Twice in this sermon I will share a quotation from the book The Present Future by Reggie McNeal. McNeal is a Southern Baptist who works with churches who are seeking to be vital mission outposts in the 21st Century. The Session is reading and discussing this book right now.
When reading the story of the rich man and Lazarus, our temptation can be to draw conclusions about wealth, compassion, and the afterlife. And while certainly, this story does set forth some very strong and uncomfortable lessons about wealth, compassion, and the afterlife, that is not what this story is really about. The story of the rich man and Lazarus is really about how people come to faith - how the story of the resurrection is made real for people.
If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. So says Father Abraham playing the part of God in this afterlife drama. But that, of course, is the whole premise of the Christian faith - that people, who do not, or cannot, or have not, or will not listen to Moses and the prophets may come to know God's mercy, God's purpose, God's power, and God's love if someone does rise from the dead. And for reasons that completely escape me, God has chosen us, each one of us, every last one of us, no exceptions, no exemptions for age, gender, education, background - God has chosen us to be the ones who share this amazing news with others. In short, we are to help the world know that Dead Man Walking is not only a movie about a condemned man, but the story of our lives - we men and women, boys and girls who were dead are now alive because someone before us has risen from the dead!
I've done a lot of thinking about evangelism lately - you know evangelism - the "E word." The word evangelism can conjure up so many dreadful images and experiences that many of us would just as soon have nothing to do with. But that's not an option for the church - not a church that is called in Reggie McNeal's words "to join God in God's redemptive efforts to save the world." That's not a bad description of our mission - to join God's redemptive efforts to save the world. That's why we build Habitat for Humanity houses - to save the world. That's why we have a food pantry - to save the world. That's why our youth (and coming this Spring our adults!) go on mission trips - to save the world. Not that we alone save the world, but that we join God's redemptive efforts to save the world.
But saving the world is not only a matter of making sure people have food and shelter - more than those, people need hope - hope that God is with them and for them, hope that God cares about them, hope that God has a purpose for them. And that's where evangelism comes in - or more accurately, I should say, that's where the church comes in. For far too long we have defined church as the end and evangelism as the means - in this understanding, evangelism is the means by which we can grow the church. But the more I live this faith, the more I see God at work in my life and the world, the more I see that we have that backwards. In God's purpose, the church is the means and evangelism is the end. God has called the church into existence so that God's good news can be shared - so that everyone might know and more importantly embrace that someone has risen from the dead and then experience God's renewing power in their own lives.
So we are called to tell how the One who rose from the dead has raised us from the dead - how his new life brings us new life. There are many effective and important activities that churches can engage in to draw people to faith - and Trinity is blessed with a dedicated, faithful, and creative Evangelism Commission. But as D. T. Niles, grandfather of Damayanthi Niles once wrote: "Evangelism is witness. It is one beggar telling another beggar where to get food. The Christian does not offer out of his bounty. He has no bounty. He is simply guest at his Master's table and, as evangelist, he calls others too." That's our calling - to tell others where there is bread that has no cost and water that never stops flowing. To tell them that someone has risen from the dead and he can lift them up as well.
So what exactly do we tell others? What stories of the resurrection can we tell? What if we don't feel like we have a credible resurrection story? The first thing to realize is that we all have resurrection stories. As Reggie McNeal writes: "The movement Jesus initiated had power because it had at its core a life-transforming experience." And we are all here, bar none, because something, or someone has indelibly touched and transformed our lives. Now some folks will call this life-transforming experience being born again. And certainly for many Christians, the born again experience is at the core of their lives. But transformation is broader than that - sometimes it is an experience that literally makes the difference between life and death - a miraculous healing, learning to overcome a deadly addiction, finding relief from chronic and life damaging depression. But life-transforming experiences can be little moments as well - moments that remind us that God is real and active - real and active in our very lives.
This past week, I asked various people, members of this church and others I know around the country to share their story of what difference the resurrection makes in their lives. I want to share a few of the responses that I received back - because they speak to breadth of the stories that all of us have, and because they demonstrate that two thousand years later, someone rising from the dead still brings us life.
From a person in their 60's: Resurrection is a core issue with me. I've had so many "lives" and so many "deaths," and if it weren't for resurrection I'd be living in a cardboard box somewhere or maybe not even living at all. Faithin resurrection is an obligation for anyone choosing to be Christian. It lets us say (and mean) "oh well" when our plans, friendships, love relationships, bank accounts, work, et cetera,crash & burn because we know something new will be born from the ashes. We may not recognize thetransformation for what it is or like it or even want it, but there it is. And opportunities for resurrection / transformation surround us. We need not be crucified to see them. (Although crucifixion surely sharpens our vision.) To wit, when - weeping - I left job, relationship, and family to move to a cabin in a rural area, I was about shoe level. Three months later I was at least knee-high and on my way back up because of the very isolation that I had dreaded.
From another person in their 30's: Here is an example of how my spouse and I are taken care of by God every day. We were busy crazy as always and in the middle of a project. We had to make a trip out for something. I forgot to mention that we needed gas. We ran out on the highway with kids in the car asleep. We drifted off the next exit and down the hill. We had enough momentum to turn left and coast down that road a bit. We saw a parking lot and tried to make it to there. We made another left into the lot where the car drifted to a halt. we looked around and realized we had drifted into the motor vehicle assist station with 15 trucks with full cans of gas in the back of each truck. Cool. Thanks God. Nobody was around. We just put some gas in the car and kept going like nothing ever happened. Our lives are crazy because of our jobs, but they are definitely made easier because of the help we get from the Lord.
And another in her 60's: I am inspired each day by the life of Jesus, who was loaned to us by His father to save us from our sins. Everything He did was good and, yet, He was talked about, ridiculed, and suffered death on the cross for my (our) sins. When I have rough days and feel misunderstood and unappreciated, to get over feeling sorry for myself, I think about Jesus and I ask myself who am I to think that my life is supposed to be a bed of roses? Why should I expect to always be understood? It's at these times, that I am reminded to pray for the people who are allowing Satan to control them and I ask God to give me the strength to forgive them, as He forgives me over and over again. Thank God for Jesus' resurrection --- it is because of the resurrection that I have hope and I am inspired to keep on!
And finally from another in their 50's: The resurrection allows me to live with much less concern about physical death. It frees me to take risks and more and more opens me to new experiences. I realize that whatever pain/discomfort etc. I bear on earth is insignificant in the scheme of the world and that in order to make a difference we cannot isolate ourselves - within the walls of our body, family, community, or country... like Jesus we must live and be willing to give up this life for all people equally. It is hard to remember that each life has equal value in the eyes of God, but Jesus died and rose so that each of us may have life everlasting.
From a person in their 30's: I know it sounds clich, but I guess my daily life is influenced because I try to live in gratitude for that gift. It doesn't mean I never lose my temper or get sad or disappointed (that's human, as far as I'm concerned). But when I reel it back in and analyze it, I try to remember how blessed I am, striving to be my best even though I have no chance of being perfect. Something I value in my faith is the ability to accept that there are some things I cannot comprehend - the resurrection is one of them. I cannot even begin to understand that Jesus came into this world to live with us and ultimately laid down his life for our sins. He is risen! Alleluia!
I want to close by sharing a resurrection story from my own life:
When I was in high school I had a group of friends, and we all went to church together. One friend's name was Cyrus, and Cyrus was a troubled young man. He came from a very difficult family. He struggled with being overweight, and was teased frequently. But Cyrus had two things going for him: He had an absolute heart of gold, and he was also as strong as an ox.
As we went through high school and became closer and closer and learned to appreciate each other in new ways, one of the projects that Cyrus took on - like another of our friends, Craig - was buying himself an old car, a 1964 Mercury Comet.
Every time I saw that Comet, it look worse, not better. The fender got dented, he tried to put some primer on, and it looked like a bird had a major accident on the car. It was rusted and scratched, and every time he tried to tighten up a mirror it would flop even more. It was a sorry-looking thing, but he loved that 1964 Mercury Comet.
After high school, Cyrus was invited by an uncle to live with him, to get his life back together again. While he was there, he got a job, he enlisted in the Marines, he lost weight, and started to resemble more and more a wedge: broad massive shoulders hulking over a body that was beginning to be in shape as he prepared to join the Marine Corps.
One day a couple of weeks before he was to ship out to basic training, he was driving on a wet road and his beloved 1964 Mercury Comet skidded out of control and was hit by a truck, and Cyrus died instantly.
Word of Cyrus' death came to our family first, because the uncle didn't know how to even talk to his parents, they were such troubled persons. And so the story that Cyrus had died spread from friend to friend, and I called my friend Craig to tell him. The next evening, he was able to come over to my house and we talked about it.
In the aftermath of a sudden death that makes no sense and turns your life upside-down, you don't know what to say to anybody. Craig walked into my house and we sat there quietly, and he started asking the typical questions: When did you find out? Do you know any more details? Is there going to be an open casket?
I said to him, no - his body was too badly damaged in the accident to have an open casket. And them Craig said, "I suppose the casket will be powder blue with a dented fender."
The laughter and the tears flowed forth, and we could celebrate our friend. We could talk about him - how he could irritate him so much, and how much joy and significance he brought to our lives. A couple of days later, we had a resurrection party for Cyrus at church. Many of you know Handel's Messiah. There's that great chorus: "As by man came death and also came a resurrection from the dead." All of a sudden those words meant something new to all of us, and we realized that even though a person had died, God had not lost a child, and we had not lost a friend.
To this day, I hold him close in my heart. I am a better person for having known him. God did not take him from us, but God blessed us with him. He lives forever in God's arms and Father Abraham's bosom, and one day, in the joy of God's peace that passes all understanding, we will be reunited with him and with all of the saints who have gone before us.
If they don't believe Moses and the prophets, will they believe someone who rises from the dead? Yes. They will. And they're just waiting for us to tell them.