Today is the Day, Everyday
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Why Today Matters
Why Today Matters
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Yesterday, I was with Dani and Dinah at two Easter events, both sponsored by churches. The first was at St. John’s, the second was at Borman Square Park, sponsored by River of Life Church. The first one was a small event, consisting of the children and grandchildren of the congregation. The second was a larger event, and some of the children were from another city, Indianapolis, IN, who were visiting their grandparents.
Both events had, as one purpose, the entertainment of children. Both had, as another purpose, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Both had, as a third purpose, the encouragement of the congregation. One of them had, as a fourth purpose, the redemption of a community space. As the Missionary Pastor of this church, I regret that the event at St. John’s did not have that fourth purpose. I have been so busy that I have not been as engaged in leading you to look at our community as a place where redemption has a tangible, present-time application, where people can see that Christ is for you, even when you are not within this sacred space. I have not given you a reason, or stirred up within you a passion, to look beyond the walls of this building to see where the work of “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil,” as Paul wrote in Eph 5:16, involves bringing the impact of the Gospel of the Kingdom to places where that impact is not self-evident. Our ministry is occupied with internal maintenance. I think that we think that we are doing the best that we can under the circumstances, and I have not given you, apparently, any reason to think otherwise.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Luke 24 begins with the women who ministered to Jesus and the 12, going to do the Jewish version of the Last Rites to the body of Jesus, to pay the last respects to He whom they loved as their Messiah. I don’t know whether they had ever thought about the possibility of His death; I know that Simon Peter pushed back against it when Jesu spoke openly about it. Luke does not share this with us, but Matthew and Mark do. Luke does share the fact that there was a multitude who followed Jesus to Golgotha who mourned and wept for Him, in Luke 23:26-31
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
But now He is dead - they watched Him suffer, they heard His enemies mock and scorn Him. They heard Him say, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” So now they come to do the only thing that one can do for the dead in that moment, as they viewed the situation.
Jesus may have spoken otherwise, but they were caught up in life as they knew it. Jesus may have raised up Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44), but who would raise up Jesus? None of the 12 had that power, nor did they. So they brought the spices and ointments, uncertain as to how they would gain access to the body, except by the kindness of the soldiers guarding the sepulchre....
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
“Remember how He told you...” Hebrews 11:1 tells us that:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Paul would write to the Church at Rome that:
Romans 8:18–25 (ESV)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Jesus is the First-fruits of the Resurrection; through Holy Baptism we are united in His resurrection. Is that the extent of our hope, that one day, we will raise up to see a glorious new world where sin is no more, sorrow has been erased, suffering has been extinguished, and we all stand before Him singing songs of worship without weariness for eternity?
Earlier, I referred to Paul’s words regarding the Resurrection in 1 Cor 15, where Paul wrote, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” I would only add that if people think of our hope as having no impact in this life we are of all people most to be despised.
If those women had found what they had expected, they would have done their duty, and went their way. The 11 would have mourned their rabbi, and been lost to history. The Gospel of Jesus Christ would never have been preached. The Church of Jesus Christ would have been aborted. Love would have died with Jesus, for God is love as surely as Jesus Christ is Lord.
But He is risen.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
No, not just in the future, on the last day, but today, here and now, for as Paul also wrote in Ephesians, the 1st chapter tells us of the wonderful inheritance we now have in Christ, while the 2nd chapter tells us that God the Father has “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...”
Our message, therefore, is not a message that only speaks of a glorious future, free from care. The message of the Gospel speaks life into the world today! It transforms lives today - changes homes and communities today, delivers people who were slaves of sin into the glorious liberty of the children of God today, and turns enemies into family, oppressors into comforters, the oppressed into more than conquerors. It breaks down barriers, between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. It makes us one - one family, one people, one Kingdom - the Kingdom of God, where He reigns because He is risen!
Therefore, as Dr Luther wrote over 500 years ago, we don’t hide behind the Gospel, we allow the Gospel to enable us to shine in every good work of God. We encourage one another and console one another with the Good News that Christ is risen!
And we take heed to the words of warning and encouragement for today found in Hebrews 3:12-15:
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Instead, let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.