Given at Church of the Redeemer, Cairo, IL; Sunday, April 8th, 2007
A few years back, a hamburger chain (I think it was Wendy’s) had a TV commercial which showed the proverbial “little old lady”, as she marched up the counter, asking “where’s the beef?” (For added emphasis, I think she banged her cane on the countertop.)
Essentially, that “little old lady” was asking “where’s the proof?” (that that particular hamburger chain’s burgers actually had real beef in it).
It’s the same question we face whenever we think about the foundation of our own faith, or try to explain that basis to others.
We are asking, “where’s the proof?”…..”where’s the proof of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead?”.
That question is the central question that faces us on this day, the Day of Resurrection, or Easter Sunday. It is also the question that we will be asked by those unbelievers around us: “where’s the proof (that the Resurrection actually happened)?”
For on this day, Scripture tells us that the women who went to the tomb, and later on, the disciples they (in turn) had told, found an empty tomb, and the large stone rolled away.
But the unbelieving world around us has a different focus: they want to see the security camera footage of the lifeless body of Jesus as it takes breath again. They want to see the infra red images of the darkened tomb. They want to see the record of the heat sensors as they begin to detect the body’s temperature returning to normal.
But, as carefully has I have read Holy Scripture over the past 50+ years, it took a seminary professor to remind me of a central fact of the Resurrection accounts: None of them narrate the actual resurrection itself!
Stunning, isn’t it? None of them narrate the actual Resurrection itself.
Instead, they record all sorts of other details: the stone rolled away; the burial clothes lying, neatly folded; the two angels; the earthquake that Matthew tells us about.
But above all, they tell us about Jesus’ Resurrection appearances: first to the women (in the culture of the day 2,000 years ago, the appearance to the women was extraordinary! – what a place women have had in the Gospel story, down through the ages!); the appearances to Peter, the Beloved Disciple, and others, as the women themselves go and tell the 11; the eating and drinking with the disciples; the moving through closed and locked doors, and so forth.
The emphasis is on Jesus’ disciples, and it is there that we find the proof we are looking for: For the changed lives of these 11 disciples, and those who had followed Jesus during His earthly ministry, are where the proof is to be found.
Consider Peter, as a wonderful example: Peter was, in effect, a “bumbling fool”, a person who was capable of standing up for the Gospel in one minute, only to find himself with his foot in his mouth the next. Peter was the one, who, in a cowardly moment, denied the Lord three times. But, after the Resurrection, Peter became a reliable and powerful preacher of the Good News of Jesus’ Resurrection.
So, perhaps on this glorious day, it would be good for us to recall the proofs we have received:
- Holy Scripture: The Bible is a record of God’s dealing with people, down through the ages. As such, it has a divine thread (God, who is the central focus in the story) and a human thread (human writers who recorded their experiences of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit). It is here that we find the written record of the Resurrection events, the closest thing we have to our need for the security camera footage, the infra red camera, and the heat sensors of today.
- The impact on the Disciples’ (now Apostles’) lives: Personally, I believe this is among the surest proof we have….The Apostles’ experience of the risen Jesus changed their lives so that this proof became more powerful than any other proof (including the experience of a martyr’s death).[1]
- The witness of the saints down through the ages: A changed life is the surest proof of the presence of Christ, alive and living within a person’s heart. Though many movements, causes, and “isms”[2] come and go as time rolls along, yet the Christian faith endures. And, there is something different about the Christian faith from all other secular movements. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church endures throughout time, and, Scripture tells us, it shall endure until the Last Day when the Lord shall return in great glory.
So now, the focus changes, and it is on us. For, now, we are the apostles in this day and time and place, sent out into the world to witness to God’s mighty acts in raising Jesus Christ from the dead. What proofs are we giving to the world around us? Maybe this Easter Day is a time for us to renew our own covenant with Christ. Perhaps, if we have allowed our relationship with the Lord to grow cold, it’s time for us to revive a personal relationship with Him.
As we take stock of our relationship with God, the following suggestions might be helpful as we consider the proof we are offering to the world:
- A changed life: The Christian life is marked by two major characteristics:
+ A deep love for God
+ An abiding love for others
- A completely new orientation:
+ Christ becomes central to everything we do.
+ Regular reading and study of Holy Scripture becomes the fountain of life, where we learn more and more about the Lord, and are able to apply what we learn to everyday life.
+ A regular and steady prayer life
+ Regularity in worship and in gathering together with other believers
Now, of course, this list is not intended to be an exhaustive one. No doubt, as we reflect on it, there will be other ways that we can offer proof of the Resurrected Christ’s presence in our lives.
In the final analysis, we cannot offer the world something we, ourselves, do not have….a face-to-face experience with Christ is the first step, and maintaining the closeness of that relationship is the second. Only then, are we able to become modern day apostles.
May God’s Holy Spirit enable us to come face-to-face with the Risen Lord, that we may be sent out in His name to the world around us.
AMEN.
[2] Communism, Fascism, Humanitarianism, etc.
