Resurrection Life

27/3/16                          Resurrection Life                  Isaiah 65:17-25 Acts 10:34-43 John 20:1-18
People dancing in the streets at the end of World War 2. Bob Hawke showered in champagne on the day we won the America’s Cup declaring any boss who sacked a worker for not turning up to work was a bum. Premier John Fahey leaping for joy when Sydney was awarded the 2000 Olympic Games. The nation erupting in euphoria when Cathy Freeman won gold at the Sydney Olympics. Yet the greatest victory of all passes largely unnoticed. The resurrection of Jesus is ignored or observed without passion or priority. How are you celebrating Jesus’ victory over death? Where is the joy in our future turned upside down; joy that death and despair have been vanquished. How are we living the resurrection life? One Good Friday, the pastor of a large Black church in Philadelphia preached for an hour and a half with one key line. ‘It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’!’ The enthusiastic congregation urged him on. The preacher finished by yelling at the top of his voice, IT”S FRIDAY and all 500 of the congregation shouted back with one accord, SUNDAY’S COMIN! That is celebration. Uninhibited joy in the resurrection of Jesus. Are we rejoicing? Have we lost sight of the immensity of the good news? Jesus is alive. The world can never be the same again. At the end of his life the Apostle Peter wrote that he was an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry. He and others confirmed the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection. About 30 years earlier Peter and fellow disciple John ran to the tomb where Jesus was buried. Startled by the news that Jesus body was missing. John outran Peter. The more adventurous Peter entered the tomb first. What he saw reads not as the stuff of fiction but as it really is. ‘Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.’ John 20:6-7 Jesus body not stolen but somehow removed from the embalming cloths wrapped around him. The position of the strips of linen testifies to a supernatural removal of Jesus body. Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene and others confirm the miracle. Jesus rose from the grave. Be confident of this. A dead man rose to life never to die again. The apparent tragedy of Jesus’ death swallowed up in his resurrection. His resurrection guarantees ours. But that is not all. Those who hear Jesus words and believe in him live the resurrection life now. Jesus speaking. ‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.’ John 5:24 The resurrection life is a present reality. We are to live it now because Jesus rose from the dead. Today’s readings remind us of the fruit of resurrection life. Resurrection life is life lived rejoicing in the certain hope of the perfect eternity. Prepared by God, sealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Peter knew this and rejoiced, ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,’ 1 Peter 1:3 Over 700 years before, the prophet Isaiah spoke to every following generation about the sufferings and glory of Jesus. He spoke of the eternal fruit of Jesus’ resurrection. ‘But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.’ Isaiah 65:18 Painting a picture of the final undoing of the work of Satan: perfect harmony in the new creation. ‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.’ Isaiah 65:25 Sisters and brothers, praise God each day for the gift of eternal life. Praise God that as his treasured possession you are already citizens of the new creation. Praise God that Jesus resurrection is an ironclad guarantee that death will not separate you from his love. Such praise delights the Lord and glorifies him. It transforms us into a people of joy radiating the fruit of knowing Jesus. Resurrection life is life lived under the Lordship of Jesus. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that God raised Jesus from the dead and ‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Acts 2:36. To the Gentile Cornelius and his household Peter affirmed that Jesus is ‘Lord of all.’ Sisters and brothers establishing the Lordship of Jesus over every part of our lives is a mark of living the resurrection life. Simply saying Jesus is my Saviour and Lord is meaningless without a willingness for the Lord Jesus to rule every aspect of our lives. What parts of your life are still no go areas to the searching, refining, purifying work of the Holy Spirit? Is there a refusal to deal with things the Lord brings to your attention because their hold on you is greater than a desire to obey Jesus as Lord? Easter homework. Mentally or physically draw a diagram of a house with a number of rooms. Name the rooms appropriately – relationships, family, sex, money, work, sport etc. Prayerfully examine what is going on in each room and repent where they do not reflect the Lordship of Jesus. Resurrection life is a life lived acknowledging Jesus is judge. ‘He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that Jesus is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.” Acts 10:42 This is great news. We live in a moral universe where morality is not determined by the shifting sands of human behaviour but by the God who speaks and has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Our present experience may be that accountability is a myth; that wrongdoing and evil not only gets off scot free but is rewarded. Accountability is real. The resurrected Jesus is the perfectly just judge of all people. We don’t have to live as victims or try to sort out every injustice. Jesus will deal with it. Setting us free to enjoy the freedom and peace all this brings. Resurrection life is a life lived in the light of forgiveness. ‘All the prophets testify about him (Jesus) that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’ Acts 10:43 Jesus’ resurrection confirms this is no empty promise. Stop carrying round a heavy backpack of guilt and sin. Recognise the crippling impact on joyous, resurrection living when you fail to forgive others. We are to forgive our sisters and brothers to the same depth that Jesus forgives us: it doesn’t matter anymore. Who are you struggling to forgive? Seek wise spiritual counsel to deal with that. Brothers and sisters, the resurrection of Jesus is not simply true; it satisfies our deepest needs and the thirst of our souls. It makes sense of the world as it is and reveals what it will become. In the words of a friend of mine. The Bible speaks of hope as something we have. It is about looking forward to something that is certain. I have the hope of eternity with Christ. We still don’t control the thing for which we have hope, but God does and has promised eternity to us. There is no degree of risk or disappointment. This hope cannot be frustrated by anyone. Unlike all our other expressions of hope, this is hope that won’t disappoint us. It is guaranteed by God himself and bears his signature: the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This sort of hope makes living possible, for it gives us a future. Part of what makes us human is the ability to consider the future. We can’t help but be conscious of it. And we need to be. We need to have a future which is, to some extent, sorted out. We need to have hope. This is the day that he rose again we will rejoice and be glad in it.

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