The Resurrection

The passages of scripture that I want to use this morning are from the end of Jesus' ministry. He'd been talking to his disciples about who he was and what he was doing, and in these last moments he was telling them something they really didn't want to hear. He was saying to them, I am going to leave you. He said, I'm going to be going to Jerusalem. I'll be turned over to the scribes and the Pharisees. They will kill me. I'll be buried, and then I'll be raised from the dead, and I will return again. The words that Jesus spoke to them were shocking to his followers. They didn't expect it at all. Their first question was, when will you come back? Jesus never answered that question. He simply said to them, here are more important things for you to ask. When his return is, is not nearly as important, Jesus was saying, as the fact that you are ready for his return. He kept emphasizing two things. You should keep watch because this is going to happen quickly, and you won't have time to prepare for it. Second thing he said, you need to make sure that when I return, you are prepared for my return. Jesus then started talking about a series of parables, stories that he was talking about. In these stories, he was trying to explain or help us understand what it meant to be prepared. How does a person become prepared for the return of Christ? In these stories, Jesus uses human events, ordinary things that they were familiar with. These ordinary stories had a spiritual meaning that was far above and beyond what the story would tell. In these stories, even though they are ordinary events, there are clear indications of what he was really talking about spiritually. He was telling a story, and yet he had a spiritual meaning behind these things. In the story, there is one person who is in charge and has complete authority. That person represents God. There are going to be different people in different of these stories. Then there is a time in which the one in charge leaves and is gone for a long period of time. That represents Jesus being away from this earth and his promise to return. In each of the stories, then, the person in charge does come back. When he comes back, he is in judgment over the people that he left behind. Judgment represents for us what Jesus describes as his coming again, or the last coming, or the judgment time. These stories really are spiritual stories, even though they are about ordinary, everyday events. In these stories, what he is talking about is, here is what it means to be prepared when I return. Remember in all of this what Jesus is talking about. Now I am going to use a series of stories from Matthew chapter 24. If you would like to find that in your Bibles and read them along, I am not going to read all of them. I am going to tell them a little bit and emphasize the things I think that I want you to catch in the stories. The first of these stories, Jesus simply says there was a man who had a faithful and wise servant in his household. This man was really a slave. It was a man who had a slave who was very faithful and dependable. He was going away for a long period of time, and then when he came back, he wanted to hold the slave accountable for what he had done. When he left, he said to him, I want you to take care of my family, my household here. Make sure they are fed and cared for in every kind of way, just like I was here. When the master was gone for a while, the slave who had now in control the money of the master got to thinking, well, you know, he is not going to know what happens here. I can do whatever I want to do. And so he began, instead of taking care of the people he was supposed to, he began to take care of himself. He was having fine meals for himself. He was going out drinking with his buddies. He was having a good time with his life. Then all of a sudden, in the middle of all of this, the master returns. He calls his faithful servant to him and says, you didn't do what I asked you to do. I asked you to make sure that my servants here in this household were cared for. And instead, you have taken care of yourself. You've made sure that you were cared for as you wanted to be, instead of taking care of the people I told you to take care of. You see, what happens in this story is the owner of the slave had given instructions clearly and plainly. The servant, though, because of the absence of the boss, thought he could begin to do whatever he wanted to do. So he moved out from under the authority of his boss to his own authority. He did what he wanted when he wanted to suit himself. When the master came back, he was enraged by what took place because here his servant had acted like he was the master instead of the servant. The punishment here was the master had the man cut into pieces and assigned him a place in hell with the hypocrites where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why was he so enraged about this? It's because God sees himself as the ruler of the world and every person in this world under his authority. God believes that if he tells us what we should do, it is our responsibility to do exactly what the creator of the world and the owner of everything that's here and the creator of our own lives has told us we should do. And not to do that is the most heinous crime you can commit against God. So the judgment was terrible and horrific too. The second story in chapter 25, Jesus is talking again about another story that they would understand. Now we have to catch another glimpse of this story because whenever people come and talk to me about getting married, I say to the groom many times now, I want you to understand that when you chose to ask this young lady to marry you, that was the last choice that you're going to have for the next several months. Just get used to sitting back and saying, whatever you want, honey, whatever you want. Well, in the biblical days, it was quite different than that. In fact, on the wedding day when they were getting married, the friends of the groom would come with a chair sitting on poles and he would get in the chair and they would lift him up and hold him on their shoulders. And from that day, the beginning of that day, all the way through the end of the day, everyone referred to him as the king. He was in charge of everything that took place. He had power and authority to do whatever he wanted. He was the king. In this story, Jesus tells the story of a man who's a bridegroom preparing for his wedding. They needed to have somebody to help them because as they went to the bride's house and carried her and the groom back to the place where the celebration after the wedding took place, it was dark, midnight when he came, and he wanted someone to light the way so that they could march in a procession and everyone know where they were going. So he got ten girls to come and say, we want you to carry torches as we carry the bride and myself back to the place where the celebration is. So the ten came and waited for the groom. They didn't know when he was going to come. It was sort of a custom for them to do it by surprise. It was midnight before he came. Five of the girls thought this is no big deal. So they took enough for the lamp for the procession, not thinking about what needed to be done. And when the word came that the bridegroom was coming, they looked at their lamps and they needed more oil. They had to run out into the town to buy oil. And when they came back, the groom had come, already gone to his house where the celebration was and locked the door. They knocked on the door and they said, all of the wedding party is inside. We know that you're not a part of the party or you'd be here. They couldn't get in. Now the story is about the one in charge, the bridegroom, who gives instructions to people as to what they're to do. And they do not consider what their instructions are to be important. And so they didn't really conscientiously make sure that they obeyed the boss. And as a result, they were locked out of the kingdom of heaven. That's really what these stories are about. They were locked out of heaven because they told the bridegroom they would do whatever he asked of them, and then they failed to take it seriously. The other story that Jesus told, remember all of these are in a series answering one single question. How can a person be prepared for the end of time? Now in this third story, he talks about a man who has a business. He owns several slaves, and he has obviously a very big business. And he brings his slaves together, he's going to take a trip, and he says to them, I want you to carry on the business while I'm gone. So he gives to one of them what in equivalent of our day would be $175,000, and he says, carry on the business. You know what it is. You've been doing it. I trust you to take care of it. He comes in and brings another man in and he gives him $70,000, and he says, you know the business. You've been working with me. Make sure that you do what I would do if I was here. He leaves. He brings another man in and he gives him $35,000 and says, you know the business. You know what I've been doing. Take care of my business while I'm gone. And then he leaves. He's gone for a long while, and then finally he returns. He calls each of the men for an accounting. What have you done about my business? First one comes in and says, well, I invested it, and here's what I have. I have $350,000 for you. He said, well done. You're a good servant, and you're a faithful servant. Come into the joy of myself. I own this business, and I want you to celebrate the joy of how my business is succeeding because of your work. He called the second man in. He had $70,000, and now he has $140,000. He gives him the $140,000, and the owner says, you've been a really faithful servant, a good servant. Come in and enjoy and celebrate with me the success of my business. He brings the third man in. The third man says, I know you. You're the kind of guy that if somebody's hauling grain into town and spills some on the ground, you scoop it up yourself and take it in and sell it for yourself. You take advantage of every opportunity you can to make some money, and I was scared to death that if I tried to do something to invest this money, I'd lose it, and you'd be so mad at me that I'd never live. So I'll tell you what I did. I thought, what's the safest thing I can do with your money? I dug a hole in the ground, buried it, hid it, and when I heard you came back, I went and dug it up. Here is your money back. The master was furious. You knew that I was a man who wanted my business to thrive and prosper. I gave you this money to invest and to carry on my business, and you decided on your own that you wouldn't do it. You decided that it was too hard for you to do, and so you went and buried my money, and it made nothing while I was gone. And the very least you could have done was taken it to the bank and drawn 0.01 percent interest now. At least it would have been something, but instead you said, I don't care about what you want. I only care for myself. The master said to his servants, take what little this guy has and give it to the others. Jesus is telling us here that he expects from the lives of his followers for his kingdom to grow, to flourish. He's telling us that there is a purpose for our lives. When we come into this world, God has a plan for us, and a part of that plan is to expand his kingdom around the world, and that's our responsibility. The final story that Jesus tells is a story of the son of man coming back. They ask him, when are you going to return? And he says, the son of man will come with great glory and people will see him. Then he changes the title for himself from son of man to king. We think of kings today like the queen of England. She rides in a car and waves her hand and that's about all she does. Kings in the ancient world had power and authority. They actually owned all the land in the nation in which they lived. They could ask for whatever kind of taxes they wanted. They could take any kind of land they wanted. They had absolute authority, more than even the most powerful dictators in our world. So Jesus is establishing here a position of great power for himself. When I come, he said, it will be like a king who owns the world. Everything in it and every person in it is subject to me, and they will come and stand before me to declare what they've done. In this story, the king brings the people to him. King over this nation. He's been gone. He's now returned. And he says to his servants, I'm going to divide you in two groups. Sheep, he calls them on one side and goats on the other. He says to those that are in the group, he calls the goats. While I was gone, when I was hungry, you did nothing to help me. When I was a stranger and had no friends, you did nothing to make me feel welcome. When I was in jail, you never even came to see me. The people who are standing before him, his citizens of his kingdom, are shocked by this. They said, we never even saw you hungry or thirsty or in jail or a stranger. How can you hold this against us? He said, all the people in my kingdom are my family. They're like brothers and sisters to me. And when you've offended one of my family, my brothers or sisters, you've offended me because I take care of my own brothers and sisters. And as my servants, I expected that of you. What happened, you see, was the people who were subject to the king didn't consider his kingdom. They didn't consider what the king wanted to have done. They just considered themselves. Now I'm sure they thought in their mind, if I had actually seen the king sitting there with a crown on, he said, I would have gone up and said, do you need something to eat? If I'd seen him sitting in jail, I'd done everything I could to get him out. But you see, they didn't realize that it was important for them to do what the king wanted them to do, not just for the king, but for his kingdom. He brought those that are in the sheep group to him and he said, I want you to enter into the glories of the kingdom of God because when I was hungry, you fed me. And when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. And when I was in prison, you came to see me. And when I was a stranger, you made me feel welcome. And they protested in the same way. We never did see you hungry or thirsty or in jail or alone. Why are you doing this for us? Because you understood that when you do it for those who are part of my family, my kingdom, you're doing it for me. And so when you saw someone who was lonely and you extended your hand, you were doing it for me because I wanted my brothers and sisters in my kingdom to feel cared for and welcomed. You were doing my business. In these stories, Jesus is helping us to understand the nature of the kingdom of God. What is it like to have God in charge of your life? In these stories, he describes himself in a number of ways, a bridegroom, a king, master, slave owner, a business owner. In all of these ways, he's describing to us how he sees himself. He sees himself as the absolute ultimate ruler of this earth. He doesn't pay any attention to who's president here or who's in charge in Russia. He sees himself as the divine ruler of all the world. In every one of these stories, the people who are servants or subject to the master, the king, the bridegroom, whoever they are, are people who've been given assignments. What the Bible is teaching us is that God, when he looks down on the world and sees a new child born into this world, has a purpose for that child. The first one is to acknowledge who he is. The second one is to say, what is it that you want me to do in this world? And the third is to do that. He's telling us a story about people who say, I don't see God around here anywhere. I can do exactly like I want to. I have this money. I can spend it like I want to. I have 24 hours in a day. I can do exactly what I want to, without regard to who the boss is. Jesus was pointing out that there are many people who live that way. His plan for them, you see, is ignored. They say, I don't see any reason why I have to do this. I don't see a God anywhere. I don't see anything wrong with what it is. It seems right to me. So they do their own thing in their own reason, in their own logic, in their own way. Then in this story, Jesus describes the fact that the master, after a while, actually returns. That's the big one. He is coming again. You see, everything in this story would mean nothing if it wasn't for this day, the resurrection. If Jesus were dead and buried in the ground, he could not come again. He would simply be gone. But the resurrection tells us, in all of these stories, that it is the key and central ingredient. Jesus Christ is gone from this world, raised from the dead, but he will return. Paul described the Christian faith in saying, if the resurrection is not true, there's not any of it true. So everything hinges on this. And this long time between when Jesus left this world and when he's going to return is that period in which we're in. All of us know that we have not seen the physical Jesus yesterday or yet today. So there's a feeling around among us that I could sort of do what I want to do. There's no one looking over my shoulder. You see, being prepared for the kingdom of God requires these steps. First a person born in this world has to stop and say, am I in charge of my own life or is God? That's an important consideration. The Bible says God is the ruler of everyone in the world. And our failure to acknowledge that is rebellion against God. It is thumbing our nose at his position of authority, like ignoring the law or rebelling against your parents. It is a breach of authority. And so what God asks for everyone who comes into the world to look around and say, I didn't make any of this. There must be somebody bigger than me. And to look to God and say, Lord, I believe that you made the world and everything in it and you have rules and instructions for me and a plan for my life. And today I say to you, I give you the authority over my life. That's what it means to begin. And once you do that, there's another stage in which you have to know what to do. Every one of the people in these stories had instructions as to what they were to do. They knew what their responsibility was. How do we know that? Well, when you read the Bible, you find out exactly what God tells you we should do. His instructions are there. So when you make that promise to God, it is critical that you begin to read the Bible. You should read it every day, even if it's just a sentence or a verse or two, to make sure as you sit down to say, God, show me something here that you want me to do. The other thing you do is you're in conversation with the boss about what should take place. In every one of these stories, the one in authority talked to the people about what they were supposed to do and told them exactly what they were to do. They knew what they were supposed to do. So if you have questions, you stop and say to God, you know, I got a bonus this year. What do you want me to do with this money? I've got a day off. It's a snow day. What do you want me to do with this day? You've given me a family. How do you want me to raise them? How should I teach my children? How should I treat my spouse? See, all those questions defer to God saying, you're in charge and I'm willing to listen and do exactly what you tell me. That's what this story, these stories are about. Every person in the story had an assignment that they were supposed to do. And so when the boss came back, he said, come here, let me ask you what you did about what I wanted you to do. And they had all kinds of reasons. One guy just thought, well, he's gone, he's never going to come back and he won't know. The other one thought, well, he told me to bring the light and I'm going to do that. But they didn't think and plan ahead. They thought it was so easy, it wouldn't take any work. Others thought, this is too hard for me. If I had failed at this, I may get in trouble with him. So his, the master gave me too hard a job. And the others didn't even understand what the master wanted them to do. They didn't know that this was his family. You see, all of these things were results of people saying to God, I am going to do it without instructions from you. So what God wants is us to say to him, you're the Lord and the ruler of everything. I want to find out what you want me to do. I want to discuss with you all the decisions I need to make and I want to live the way you tell me I should live so that I will be ready when you return. What Jesus describes is a position all of us are actually in. He's given us a place, he's given us a world to live in. He's given us instructions and he expects when he comes back for those to be filled. It's not hard for you to do any of those. God wants two things from you. One he wants you to live your life the way Christ lived his life. That is follow the instructions. I say to you, take care of my servants while I'm gone. I say to you, you should take care of your brothers and sisters like they're your brothers and sisters. I tell you, you should make sure that you do the things I have told you to do. Then he says, now what I'm concerned about is you advancing my business. Did you know you're in the God business once you say to him, I will serve you? You know when he came into the world, he came to die for people who needed a savior that all of them might come to know him. And each of us, once we enter this family of God, this community of God, become responsible for doing exactly what Jesus was trying to do. That is make sure that everyone has an opportunity to enter the kingdom of God. Because we've entered, we know exactly how we do it. And what God has given us is the responsibility to say to others around us, let me tell you, let me tell you about God. Let me explain to you what's happened in my life. Anybody can do this. Anybody can do it. It's just that you need a passion for the business of God. And if you have a passion for the business of God, he will show you some way to do it. This morning, I shake hands with a lot of people around us, and I came over to shake hands with Tessa. Tessa, would you come over here just a minute? Bring your egg with you. And she gave me an egg today. And I looked inside of this egg, and there's no egg, an egg with no egg. And inside of it is, admit to God that you're a sinner, repent and turn away from your sins, believe that Jesus is God's Son, and accept God's gift of forgiveness for our sin. Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and as your Lord. Anyone can get an egg like this and give it to their friends. Anyone can find someone who doesn't know Christ and say, I'm going to pray for you. Anyone can do that. Anyone can make a friend to people that has moved in your neighborhood. People at the place where you work where no one seems to like them. You can even make friends with people who are nasty to you, and doing it in the name of Christ. You see, God has placed us here to recognize his supreme authority, to live in the way that he lives, and to expand his business. And when he comes back, he will say, have you done those things? Have you done them? I want to ask you to link in your own mind and your history. Can you say to God, actually, that you hold him in the place of highest authority in your life? Does God control you? Your home, your life, your family, your business, your social activities. God wants everyone at some time in their life to stop and say, you are the Lord. I acknowledge that, and I submit myself to you. When you do that, you read the Bible to find out what he wants you to do, you discuss the issues that you have to talk to him about, and you gather with other believers like this. So, Rusty told me that he's in a weight-losing contest in Larned. And what you do if you get in a contest with a group of people is, periodically, you go and weigh. You know, if you're in a weight-losing contest and you never weigh, you don't have a winner. So they get together and hold each other accountable for what they've eaten the past week or month. The church is a place where we hold each other accountable for what our lives are. That's why we come together. We get instruction from God. We're accountable to each other for the jobs that need to be done in the family of God. And so when you make that promise to God, you automatically become a part of a church where God is at work doing his work. And then you come together with God's family to remind yourself of the great promise God has given us. The promise you make to God saying, you're the Lord of my life, is a contract. God says, if you will recognize my authority over your life, I will take care of you. And if you've done that in the past, you've made a contract with God. And you know, every year, when time comes around, and you remember the day that you got married, if you're a family, a married couple, you remember that day that you got married. You mark it on your calendar, and you celebrate. In the church, we have a celebration of our contract. Every person who's said to God, you're in charge of my life, and I'm going to live in obedience to you, he gave us this thing as a way to remember the contract. When you do this, he says, remember who I am. Remember the place I hold in your life. And remember who you are. You guys come who are going to serve our Lord's Supper today. The elements of this supper are bread and drink. We don't drink the blood. We don't drink wine here, just a red juice to remind us of the blood of Christ. But all of these are symbols to remind us of the contract we've made with God. Now, if you've never made that contract with God to say, I give you my life today, and I want you to hold it in your hand forever, this is an opportunity for you to do that. All you have to do is to say to God, I realize now today that you really made all this. You are the Lord of everything in the world, but I've been acting as if it was mine. Today I change that. I say to you, you are in charge, and from this moment on, I want to live in obedience to you as best I can. That's your contract. You can seal it today with this meal. For today, the bread that we have is a symbol, Jesus said, of the body of Christ, the physical part of his life. He gave himself in faithful service to the Father. And what we do when we take this bread is remind ourselves, I have promised God I'm going to physically live in obedience to him as best I can all of my life. Father, I want to ask you to bless this bread, to remind us that your life was given day by day in submission and obedience to the Father without question. When we take this bread, we're promising you to live in obedience to you. Bless us by giving us the wisdom to make that promise come true and the ability to make it come true. We thank you for forgiveness that allows us, even though we fail, to be faithful and trying to serve you faithfully. Amen. As the bread is passed, I want to ask you to take a piece of the bread in your hand. Hold it there. I want you to think of the life of Christ and some of the things he did that are impressive to you. Even though it was difficult or hard, he kept doing what God asked him to do. Now I want to ask you to remember a time in your life in which you said to God, I will give you my whole life in obedience. And then ask God, is there a part of my life that I'm living that you're proud of? And think about the things that come to your mind. That's God's response. He may tell you things that you're doing that he's really happy that you're doing and proud of you. And then ask him, are there some things in my life being lived that you want changed? And listen to what God says to you. Father, with this bread, we remember how faithfully your son served on earth as a human as our example and as our model. And our commitment and contract with you is to surrender ourselves to you in faithful service to follow his example. We eat this bread to remember Jesus and what he's done and as a pledge to follow our Savior in obedience day after day. Amen. The red drink symbolizes the blood of Christ. We know what this blood did. It shed on the cross for our salvation and for our sins. Father, I ask that you bless this drink to remind us of the price that was paid that we might be free from the guilt and shame and fear that comes from sin and from Satan. Somebody in our lives has led us to know who you are and to make this promise and contract with you. We give thanks to you for them and for Christ who gave his life for us. Remind us that you've called us to give our lives also for others. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Once a drink is passed and you hold the cup in your hand, you look at the blood, the color of it, and you remind yourself that this blood was given for you, that you would escape eternity without God, that you would find in this world the life that he promised for you, and that you have promised him to proclaim his message to those around you. I'd like you to think of the people whose sacrifice led you to come to know Christ as Savior and Lord. Pray for them and give thanks for them. I'd like you to ask God, who is it that I know who also needs to know you as the bridegroom, the king, the master, and the ruler? And then would you promise him that you would pray for that person, make friends with that person, and encourage them in any way God tells you to do? Amen. Lord, as you have given your life and your blood for us, so you called us to give our lives in behalf of others, too. With this drink, we remember your sacrifice, and with this drink, we pledge our sacrifice to your cause. In the name of Jesus, we promise this. Amen. If perhaps God has spoken to you today in some way, and you've made some kind of promise to him, you may want to come and share with us the promise that you've made to him. So we're going to sing a song of dedication and invitation to invite you to publicly express to God the promise that you've made to him, and allow you to be able to make sure that God and your brothers and sisters in Christ can encourage you in the promise that you've made. Would you stand, please, as we sing? If God has spoken to you, and as I've talked, you know that this is something you should tell publicly and openly. This time is the opportunity for you to tell what you and God have been talking about and what you've said to him. And to become the Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God. O wash me in his precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Yoked of love they crucified, they laughed and scorned him as he died. The humble king they named a frog, and sacrificed the Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God. O wash me in his precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. I was so lost, I should have died, but you have brought me to your side, to be led by your staff and rod, and to be called a Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God. O wash me in your precious blood, till I am just a Lamb of God. And so, Father, when we stand before you, and you look out across the sea of humanity, we want to be standing there and hear you say, join this group, the Lambs of God. You know in our minds what we thought today. You know in our lives how we've lived. I ask for each of us who have made promises of faithfulness to you, that you give us the wisdom and strength to obey. Give us the confidence that even when we fail, you help us get up and start again. That our perfection will never come in this world, but our determination will last until we die. In the name of Jesus, we promise our lives to you. Amen. ♪♪♪ No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand. Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand. Amen.