The Revolution Begins Video
This is my first time attempting to include video on this blog, so if it doesn't work, the text of the sermon is below. The sermon was preached by me on Easter Sunday and was video recorded by my stepson.
What makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to the world today? Why does it matter? Our world is mostly post-Christian, it is more secular all the time. People don’t feel the need to go to church any more. Why not? What is the point of continuing to proclaim the Gospel in a world that has largely made up its mind that Jesus Christ, if he even existed at all, was a good teacher and a role model and all that, but wasn’t God.
In fact, what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? He forgave all my sins. He died so I don’t have to. He told us that God loves everyone and wants us all to go to heaven when we die. Great! So what? What is point? What is it all for?
I’ve learned that many people, when asked what is the goal of Christian living, what is the point of following Jesus, their response is, “so that I may go to heaven when I die.” That’s okay, but to someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus, who doesn’t really believe in a cosmic intelligence behind the formation of all of time and space, which we call “God,” it’s not very much to go on. They need more.
Because what if there were no heaven? Now, I’m not suggesting that there isn’t, because I believe that heaven is a real, physical place about which Jesus said, “In my Father’s house, there are many rooms. If it were not so, I would not have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you.” But keep in mind that, for many people, maybe some in your own families, maybe even some of you here today, heaven is just not very believable, and more importantly, the idea of going somewhere after we die that is beyond anything we can describe doesn’t really matter when life is happening now.
So what makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to the world today? Why does it matter? What is so important about that cross?
We find part of the answer to that in our reading from Isaiah, “On this mountain, the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine….and he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples...and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth.”
This is not language about the heaven to which we will someday go if we are all good boys and girls. On this mountain? All the earth? This is about here, this is about now. This is about the Kingdom of God.
In the Book of Acts, the Apostle Peter describes Jesus’ ministry, and he says that Jesus is the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead, but he describes the anointing that Jesus received from the Holy Spirit to go and heal, to preach good news of peace. And then Peter says that he and the other apostles have been commanded to go and do what? The same thing!
He didn’t say to tell everyone that is sick that it’s okay, because they will die someday and be healed in heaven. He didn’t say to tell everyone that they will find peace in heaven, he said that they were commanded to proclaim the very same good news that Jesus proclaimed, to spread that same peace and we know, from the rest of the New Testament, that they were sent out with the same power to heal and to reconcile people to God.
So maybe what Isaiah prophecied about the Kingdom of God coming here is what Jesus himself proclaimed and displayed by his ministry of healing and of reconciliation. Maybe, by dying on the cross and rising from the grave, Jesus broke the power that sin has over us here on this earth. Maybe our sins aren’t just forgiven so that we can live in heaven someday, maybe they are forgiven so we can create heaven around us on this mountain, so that the reproach of God’s people will be taken away from all the earth.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about now. It is about what the world can become through Christ, it is about who we can be in Christ, and about what Christ can do through us. And all this stuff that we read and hear about in church about heaven is described to us in this way, in this kind of metaphorical language, because it is the only adequate way to express the significance of what Jesus did and is continuing to do on this earth.
Jesus began a revolution. He doesn’t just want us to go to heaven to be with him someday, he wants heaven to be here! It’s not enough for Jesus, the Son of God, to have walked among us and ministered to us and to go through torture and crucifixion and resurrection just to give us all a free pass.
He did it for more than that. So what makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to the world today? The same reason that it did 2,000 years ago. Our world is broken and in darkness. The good news of Jesus Christ is light and it is hope, it is a message that proclaims freedom to the captive, those captive to their sins as well as those in prison. It gives sight to the blind by the light of truth, and to give hope to the hopeless, by transforming us into a community that is united in fellowship with one another, working together so that we might, within our own lifetimes even (!) see the sort of kingdom of heaven on earth that the Prophet Isaiah describes.
Imagine a feast laid out for all the people of the earth. People of all races and your neighbor that you might not like very much, and the guy down the street who is addicted to heroin. The best food, the best drinks. All of us together. You know, one of the best ways to break the ice with someone and get to know them is to share a meal with them. Somehow it actually creates fellowship. So what if Isaiah’s prophecy was to actually come true? Because we can do that.
Maybe that is the miracle of Easter. That Jesus’ resurrection only began something that is continuing to unfold around us today; this is the revolution, and Jesus is calling us, he is inviting you to be a part of it, to be a part of the story of the salvation of the world!
Don’t you want to be a part of that story? It can be your story too.
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