Are You Functioning Like Christ Is Still Dead?
Text: Mark 16:1-8
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
The
stone was rolled away.
He was not among the dead.
An empty tomb – that is why we are here today. It is why we celebrate this day. It is why we fill the pews, eat family meals, and get a vacation from school.
But consider for a moment, what if the stone was rolled away and Christ was still in the grave? What if the women came to the tomb that Sunday morning, long ago, and there was a depressed angel, sitting at the door, saying with a deep sigh,
“He is still here.”
In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul asks this very question. To paraphrase Paul, he said to those Christians in Corinth,
“If Christ were not raised from the dead, then we are wandering in the dark – lost as ever, still in our sins. If Christ were not raised from the dead, all of our hoping and dreaming of everlasting life is nothing but tiny empty inspirations. If Christ were not raised from the dead, we are a pretty sorry lot – we are to be pitied as dumb fools.”
In other words, if Christ has not risen from the dead, all of us Christians are wasting time in the church. If Christ is not raised, all our church attendance, prayers, divine services, singing, offerings, sermons, bible studies, and serving are one big waste of time. If there is no resurrection, there is no reason to go to church or act like a Christian. If there is no resurrection, we might as well join the pagans by eating, drinking, and being merry – for tomorrow we die… and that is it.
Judging
from America right now, though, Christ must be dead. That is right, judging from America right
now, Christ must be still rotting in the grave. In other words, according to a
recent study, only 50% of Americans go to church right now. And let’s not get started with the abundance
of crazy, foolish, and abhorrent theology that comes forth from many pulpits where
people are actually attending church.
Yes, Christ must be still dead, for we American Christians certainly act, and function like Christ is dead.
Ah, but the immediate response to this harsh judgment upon American Christianity is that we are a Christian Nation and that 89% of Americans still believe in God. The immediate response is that we are Christians, after all! 89% - 9 out of 10 Americans believe in God. Ah, that is Hogwash! That kind of talk is rubbish! This kind of talk is just empty lip service – the kind of religious talk that pleases old grandmas. It is the kind of talk that covers our religious laziness and apathy.
You see, when we neglect, despise, and roll our eyes at Christ’s Church, His Word, and His Sacraments, we are essentially saying that the Church, the Word, and the Sacraments are useless - dead. When we view church like a dentist or tax appointment - or if we plot out ways to go to church as little as possible to keep up appearances but still not let Christianity become too much of an inconvenience, well… our actions are essentially saying that the Lord’s Church, Word, and Sacraments are irrelevant and dead.
And if the Church, Word, and Sacraments are dead and irrelevant, then Jesus is dead and irrelevant.
Friends, you cannot separate Christ from His bride, the church. You cannot separate Christ from His Word and Sacraments.
Now, even regular Christians in the pew often function as if Christ were still dead. All our incessant worrying in the church about meaningless things, our paralyzing fear of the world around us, and our tight fists clinging to our earthly possessions (to name a few ), communicate that we have no hope and no faith because Christ must be dead.
Frankly, many atheists are less hypocritical than we Christians. At least atheists dare to say that Christ is dead and then act accordingly.
Perhaps too many of us have reduced the Christian faith to a mere theory or a collection of pious religious sentiments that we have incorporated into our lives. Perhaps we have reduced the Christian faith to the level of Buddhism, Islam, and Mormonism. After all, Buddha, Mohammed, and Joseph Smith all died, leaving us their religious theories and sentiments.
But unlike Buddha, Mohammed, and Joseph Smith, Christ is different. Yes, Christ died. He was laid in a tomb. He also taught us many things. But here is what is different. This Christian faith is not a collection of religious theories, myths, dreams, and opinions that were left by a religious martyr named Jesus. Christianity is not on the same level as the silly visions of Mohammed’s Islam. Christianity is not in the same category as the make-believe stories of Joseph Smith’s Mormonism. Instead, this Christian faith hinges not upon a theory, myth, dream, or opinion, but upon a real person and a real event, in a real place, during a real-time in history. Christianity is anchored in Christ and what Christ did.
Let me speak as clearly as possible and as simple as possible. This world that you live in – the one that you wake up into every single day – the world that you move, live, breathe, and have your being in, is the same world that Christ was born in, lived in, died in, and rose from. Besides the Bible, over 124 non-Christian historical figures give us an empirical record that Jesus did, in fact, live, die, and some even state, rise from the dead. Furthermore, besides these sources, keep in mind that Jesus was seen resurrected by His disciples and 500 other people at the same time. And remember those scared disciples in the garden that ran like scurrying cockroaches afraid of the light? Well, before the resurrection, they were sleepy in the garden, tongue twisted before servant girls, and afraid in upper rooms.
But after the resurrection – after they witnessed Jesus alive, we hear that Matthew was slain in Ethiopia with a halberd. Peter was crucified upside down. And others, like Mark, were dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria. Idolatrous priests hung Luke in Greece. A sword beheaded Paul under Emperor Nero…. My friends, the reality of the resurrection changed everything for them.
And so, it is quite simple. Christ is risen, but we act in ways that contradict this reality. Pick your poison: regarding the Christian faith, we give way to fear, apathy, laziness, hopelessness, and so forth. Yes, we act as if Christ is still dead. Therefore, repent. Repent with me, and hear the bold and staggering news - Christ is risen, for your justification.
Yes, hear the good news of the resurrection – let it rattle you out of your fear. Christ is risen; fear not! Neither death nor fear nor anything in heaven or earth can hold you anymore.
Hear the good news of the resurrection – may it awake you out of your apathy. Christ is risen; your faith is not empty or unhinged because Christ is not dead and drifting in the abode of death.
Hear the good news of the resurrection – may it chase away your hopelessness. Christ is risen; you are not left in your sins or the grasp of the devil but have been freed unto Christ and look forward to new bodies and a new heaven and earth.
Baptized Saints, Christ is risen; therefore, the prayers you pray, the sermons you hear, the divine services you attend, the offerings you give, the bible studies you join, the serving you do, is not a waste of time – it is not in vain. Because Christ is risen, His Church, Word, and Sacraments are not irrelevant – dead – but alive.
Baptized Saints, Christ is risen. This changes everything; nothing will ever be the same. The good news of the resurrection undergirds everything we think, say, and do. And so, do not let yourselves be poisoned by anti-resurrection thinking and anti-resurrection loose talk. Do not get drug into playing fast and loose with silly myths, theories, and opinions that are disconnected from the reality of the empty tomb. Think straight. Live in reality. Your Jesus who was crucified, is not in the grave. He is risen. He is risen, indeed, alleluia.
In the
name of Jesus. Amen.
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