Alston Road Church of Christ Podcast

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Paul is writing to the Philippians in chains from prison encouraging them to be joyful and united.  For them to live needs to mean Christ. The world is fighting against them, so they cannot be distracted. Sometimes this is seen in physical danger. More often, enemies of the cross do battle in a more seductive manner. That’s one thing we see in Revelation. The beast threatens with fear and violent force; the prostitute spreads her legs. What ought we to do in light of the war being launched against Jesus and his body? Let’s read Philippians 1:27-30. 

Behave As Citizens Worthy of the Gospel (1:27)

The marginal reading of the ESV is “Behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ.” The NLT interprets this verse as, “You must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.” Before we explain what it looks like to properly live as a citizen, we need to understand what he means by referring to our how we live as citizens.

Later, Paul will write that we are not like the enemies of the cross who glorify shameful earthly things and treat our gods as their bellies. “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (3:20-21) When we read “our citizenship is in heaven,” we may think, “That’s right, my true home is heaven.” But notice that’s not what he says. That’s not what citizenship meant to them.

He’s making a play on the fact that Philippians were citizens of Rome. Philippi was a colony of Rome. Being citizens of Rome did not mean they lived in Rome. They would never go live in Rome. No, being a colony of Rome meant Philippi was backed by Rome. As Roman citizens, the Philippians were supposed to consider themselves an outpost of Roman government and culture. Why? Because Caesar is making all things subject to himself. He’s making the world bow before him. He’s transforming the world and all peoples to look more like Rome. Philippians are citizens of Rome and their allegiance is to the Lord Caesar and to the spread of Roman culture.

Now, read 3:20-21 again. Our citizenship is in heaven. Paul is not making a statement about where our true home is. He’s saying that means we are backed by the power of heaven and the Lord Jesus who reigns in heaven. We are a colony, an outpost of heaven on earth. We are not spreading Roman or American culture. Caesar is not Lord, nor is the president. We don't feel safe because of the military power of Rome or the U.S., but because we are backed by the king who leads heaven’s armies. Our citizenship is in heaven means Lord Jesus the Messiah will come from heaven and transform our lowly bodies to be like his and make all things — all creation — subject to him. Until the day when all things are subject to him, we live together on earth as a colony of heavenly culture that is subject to him. Rome prays, “May Caesar be reverenced, his empire spread, his will be done throughout the earth as it is done in Rome.” Citizens of heaven pray, “Our Father in heaven, may your name be reverenced, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:9-10).

Paul says we are to behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ. Let’s clarify “gospel.” Gospel is not “Accept Jesus as your personal savior and be baptized so you can go to heaven when you die.” The gospel is “good news” about how God became king in Jesus. The world has been wrecked by Satan and his kingdoms, but God’s kingdom has invaded the world in the person of Jesus. Jesus went about everywhere healing people and casting out Satan’s demons to show that the restoring power of God’s kingdom has drawn near. But Satan’s forces in Jerusalem conspired together to falsely accuse and execute Jesus like a criminal. Jesus took all the sin and darkness of the world on himself and bore the penalty for sin in his perfect body. They buried him, but the power of death could not hold him. He rose never to die again. Now, God, as the true human — the son of man — reigns as king in heaven. He is putting everyone and everything in subjection to himself. And we are calling you to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord — not Caesar — and to bow before him with your life. If you confess and are baptized, he will place his Spirit in you so God can mold you into his image. God is becoming king of everyone and everything in Jesus.

This is a look at the good news and how to respond to it. Live, Paul says, as a citizen worthy of that gospel. Well, how do I do that? Notice vs. 27-28a.

How to Live Worthy of the Gospel? (1:27-28)

First, “so that whether I come and see you or am absent…” This means that our whole life must be reordered no matter who is around us. Whether our spiritual leaders are looking or not should not matter. Whether we are alone, with others, in our home, at school, or at work, on social media, or not, this should not matter. Our elders have asked me mention this because they are concerned that somehow there can be this dissonance — this gulf — between who we are when Christian leaders are around us, and who we are with everyone else. There can be this difference between who I am on Sunday, and who I am on Friday night. There can be this difference between what I say and what my persona is on social media, and what I sing and say on Sunday. That dishonors God before the church and the world. But brothers and sisters, being around our spiritual leaders gives us an example to follow when they are absent. Sundays prepare us to live Monday through Saturday like every day is the Lord’s.

Living worthy of the gospel means we aren’t two-faced actors. Consider the gospel! God is becoming king of everything in Jesus — do we want to fake that? Let’s strive to be able to put our social media accounts and what we think is our “private life” on display in this room and not be ashamed because we aren’t different in the absence of one another.

Second, living worthy of the gospel means we are “standing firm in one spirit… striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” One spirit. There has been a lot to divide us of the past year. Meet, or don’t meet? Masks, or no masks? Vaccines, or no vaccines? How to handle racial tensions? How to vote? All that isn’t over. Now we are coming back together, all that stuff we have disagreed about can be a problem. We can’t be disagreeable. We can’t be divided. Some are going to vaccinate, some are going to mask up, some are going to do both, some aren’t going to do any of it. All that is a big deal in the world, but it cannot and will not be here anymore. Let’s leave those disagreements behind because it is not optional for us to strive side by side for the faith of the gospel.

This is a short-hand way of saying we need to contend for the advance of the gospel in the world together. When I say that, I know you may get nervous like that means you need to go talk to strangers by yourself and convince them to get dunked in water. No. Jesus did not send Paul nor us to baptize but to preach the gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 1). I’m realizing what’s harder than trying to proposition strangers is to intentionally ask our neighbors and coworkers to eat at our dinner tables. And then genuinely care about them. And then, because we love them, persuade them to see that Jesus is Lord. And praying together that they will have an open heart and we will have salty words because we love them. Contending for the gospel like that will lead us to great joy and great suffering. We will gain brothers, sisters, children, and we will lose the best of friends. But if we do it together, we can shoulder those joys and hardships together. Jesus laid down his life to bring us back to him; together we lay down our lives so that some may be saved.

Third, living worthy of the gospel means we are “not frightened in anything by [our] opponents.” The world is up to some stuff that could be scary to us. It’s scary to talk anyone about anything except the weather in this world. And we are coming to persuade people that God is judging the world by an executed and risen Jew named Jesus. He is Lord and he is not tolerant — he has eyes like fire and you must bow the knee to him or perish. Saying this kind of stuff in Iran can get your family raped and beheaded. Saying it here to the wrong people can get you cancelled and ostracized.

But remember, our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior — and when Paul says that he doesn’t mean “he’s my personal Savior who forgives me of my sins,” no — Jesus coming from heaven means he has power to transform our killable bodies into glorious bodies. That means he has power to subject all things to himself.

I feel ashamed of something. I realized as I was reading this text that I typically am not afraid of what North Korea or Iran or whoever is doing with their military and nuclear power because I live in the USA. North Korea does some military exercises and I’m thinking, “Like, what are you going to do? Bleed on us?” That is such an idolatrous and misplaced nationalistic hope. Our hope is in Jesus the Lord of heaven’s armies subjecting all things — including the U.S. military — to himself.

Result? (1:28-30)

So, if we live as citizens worthy of the gospel — whether Paul is absent or present, we strive side by side for the advance of the gospel, not frightened in anything by our opponents — what will be the result? Notice vs. 28-30. When we always fearlessly strive side by side for the gospel, we will…

1. Clearly signal their destruction and our salvation from God. They will realize their way of life ends only in death. They will realize God’s power is actually behind us and he will rescue us. And they will respond to that in one of two ways. (1) They’ll hurt us. (2) They’ll glorify God.

2. Be granted the favor of suffering for the sake of Christ. This word granted is like the word “gifted.” Have you ever thought about what an honor it would be to suffer for Christ’s sake? We all appreciate everything he has done for us. What an honor it would be to win souls to his cause and to weep, lose jobs, friends, and social standing for his cause too. 

But when we do even that and are not afraid but actually still love those who oppose us, they’ll see the power of the cross. That’s what happened in the first century and it’s what is happening in Iran right now. As people see the powers that be mistreating and killing Christians and Christians still boldly loving their enemies and speaking the truth, people see there is something distinctive  there and they want in on it. This will only happen when we stand firm together and aren’t frightened. We will not signal anyone’s destruction or our salvation and we will not be granted to suffer for Christ if we fight and bicker, go at it on our own, or live in fear.

I am so amped up to put this pandemic behind us — the pandemic, not what we learned. Satan has ramped up his forces in massive ways in the past year. But if we have been pruned by this pandemic, he’s not going to know what hit him. Let us behave as citizens of heaven, striving side by side with one mind for the sake of the gospel, not frightened in anything by our opponents.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Luke presents Jesus as one who is fulfilling God’s promises of old. Jesus’ family and John’s family were not law-breakers but law-keepers — circumcising, sacrificing, and participating in Israel’s feasts. He is not novel, but he is indeed doing a new thing that is based on an old thing. Redemptive history is taking a massive step forward towards the marriage of God with his people as Jesus steps on the scene. With a new step in redemptive history come new practices. Jesus’ is not trashing the law, but bringing it to its intended completion. But Jesus’ new practices for a new place in redemptive history was pretty disturbing to many Jews in Jesus’ day.

Our text at the end of Luke 5 is in the center of five accounts where Jesus acts in a new way to meet the new situation and in each of the five accounts Jesus is resisted by the Pharisees and their scribes. In the beginning, they are annoyed at Jesus. By the end, they are ready to hurt him.

Our controversy arises because of a question about fasting. By the end, we will clearly see that this is not only about fasting but about how Jesus’ coming must radically alter our habits and rituals.  Notice 5:33-35.

Fasting With the Bridegroom? (vs. 33-35)

One day, Levi said he was done collecting taxes for Rome and he left his job — everything — behind. Then he threw a great feast with Jesus as the guest of honor with many tax collectors and sinners there.  They were radically altering their lives to follow Jesus. This is a problem. (1) Jesus is hanging around people who have had bad reputations. (2) Jesus and his followers are feasting — not fasting — something scribes, Pharisees, and even John the Baptist’s disciples did. To understand why they are so alarmed, we have to understand why they fasted.

Fasting is what believers did to bring their body into sync with unpleasant or difficult realities.  You do not feast when everything is wrong. When Americans are depressed, most of us want to binge food and TV — which, however funny this may seem, it is completely unhelpful. We have freedom in Christ, but we are called to use that freedom with wisdom. We joke about depressed binges because we realize how unhealthy it is — everything is bad, but instead of praying through that reality, I’m denying it with the narcotic effect of ice cream and Hulu. 

So fasting is what believers did and should do to bring their bodies into sync with unpleasant and difficult realities. Has sin been uncovered in your life or in your community? It’s not time to eat a ribeye and as if everything is okay, it’s time to fast and pray. Has someone near you just come down with a critical illness? All hope is not lost —  it’s time to fast and pray. Has someone suddenly and tragically died? Don’t cover up the horror with food — fast and pray. Are you about to begin a difficult task for God’s kingdom? Or embark on a dangerous journey? Or begin a new stage in life? Make your body feel how weak and unable you truly are to control the outcome — and pair that fasting with prayer that calls upon God from a humbled body and soul. 

But, most relevant here: many regularly fasted because of the nation’s sins, because of God’s lack of presence, and because of the unfulfilled nature of God’s promises. Just three chapters earlier we are introduced to a precious old woman named Anna. She was a prophetess and had been a widow for decades. She stayed in the temple day and night worshipping with fasting and prayer: anxiously awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. We look at that today and we may think, “What a waste of a life! She needs to go get married, get some ice cream, and discover the joys of daytime television. Wait for God with a bag of Cheetos on your couch!” But no, she waited for God on her hands and knees in the temple, often with an empty stomach that reflected the emptiness of her heart, the emptiness of the temple, and the emptiness of Jerusalem. 

God’s promises were unfulfilled which meant Jerusalem was still an adulteress who had been sent away. God had promised he would return and be joined in marriage to his land and to his people. Where was the bridegroom of Israel? And so Anna set up camp at the door of God’s throne — worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. But then baby Jesus  — the hope of Jerusalem and of the world — arrived at the temple. She began giving thanks to God and speaking of Jesus to everyone who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Fast-forward thirty years. It was time for  the God of Israel — the bridegroom — to make himself more fully known and to do his work. This common man from nowhere in Nazareth steps on the scene and he heals a lame man and forgives his sins, feasts with repentant sinners, plucks grain and heals on the Sabbath. The Pharisees fasted twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays to intercede for the people of Israel and beg God their bridegroom to return. The disciples of John did similarly. Jesus and his disciples ate and drank. I can count eight times in Luke where it talks about Jesus at a meal. Later, they mock him as a glutton and a drunkard (though he wasn’t).

So, they want to know why aren’t you guys fasting? His reply is simple. “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Has anyone here ever been told to stay away from the food at the wedding? No way. It’s time to rejoice and feast with the bridegroom. If they had ears to hear it, Jesus is making the massive claim that the God — the bridegroom — of Israel who had divorced his people was back in the person of Jesus. It wasn’t time to fast and mourn as if redemptive history was at a standstill and as if their bridegroom was hidden from them. He was right there in front of them. Yes, sadly, the bridegroom would be taken from them in time and they would return to their fasting (let the church understand). But right now? The answer to their fasting and prayers was right in front of them. It was time to feast.

Mixing New and Old? (vs. 36-38)

Jesus wants to make sure they understand the point that their practices must change to match their new situation, so he tells them two parables. Notice verse 36. Has anyone here ever gone to the store to buy nice new clothes and then ripped a portion of them off and sown it on to old ratty clothing? No. That would be ridiculous. Not only will you ruin your new clothes, the new piece doesn’t match the old piece. You don’t mix new and old. 

Jesus offers a similar parable in verses 37-38. They usually stored wine in lambskins or goatskins. As the grape juice — the new wine — fermented the skin would stretch and expand because of the release of gasses. No one would ever store new wine in old wineskins — the brittle fibers of the old skin wouldn’t be able to handle the expansion and it would burst. You’d lose both the new wine and the old wineskins. New wine must be put in new wineskins.

The arrival of Jesus — the God and bridegroom of Israel — is new clothes and new wine and you cannot try to put what is new into what is old. They don’t match. You will lose both the old and the new when you do this. The advent of Jesus is a new situation that demands a new attitude and new practices to fit the new situation. Fasting completely ruins the practice of fasting (the old). It causes them to miss the amazing new reality they could be enjoying: the bridegroom is here and it is time to enjoy a foretaste of that end times feast in God’s kingdom. Fasting with Jesus in front of you is like fasting at a wedding, like ripping up new clothes to repair old clothes, and like putting new wine in old wineskins.

Notice Jesus’ conclusion in verse 39 with a cynical evaluation of how many were reacting to the new wine of the bridegroom’s return.

Everyone’s Stuck on Old Wine (vs. 39)

The sad reality is that everyone in Jesus’ day was perfectly happy with their old wine and they had no desire for new wine. Though they fasted and prayed like they wanted God’s presence and promises to return, they were happy with their old situation and their old rituals and routines. They loved their old wine so much that they simply had no desire for the new wine Jesus brought.

The Need for New Wineskins

At first glance, this text may seem to have no bearing on us. “Those Pharisees and followers of John were always obsessed with their rituals even once they had become meaningless.” We may look at ourselves and say, “All good! I would never be pharisaical or ritualistic. Rituals are an Old Law thing, but we are in the new way of the loosey goosey Spirit — I just do what I want when I want.” But that thinking is foolishness — it misunderstands both the old and the new. 

Ritual is a religious word for routine or habit. And by that definition, we all have rituals — some of them are just pretty lame. Some of them are just centered on an old world, an old reality, an old way of thinking and living.

Where are we in redemptive history? What is our situation? The bridegroom came and inaugurated God’s kingdom. Now that he has left to reign from heaven, he has sent us his Holy Spirit to infuse us with the new life and energy of God’s kingdom. God’s Spirit is in us to produce in us the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. God’s Spirit has put the truth in our minds and mouths through the preaching of the apostles and prophets. God’s kingdom has come, but it is still coming. Revelation depicts us as the royal army of priests who reign on the earth to witness to the truth: that God and the Lamb reign and they are to be worshipped, not anyone or anything else. The people have been deceived by the dragon and his lamb-like beast to worship themselves, their idols, and the beast. They do not acknowledge the true God. But Jesus has died to ransom us — his enemies — and to make us his priests so that we might go into the world and witness to the truth to the neighbors we are supposed to love so much that we would die to bring them out of darkness and lies. 

Our situation is not as simple as old or new. We live in the mixed reality of the now but not yet. The Lamb has conquered and reigns on the throne and that is cause for rejoicing and for feasting every Lord’s day. But the kingdom of the world has not become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. Everything is not alright in the world. There is injustice and death, there is impurity, there is rejection of the true king, there is all manner of foolishness. And so while we rejoice, it is also time for fasting, prayer, vigilance, and bold proclamation of the truth.

The world is stuck on old rituals and old wine — either unwilling or unable to recognize the new wine of Jesus. We have to help them get off that old bottle and get in with the new — not the new way of the enlightenment with a humanistic belief that everything get’s better with technology. No, the new wine of Jesus.

Everyone is stuck on old wine with old habits — are we? Let’s consider how we spend our time — what the aim of our lives are. What are our rituals? What do we do when we wake up? How do we spend our evenings? What do we do when we are around others? 

I think there’s three possibilities. (1) Our ritual is a complete lack of ritual - no plan, who cares? (2) We have purposely ordered our lives with rituals and habits that make no sense of our place in God’s kingdom — new wine, old wineskins. (3) We have purposely ordered our lives with rituals and habits that make sense of our being the priests of God’s coming kingdom.

Are we willing to give up our old practices that make no sense of our identity and situation? If not, we are the ritualistic Pharisees trying to ferment new wine in old wineskins.

Many in the world could care less about your new wine because they like their old wine and old life just how it is. Don’t give up on them. Many Pharisees and priests eventually got on with the new wine. But also, don’t let their rejection discourage you. There are plenty out there who realize that their old wine isn’t cutting it, and they would completely reorder their lives at the chance to have wine that is actually new.

But if we are going to help get people off the old, we have to actually invite them into a life that is actually new. Everyone today is selling old wine marked with a “new wine” label and people are exhausted with the fakes and frauds. We can’t just invite them to buy the label, but we have to show them how to put on new clothes and drink new wine in new wineskins. We need to invite them into a community of Christ-followers who read their Bibles more than their phones and TVs, who love the truth, who worship God with all their hearts, who aren’t selfish or materialistic, who rejoice when they suffer, who share with the poor, who visit the hurting, who have one another in their homes to sit at tables and rejoice in the God’s blessings, and who have a real concrete hope that is evident even in the deepest pain and suffering.

I hope we will see this morning that our old wineskins have burst and we have lost the new wine. We cannot have or taste the new wine of Jesus without new wineskins. It is time for new practices that match our identity as his army of priests and martyrs witnessing to the truth unto death. This does not mean we do not sit down at tables and enjoy food, family, and friends. It means we do that with purpose and for a different reason. It does not even mean we cannot occasionally watch a movie. It means we aren’t addicted to entertainment. But who cares when we have new wine and new clothes? Why try to hold onto as much of the old as possible?

We live in a perfect time to go get some new wineskins. Our lives have been upended for the past 13 months. We have a unique opportunity to take a step back and say, “Some of these old clothes have never matched where we are in history and who God has made me to be. It’s time for new clothes and new practices for a new situation.”

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Scott K. — Making the Resurrection Real Today (Romans 6) — 4/4/21

Early on Sunday morning nearly two thousand years ago, a few women went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body. Jesus was supposed to be the hope of Israel and of the world. And yet, he had been falsely accused and murdered. Now, this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. In these days, plenty of Jews picked up swords and claimed they were going to overthrow the enemies and usher in new age of peace and devotion to God. They amassed hundreds of followers. But then Rome would always squash the leader and the followers would all scatter.  And now, like the “messiahs” before him, Jesus had been crucified and his followers scattered. Israel knew nothing of a dead Messiah.

But as these women approached the tomb they saw that the stone had been rolled away. Jesus’ body was gone. They were perplexed, scared, and sad. Was someone playing a sick joke? Where had they taken his body? But, suddenly, two men stood there in dazzling clothes. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” they asked. “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?” He had said that. In fact, he had said it many times. Their eyes started to open. After this, the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to Peter, the twelve, and many others — including one group of five hundred at once.

The news of Jesus’ resurrection broke out in and around Jerusalem — the city that killed Jesus. Consider the insanity of this. The people who hated Jesus wielded so much power that they pushed Pilate to execute a man he knew to be innocent. And now the apostles were going to blame these same powers for killing an innocent man? And that he had somehow risen from the dead?That’s precisely what they did. The news spread around Jerusalem like wildfire. Overnight thousands upon thousands of Jews professed all over Jerusalem that God had raised up Jesus.

The priests and Sadducees were greatly annoyed that these apostles were pinning this imposter’s blood on them and actually claiming that he had risen. Priests and Sadducees were the rich and powerful who insisted that the kingdom had already come and that there would be no resurrection from the dead. They were in bed with Rome and these uneducated fishermen needed to cram it and go back to Galilee before they ruined it all. So, they threw the apostles in prison. But an angel of the Lord released them and they preached more. So they beat them. They didn’t stop. Then they started killing them. The followers scattered everywhere preaching the good news. Jews chased them across the Roman empire, but they kept spreading the news.

Empty Tomb. But before the news went anywhere else, the news of Jesus’ resurrection spread all around Jerusalem. And despite the fact that Jesus’ tomb was just a short walk from the temple, do you know what these powers never did? They threatened, beat, and killed the followers — but not once did they walk down to that tomb and show Jesus’ dead corpse to everyone. That would have shut everyone up in an instant — no Jew ever followed a dead messiah. It was antithetical to what it meant to be the Messiah. But they never produced a body because there was none. Everyone could look in the tomb and plainly see for themselves — it was empty.

Stolen. Ever since the day Jesus rose some have said that Jesus’ apostles stole the body. And that’s worth considering. None of us should be interested in rushing through a claim this massive. There were frauds before then and there have been frauds since then. And yet, the story that these powerful men could track this criminal down when he was alive and on the move but they couldn’t turn up Jesus’ corpse after it had stolen by some fishermen is suspicious. The fact that this claim has been around since day one and yet tens of thousands of people immediately waved it off as a lie that the priests paid for is suspicious. 

In fact, the more you look at this claim the more it smells like the phony explanations we hear from politicians. Were the apostles really able to sneak past the guards — who were there to prevent his body from being stolen — move a large stone, and steal Jesus’ body all while these soldiers were sound asleep? Furthermore, what would have motivated them to lie in such a way? The apostles were all murdered for their testimony — except John who was exiled to Patmos. It is completely logical to create a lie if you benefit for it. Some crazy people will tell lies all the way to their deaths. But do the cogent, theologically rich, carefully crafted sermons, accounts, and letters in the New Testament sound like the musings of crazy people?

The story that a virgin miraculously conceived a son of the gods wasn’t new — and neither is the story that a god was raised from the dead. The claim that a true Israelite had come to rescue Israel from her enemies had been repeated many times over. But the fact that the apostles had likely heard of such myths and frauds before and yet insisted through beatings, hunger, imprisonments, exile, and death that this was indeed reality needs to be grappled with.

Apparition. Others say the apostles went to their deaths proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection because they really believed they saw the resurrected Jesus. But all they saw was an apparition, a ghost, a vision. It was real to them, so they were willing to die for it. This sounds plausible at first, but the problem is that this demands the existence of mass visionary experiences. Jesus appeared to groups. Two people do not see the same apparition or daydream at once — let alone 500 people.

Furthermore, Jesus emphasized that he was no spirit. In fact, the apostles were terrified at first because they thought they say a spirit. But Jesus showed them that he indeed had flesh and bones. Then he proceeded to eat broiled fish before their eyes. Were their minds still deceiving them?

But with the rest of our time I want to ask — why did Jesus do that? Why did God bodily raise Jesus and why did he ensure people saw he was bodily raised? If God wanted people to understand that Jesus wasn’t really dead but spiritually alive somehow in heaven, he could have done that. He could have thundered from heaven to all that it may seem like Jesus is dead but actually his spirit has been caught up into heaven and he is reigning over all the creation. Why not do that?

Let’s take a step back. We tell stories about reality all the time that impact how we live in objective reality, even if we know those stories are part myth and part reality. I know our home isn’t the only home where vegetables have powers of mythical proportions.

But what happens when the stories and myths turn out to be observably and objectively true? Tim Allen’s “The Santa Clause” is a great demonstration of this. Tim Allen plays Scott — the dad of Charlie. Santa Claus unfortunately falls off Scott’s roof and dies, so Scott has to take up Santa’s coat. He hops on the sleigh with Charlie and the reindeer take them all over the world delivering presents. But when Scott wakes up, he thinks it was all a strange dream. Meanwhile, Charlie knows it wasn’t a dream. The well-crafted story he had been told his whole life was confirmed to be objectively and observably true — his life would never be the same. Scott tries to live as if this never happened, but he finds it impossible. He half-way accepts it, but this makes his life an ugly mess. Is he Santa or not? Eventually, reality forces him to accept that the myth is an objective reality — he is Santa Claus. But something striking happens. All the adults think Scott and Charlie have lost their minds — the story was meant to make Charlie a little nicer around the holidays, not reorganize his whole existence; on the other hand, the children in the movie always believed the Santa story was reality and they geek out when this was confirmed.

Let me suggest that a similar thing happens with Jesus and those who were willing to believe in him. For hundreds and for thousands of years, God had told the fathers and the prophets that everything was wrong because of sin. Things are objectively bad and people objectively die in the real world because they sin and because of Satan’s reign of darkness over creation. But they continued to be told this story of how one day God’s kingdom would come. A king would rule in righteousness and the wicked would be slayed. God would raise his people from the dead, forgive them of their sins, and put his presence among them forever. People from all nations would join up with the family of God and enjoy the same inheritance as Israel in a new land that was restored to be like the garden of Eden.

And while this sounds like a nice story, it had been long awhile since people had seen evidence that this was more than just a fairytale. There were certainly “children” who lived as if this story would soon be an objective reality. There were those like Anna who never left the temple — worshipping, fasting, and praying day and night — begging God to redeem Jerusalem. Bring the resurrection, forgiveness, restoration, the temple, the garden.

And then one day the fairytale became flesh and blood. Jesus observably healed people and objectively changed their lives. His teaching made a tangible difference in people’s lives. Then they killed him and all hope was lost. But John tells us that in the place where Jesus was crucified and buried there was a garden. And three days later Jesus was raised from the dead in that garden on the first day of a new week. The new creation had begun in Jesus. Instead of raising everyone from the dead at the end of time, God had raised up one man in the midst of time. And this wasn’t some mere spirit-like reality that was better felt than told. Jesus was observably and objectively standing before them munching on fish. The same wounds that killed him three days before had no power to kill his resurrected body. 

Make no mistake, Thomas insisted that he had to touch this reality to believe it. Why? Because in that moment an ancient story, myth, fairytale that so many had wanted to be true had actually been confirmed in the real world and it blew his mind. Pre-crucifixion, Thomas accepted the story until it reached heights of mythical proportions: the God of Israel had been murdered before his eyes and now he was supposedly walking around again? Eating bread and fish? He couldn’t just accept someone’s testimony. He had to touch this fairytale.

So, why didn’t God leave Jesus’ body in the tomb and boom with his voice from heaven: I know his body is in the grave, but I promise, Jesus is spiritually alive and here’s a vision of his spirit floating around the clouds with a crown on his head? Why bodily raise Jesus?

It is because Old Testament promises told a story of epic proportions of how dead people in a dead world would be actually raised to life into a world that was alive, and that story must not be fulfilled in some sort of feelings based “spiritual” way that is better felt than objectively observed. The story must become as tangible as a flesh and bone body raised from the dead in a garden, then walking into your home and eating fish with you.

What does this show us? Let’s conclude with two learnings from Paul in Romans 6 and 8. 

1. It teaches the baptized about their new lives now (Romans 6:1-4, 9-13).

Consider the logic of this passage: you have been saved by grace, but some want to know if that means they can keep giving their body over to sin. But Paul’s response is an emphatic, “By no means!” Why? You (your body) were buried with him by baptism into death, so, just as Christ was raised from the dead we might to walk in newness of life. Jesus died, so we have to consider ourselves dead to sin. We cannot keep allowing sin to reign in our mortal body (vs. 12). We cannot keep giving the members of our body to sin (vs. 13). But rather, since we have been brought from death to life, we must give the members of our body to God as instruments for righteousness. Jesus died and was raised tangibly and since we have joined Jesus in that death and resurrection in our baptisms, the members of our body must tangibly walk in a new life.

In Matthew 5 Jesus called out people for relaxing the law and then he continued to show people how they could be guilty of murder and adultery in a sense through angry insults, lust, and divorce. This is so important, but in our virtual world I am afraid that we can interpret this in the wrong way and start to think that killing sin and living to God is a mental battle that we fight on our couches. Thinking nice thoughts and not bad thoughts is not all there is to walking in newness of life. True spirituality — true union with Christ in his death and resurrection — is not just mental, it’s bodily, it’s tangible.

God is not satisfied with mental obedience. We know this from marriage. Why don’t we just say, “I love you” and “I do”? Why do we put a tangible ring on one another’s fingers? Why are we so hung up on having a bodily sexual relationship? Why are you wives so concerned about real flowers? Why can’t we just sent you a picture of flowers? That’s just not how it works, and we know it. In the same way, when we committed to Jesus we did not simply say “Jesus is Lord” and mentally ascent to belief — our bodies were washed with water. This is why we do not simply sing with our hearts, but with our lips.

I find it strange that I profess to believe that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was an observable spiritual victory in the real tangible world, but so often the power of Jesus death and resurrection often remains an unseen mental battle in my mind. And doesn’t this result in unbelievers often having a hard time distinguishing us from the world? Are we still just as hung up on demanding our slice of the American Dream as everyone else? Are our bodies wasting away on our couches in front of our phones and TVs like everyone else? Are our eyes glued to news updates as if we believe with everyone else that they shed more light on reality than the prophets?

Our minds are being renewed, but the renewal of the mind results in the renewal of our bodily life. As Paul says in Romans 8:5, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

The world should be able to tangibly recognize our love for God, for one another, and for them in the truth we speak (not just think) and in the life we tangible walk (not just imagine). They will be able to see that this is a man who is not so fixated on sports, movies, and money-making; this is a woman who is not so hung up on her appearance, her dream home, and her perfect vacation. These are people who are fixated upon knowing and worshipping God. These marriages have been raised from death to life. These people boldly speak truth without fear. All love isn’t love — the love of these people is tangibly different. And so, as Jesus was raised from the dead, let us walk in newness of life. Paul goes on to motivate us to live this life in Romans 6 and 8 by talking about our resurrection in the life to come.

1. It teaches the baptized about the resurrection to come (Romans 6:5; 8:11; cf. 1 Cor. 15)

Do we believe that, just as Jesus was bodily raised, we will be bodily raised in a resurrection like his? Our hope is not to become disembodied spirits floating around. Did you know this was a matter of fellowship in the early church? Why? One reason is because when we lose our grasp on our hope to be resurrected to eternal bodily life, we can start to lose our grip on who we are now. We may start trying to hang onto every bit of bodily life that we can. We might use our time, home, and resources selfishly instead of sacrificially. We might live in fear of dying like everyone else, and that fear may prevent us from bodily living as we should. In our minds, we only bodily live once. We are afraid of missing out on this world. And this distracts us from living and dying for the gospel’s sake.

Mark 8:34–35 ESV, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

How can somebody be willing to give up everything and live a life that observably looks like crucifixion and then to even objectively and sacrificially die for Jesus? Because that person has a solid hope in the salvation of their life in the resurrection from the dead (cf. Phil. 3:8-11). In theory, the apostles were willing to die for Jesus before his resurrection. But when the hour of trial came, they ran. But after they saw Jesus raised, their bodies got on board with their minds.

We can fear that if we or our kids die now then we and they will miss out on real life. But the reality is that this fear actually causes us to miss out on the life that will be even more real. Brothers and sisters, this is not to make light of death. It is to say that our fear of death and our fear of missing out makes light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! In Jesus’ resurrected body he walked on a road, talked, ate fish and bread with people he loved. In Jesus’ resurrected body his wounds no longer bothered or hindered him. Does it sound like we will be missing out on anything in the resurrection? Sometimes we I think we fear that the world and body to come are less solid. But what could be more solid than a body that rises after being whipped and crucified?

We must do something with Jesus’ resurrection. If we are going to reject it, let’s reject it outright. And if we are going to accept it, we cannot keep living as if everything is the same. We cannot treat the cross and the empty tomb as a parable or a metaphor by which we merely imagine our lives to be. The cross and the empty tomb are the pattern by which we are must to bodily walk. This is not for the destruction of our lives, but for our joy and for the life that is eternal.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore