Acts 1:1-10 John 20:1-9 & 19-30

There was a terrible car accident in which three men died. They went to heaven and stood before the Pearly Gates and met Peter. Peter said, “I'm going to give you a special privilege. I'm going to let you see your own funeral. What is it that you would like the people to say about you? What would you like to hear as people look at your body in the coffin?” The first man said, “I would love to hear the people say as they look at my body in the coffin that I was a fine doctor.” Peter said, “Alright.” It was so. The second man said, “I would love to hear people say I was a good father.” Peter said, “OK. We'll do that.” The third man said, “I would like to hear the people say, 'He moved!'”

We have a fascination with death. It seems to be normal and natural. There are always great big lines when there is a car accident with people rubbernecking to see what happened. If someone is in town walking a high-wire, we're not very interested if the high-wire is just two feet off the ground. But put it forty feet off the ground or higher, and everybody wants to look up. “Is he going to make it?” “Is he going to fall to his death?” “What will happen?”

How many of you are Nascar fans? Raise your hands. OK. A fair percentage of the congregation. What is it about Nascar? You watch stock cars going around in a circle making only left turns for 500 miles or so. You know all of their names. Nascar is now considered the most well-attended of any sports event in the country  more than baseball (the “National Sport”). Isn't it true that you are waiting for that spectacular crash and wondering if the driver will walk away from it without dying, somehow cheating death? If you're honest with yourself, you'll admit that's part of the fascination with Nascar. I'll confess that's true when I've watched a race.

Actually there was only one time a person really cheated death. That was that first Easter Sunday when Christ arose from the grave. Oh, He died. Make no mistake about it. When the Centurion saw Him hanging on the cross, His body limp, the Centurion rather than break the legs of Christ as they frequently did back then to hasten a person's death, he simply plunged his sword in Jesus' side to make sure He was gone. But then, Easter Sunday, He arose. Angels rolled back the heavy stone. Christ was able to stand up, fold up the cloth He had been laid in and walk out of the grave. A fascinating thing! There is no other person in the world who has done this. Not Buddha. He is still in his grave. Not Confucius. He is still in his grave. Not Mohammad. He is still in his grave. Not the Hindu Suphies. They are still in their graves. All the leaders and founders of other religions died and remained dead. But Christ arose! Even to this day, people go to the place in the Holy Land where it is believed that the grave of Jesus was found. Where Jesus had been laid was Joseph of Arimathea's grave. People will stand in line for great lengths to see what? To see nothing! To see that the tomb is empty? There are no skeletal remains there. It is empty! Why? Because Christ arose. This is the most exciting thing that could possibly happen for humanity because it means as He arose, so can we. Because He was, as the Bible says, the first born from the dead, we now are the recipients of eternal life. So we come to life, too, in Christ and with Christ after our physical death.

What are the consequences of Christ being alive and that He has risen? The answer to that is, because He rose and He ascended into heaven and He sent His Holy Spirit, He is now capable of being with each of us spiritually, dwelling inside of us, if we invite Him in. He is capable of entering into our lives and being present to us at any moment in time and any place in time and He is able to be with us through any crisis in time. That is why I entitled this sermon this morning, “He is with us in our messes” because isn't that when we need His presence, when we need Him to be here with us? And He is!

We really have a personal example of this in the life of Paul. Sometimes I think we forget that the people in the Bible were just very human people like us. Listen a moment while I read a short paragraph of how Christ was in the life of Paul after Christ's resurrection. Paul was talking to the Corinthians and he said this, “I have worked much harder than others. I have been in prison more frequently. I have been flogged more severely (flogged means beaten with whips). I've been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. (Why did he receive 39 lashes? He received 39 lashes because it was believed that nobody could survive 40 or more lashes.) Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and day floating in an open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I've been in danger from rivers, and danger from bandits, and danger from my own countrymen, and danger from Gentiles, and danger in the city, and danger in the country, and danger at the sea, and danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have often known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I've been cold and without clothing. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak that I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin that I do not inwardly burn for their salvation? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weaknesses. The God, the Father of all, the Lord Jesus who is to be praised forever knows that I am not lying to you. In Damascus, the governor under King Arestas, had the city of the Damascusenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from the window in the wall and slipped through their hands. (He made his escape.)” How in the world did one individual go through all those messes? The answer is&Christ was in him. Christ was in his life. As Paul said, “It is not I but Christ in me.” So how in the world can we go through our messes? Because He lives! He can live within us and He can help us through our personal crisis, all the messes that we have. If Paul could go through these things, doesn't it make our messes pale in contrast?

As many of you know, I have gone through battles of sickness in the past eight months and came close to death at least five times. A diagnosis of cancer. Pulmonary embolisms. Heart attack. Deep vein thromboses. In the midst of all that, I heard God's voice saying to me, “Your work is not finished. I have more for you and your wife to do.” So I knew I would not die. That because He lives and He has lived in me, I would continue to live so that I could serve you and be with you&and perhaps that I could even talk about God being in my messes so that you can realize He can be in your messes. This morning I heard of other examples of God's healing that have taken place in our congregation and we can give great thanks!

Jesus, interestingly enough, had several favorite topics that He talked about. First of all, He was a healer. Do we need healing in our nation? Isn't health care one of our greatest concerns? The 2000 year old message that He heals is just as relevant today. We need Jesus to address our health care crisis in this country today. The second thing is poverty. Back in the time of Jesus, he addressed poverty and said the poor would have good news. What is the good news to the poor? That you will get out of your poverty. If you find the directives in the Bible about how to handle your money and follow them, you will get out of your poverty. Do we need that message today? We need that message especially today. Especially since the stock market has dropped so greatly. People have lost their jobs, their savings and retirement income. Jesus' message is as relevant today as it was back then. We need Him in our lives.

How about equality? At the time of Jesus, there was great inequality. There was sexism. There was racism. Is that a message that is relevant today? Of course it is. We still have sexism. I just read this week where women's salaries are still close to 25% behind men's salaries for exactly the same job. So there is still something that has to be done. We can talk about racism but Paul said in Christ, there is no Greek, there is no Jew, there is no female, and there is no male. All are equal. (We can add, there is no black, there is no white, there is no red, and there is no yellow.) We are one in Christ. We are all the same in Christ.” He said that 2000 years ago! Is that message necessary and relevant today? You bet it is. It is just as vibrant today as it was back then.

How about peace? Jesus said, “My peace I give to you, (I bequeath to you). Not as the world gives it do I give it to you.” But He gives it to us when we are obedient. We get a kind of peace that heals our sin-sick soul, that enables us to relax. Jesus said, “My burden is easy. My yoke is light. Come to me all you that are heavily laden and I will give you rest.” He gives us peace. Do we need peace in our world? Of course, we do. We need it in Afghanistan and Iraq. We need it in Latin America. We need it in Darfur. There are other hot spots in the world where we need the living Christ to reappear and to bring about peace. Now how does He do that? He does it primarily through His church because we are the body of Christ. Paul said, “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice in it and be glad.” So let us rejoice in the fact that He lives.