1 Corinthians 15:17-20 * Easter Sunday 2009 * Pastor Leyrer

Dear Friends in our Risen Savior,

There are only a few things in our lives that are so central, so important and so determining that we can rightfully consider them “life-altering.” But when they do happen our lives take on a different look and we see things from a different perspective.

Looking back on your life, when were those times? Maybe it had to do with an addition to your life through a birth or a marriage. Or maybe it had to do with a loss in your life. Or maybe it was a moment of realization when you knew things were going to be different from now on.

Whatever the case or experience may have been, thereafter you really weren’t the same person. Not necessarily in a bad sense, but in a real sense. What happened changed things. What happened changed you.

Brothers and sisters, today is one of those times. In fact we can say with all certainty that

EASTER CHANGES EVERYTHING

And when we understand this, we change. Listen to what the Apostle Paul has to say to us on this blessed morning:

1. Without Easter, nothing really matters

2. Because of Easter, nothing really matters

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Let me tell you a little about the Scripture selection we have before us. I’d like to introduce it with a personal anecdote.

While attending the seminary I and a number of other students worked part time in a large warehouse operation. It was a good job in and of itself for which we were grateful, and it also gave us the opportunity to rub shoulders with a pretty good crosscut of people.

I recall a conversation we students were having among ourselves about Easter vacation, and one of our co-workers (I’ll call him Bill) was present and listening in. So we asked him if he was going to be attending Easter services anywhere. The answer he gave is what I remember. He said no, and then offered this as his reason: “I’ve never seen a dead man come back from the grave.”

Well, some of the church members in the Greek city of Corinth were pretty much saying the same thing. They had fallen back into the purely intellectual and rationale way of thinking that was part of their Greek culture and were contending, like Bill, that dead people stay dead; they don’t rise on their own. And the conclusion they came to is that since this is a general principle without exception, it then must also apply to Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul urges them to think this through. If that is so, the consequences are devastating. He then goes on list all the ramifications of an un-resurrected Christ:

Since the resurrection of Christ is the lynchpin of the Christian message, Christianity crumbles because it is based on a fraudulent claim. Jesus Christ is nothing more than a dead zealot who died for his misguided ideals. Paul as a preacher of the Gospel put up with all kinds of pain and persecution for nothing. The sin and guilt we all know exists within us and that must be satisfied and atoned for before a holy God in order to enjoy eternal life with Him, is not. And Christians are to be pitied because they are living a lie.

That’s what happens if this day doesn’t take place. Without Easter nothing really matters, because life is essentially a meaningless exercise without much point or higher purpose other than surviving as nicely as we can for the time we’ve got. And then you die. End of story.

Paul was no simpleton. He understood physiology as well as the next guy. So it is with full knowledge of the miracle it is that he proclaims: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead…” And that changes everything.

It changes our perspective on life. It changes our approach to life. It changes our expectations in life.

You see, the Gospels tell us that early on that first Easter dawn when the women went to the tomb they were not met by a three day old corpse in the beginning stages of decay. No, they were met by angels who told them that “He is not here, He is risen, just as He said.”

Think of the significance of those four words and the application it has for us today. Jesus predicted – several times – that he would die, and then rise from the dead. Well, to make a long story short, on Good Friday he died. On Easter Sunday he rose. Both events happened “just as he said.”

Does it not stand to reason that if Jesus Christ can make good on the promise of his own resurrection, he can make good on every other one as well? The empty tomb is our blessed assurance of Christ’s reliability in all his words and promises to us. That changes everything.

First and foremost, Easter is the guarantee of our eternal life. We need to go back to Friday, because it is only against the backdrop of that sad day that the joy of this day can be clearly understood.

On Good Friday we see Jesus hanging on a cross. We can blame the Jewish leaders or the Roman soldiers or Pontius Pilate or the fickle crowd if we want, but truth be told we’re the ones who put him there. Jesus is on that cross as the substitute sacrifice for every sinner the world has ever or will ever see. On that cross Jesus took upon Himself the wages of our sin: death. In the book of Romans Paul says: “He was delivered over to death for our sins…”

But the passage goes on. “And was raised to life for our justification.” “Justification” is a courtroom term which means “to declare righteous.” In the courtroom of God, we stand justified, forgiven, because of the completed work of Jesus. On the cross Jesus said “it (meaning everything necessary for our salvation) is finished.” By raising Him from the dead God said: “it is accepted.”

So the sentence of eternal death has been stayed. The verdict for those who trust and believe in what Jesus has done for them is eternal life. We know where we’re going. A reliable Jesus has told us that because He lives, we will live. Which means death is a comma, not a period; a passage, not a final destination. Now death is but the gateway to everlasting glory.

That changes things for us.

And it changes things for us until we get there. Because the same Jesus who promised us this has promised us other things as well…

So when we are tired and worn out by the ups and downs of life or feeling overwhelmed, we can believe him when he says: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

When we feel the pain of loneliness or sting of rejection, we can believe him when he says: Others may, “but I will never leave you or forsake you… I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your [living] Savior.”

When we are struggling because things aren’t turning out exactly the way we had hoped or planned, we can believe him when he says that whatever we don’t have is really inconsequential, because if we have Jesus, in the big picture of things nothing else really matters, and that he will provide for our every need…

How can we be sure of these claims and promises? Look at the tomb. It’s empty. “Just as he said.” And the empty tomb is all the evidence for Christ’s reliability that we need.

And so we go boldly forth into the future with the sure confidence and blessed assurance that

He lives to silence all my fears

He lives to wipe away my tears

He lives to calm my troubled heart

He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives and grants me daily breath

He lives and I shall conquer death

He lives my mansion to prepare

He lives to bring me safely there.

All of which is to say that whatever our circumstances may be now or in the future, this is our day. This is the day that puts everything into perspective. This is the day on which everything is made right.

This is the day on which sin was rendered powerless to condemn us…

This is the day on which death died…

This is the day on which past promises were kept and future promises are guaranteed…

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. What does this mean?

It means we aren’t people to be pitied because we have a dead hero; rather we are people of hope and joy and strength and confidence because ours is a living Lord.

It means we know where we’re going when we die and until that time our lives have meaning and purpose.

It means every minute of every day we live in the presence of the resurrected Christ who is vitally interested in us and who accompanies us every step of the way.

It means we move from fear to confidence. From doubt to certainty. From here eventually to eternity.

How can this be? Because on this day roughly 2000 years ago something marvelous and miraculous happened. Easter happened. “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” And that changes everything.

Christians rejoice. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Amen.