There Shall Certainly Be a Resurrection

“But I admit this to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.  In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.”  Acts 24:14-16

I have heard sermons before that I have questioned.  Maybe some of the outlying points I thought went to far… perhaps I thought the sermon should have been more expository, and less topical… maybe I thought the jokes distracted from the point.  But until this past Sunday, I had never had a negative PHYSICAL reaction to a sermon.

Friends, the sermon I heard Sunday (Easter Sunday no less!) was vile. Repugnant. Heresy at best. Blasphemy at worst.

(Here I will tell you this was not at Southeast.  I was visiting my future in-laws in northern Virginia.)

Some of the first words out of this ‘minister’s’ mouth were:  “I’m not one of those who believes that Christianity lives or dies with the resurrection of Christ.”

WHAT?!  Um, sir, we have nothing to talk about. 

He went on to say NOTHING MORE about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, our very reason for existing, our only hope of reunion with our Father.  NOTHING.

He spoke for several minutes about amazing heart surgeries, and funny jokes, and charming violin solos, and how they, in and of themselves, can provide ‘resurrection’ for people.  How he sees ‘resurrections’ every day, and how THOSE ‘resurrections’ make him believe in THE resurrection.

From the first jaw-dropping statement, I went through a variety of physical reactions.  At first, I was alarmed… mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief.  Then I was gripping Duncan’s arm and trying to control my breathing.  And by the end of this assault on my faith and my Savior, I was shaking with anger and about to cry.

Although I know my Savior isn’t hurt by this man’s actions, I was burned up.  We Sanders folk are an extremely tribal bunch, and although I know I have a Savior who is mighty and fearsome, I wanted to defend the work He did on the cross.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 

He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.  And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, which and clean, were following Him on white horses.  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16

THIS is my Lord.  THIS is my Savior. 

DO NOT compare Him to a funny joke.  DO NOT compare Him to a nice piece of music.  DO NOT compare Him to medical technology.  DO NOT compare Him to a few nice things people have done for each other.  DO NOT compare His work to anything anywhere close to things humans have done.

If you believe in His resurrection because you’ve seen some uplifting things from other people, you are believing in OTHER PEOPLE.  You are believing in humans.

There is nothing we do, or can do, to even come close to what Christ did for us.  There is nothing we can do to deserve it. 

It breaks my heart that on the day when Christians are supposed to be celebrating in the immense grace and justice of the Lord, there was a whole church of people in northern Virginia who call themselves Christians who were celebrating mankind.  How many more are there? 

 

Standby….

 

 

 

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