living person walking around in the land of the living.

Jesus did tell his disciples that he would rise from the dead.  They had every opportunity to understand what God was doing through Jesus.  On one occasion, Jesus told them a parable about the Old Testament story of Jonah—just as Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights, the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth (Matthew 12: 40).  If that had been Jesus’ only reference to the Resurrection, we could understand why the disciples did not make the connection.  But, it wasn’t.  On three separate occasions, Jesus specifically told his disciples that he would be betrayed into the hands of the Jews, handed over to the Romans, beaten, crucified and would rise again on the third day (Matthew 16: 21, 17: 23, 20: 19).

Just as He Said: Fulfillment

The fact that Jesus rose again, just as he said, tells us some important things about Jesus.

In the first place, it tells us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the hopes of Israel.

Jesus came on the scene preaching a simple message, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”  This was the message Jewish people expected to hear from the coming Messiah.  It was their expectation that the Messiah would come and bring the Kingdom of God on earth.  The Kingdom of God would signal the end of Jewish Exile—all of God’s people would be gathered within the national borders of Israel.  Then, the Messiah would overthrow all of Israel’s pagan enemies, rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, and establish the rule of God over all the earth.  The Kingdom of God would be the exaltation of Israel as both a powerful political force and the center of religion for all the earth.  The final stage in this new Messianic age would be the Resurrection of all the righteous Jews.  Great men like Abraham and Moses would be walking around Israel once again.

This was the Jewish expectation.  But, it wasn’t exactly what happened in the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus never led a political or military revolution.  Instead, Jesus was executed by the political and military power of his day.  It seemed that Jesus had been defeated by the Romans.  That is, it seemed that way until Jesus rose from the dead.  The Resurrection shows that political and military powers cannot defeat what God is doing.  Jesus did, in fact, defeat the powers.

The Jews expected the Messiah to rebuild the Temple.  But, Jesus never rebuilt the Temple.  Instead, he pronounced the forgiveness of sins outside of the Temple and outside of the sacrificial system.  Jesus took the authority of the Temple for himself and even announced in Matthew 12: 6, “I tell you that one greater than the Temple is here.”  The Resurrection of Jesus fulfilled Israel’s hope, but not in the way they expected.  Instead of inviting all the nations to come to Israel to worship in the Temple, Jesus sent out his disciples and promised to be present with them as they carried the Gospel to all nations.

The Jews expected the Resurrection of all the righteous dead to happen when the Messiah came.  Instead, we see the Resurrection of Jesus as the only one righteous in the middle of our present age.  As the Apostle Paul likes to say, the Resurrection of Jesus is the first fruit.  Jesus rose from the dead in the middle of our present age and promises that all who believe in Jesus as the Messiah will experience Resurrection at the end of the age.

Just as He Said: Trustworthy

Since Jesus rose from the dead just as he said, it tells us that Jesus is trustworthy.  In other words, if Jesus can be trusted to rise again just as he said, then Jesus can be trusted in everything he has told us.  If Jesus is trustworthy, then we can believe his words, and we can trust him with our lives.

Of course, this applies to the ethical teachings of Jesus.  Jesus teaches us that the life God expects of us is a life of love—love your neighbor as yourself.  God expects us to seek greatness through service to others—whoever wants to be first must be the least.  God expects us to forgive others as we have been forgiven by God—the person who has been forgiven much will extend forgiveness to others and it is not enough to forgive someone seven times, we are to forgive seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven).  Jesus is trustworthy to teach us God’s way for our lives.

And, Jesus can be trusted in other things he said as well such as in his last words to his disciples before he ascended into Heaven.  Matthew 28: 18 – 20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus promised to be with us to the end of the age.  Often we feel like we cannot make it on our own.  We can’t make it on our own.  And, we don’t have to.  Jesus can be trusted with everything he says.  Jesus rose again, just as he said.  And Jesus promises to be with us always, just as he said.  The presence of Jesus is the remedy for our doubts and the comfort for us when we suffer.

Just as He Said: Obedience

Since Jesus rose from the dead just as he said, we should obey the words of Jesus.  The Resurrection story in Matthew 28 demonstrates this by telling us about both the women and the disciples.

The women received a message from Jesus through the angel at the tomb.  The angel told them to go tell the disciples that Jesus was risen just as he said.  While they were on the way, Jesus met them on the road.

The disciples received a message from Jesus through the women.  The women told them to go back to Galilee.  When the disciples went to Galilee, they met with Jesus.

In both examples, the women and the disciples experienced the presence of Jesus when they obeyed.  Perhaps this can inform our theology of what happened through the crucifixion and Resurrection.  In the crucifixion, Jesus died to save us from sin.  In the Resurrection, Jesus rose again to give us life.  The Resurrection promises that we will be saved from death.  The Resurrection promises Jesus will be present with us.  Jesus gives us life after death and life before death.  This life before death is obedience to Jesus, just as he said.

Conclusion

Jesus is risen, just as he said.  Our proper response to the Resurrection is to live, just as Jesus said.  On one hand, we live the ethical teachings of Jesus.  On the other hand, we live the missional teachings of Jesus.

The life and death of a church depends on how much its members are willing to proclaim the Gospel to the world.  If its ministers are satisfied merely with performing their functions and counseling religious people, if its members confess their faith as far as it is socially acceptable, the church will grow more and more into a sterile institution that is far from the living church of the New Testament. (Eduard Schweizer, “The Church as the Missionary Body of Christ,” NTS 8 [1961]: 1, in David E. Garland Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary [Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2001]: 273)

What kind of Christian do you want to be?

What kind of church do you want to be a part of?