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| January 28, 2007 | |
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Part 5 of 6 | January 28, 2007
 This is the fifth installment of our “Re:series.” In this series, we are learning about the significance of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead by studying 1 Corinthians 15. Our theme verse for this series is 1 Corinthians 15:17, which says, “Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins.” (CEV) So far we’ve learned that Jesus’ death and resurrection reveals how far God is willing to go for us. The resurrection has the power to reset our lives, giving us all the second chance that we need. It has the power to restore our lives, no matter how big a wreck they might be. And last week, Brian Morrissey reminded us that the resurrection has the power to revive our lives by empowering us to overcome our doubts, our disappointment, and our discouragement. Today, our theme is relieve. This week I found a website that rated the top 100 most influential taglines since 1948. It was interesting to read and it really drove home the power of advertising because I knew a lot of these taglines. You probably do too. Let me quiz you on a few of them. See if you can fill in the blank in these advertising slogans. “Melts in your mouth, not in your ________.”
“Takes a licking and keeps on _______________.”
“There are some things that money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s ____________________.”
“Pardon me, do you have any ___________________?”
“The few, the proud, the ___________________.”
“Nothing runs like a ___________________.”
Here are a couple of tougher ones. “It takes a tough man to make a tender ___________________.”
This one’s from the early ‘50s. “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with _______________.”
One more. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a __________ it is.”
I found a little clip of one of these commercials online this week. Thought I’d share it with you. This website I found actually rated this as the #2 advertising jingle since the late ‘40s. People would actually walk around singing this goofy little jingle. It had staying power. More importantly, it sold lots of Alka-Seltzer. There’s something attractive about finding relief in something so simple. Just drop the tablets in water, plop plop, fizz fizz, and then, oh what a relief it is. As silly as it is, this slogan was ingenious marketing because it touched a nerve. We want relief from our pain and our ailments, and we want it in the simplest, fastest way we can get it. During the next few minutes, we’re going to explore some more of 1 Corinthians 15. We’re going in search of relief. But not relief of an upset stomach. We’re chasing after relief of a much more serious illness in our lives. You’ll see this theme develop as we progress through this message. Our focus text this morning is 1 Corinthians 15:50. Keep in mind that this entire chapter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Apostle Paul, who wrote this New Testament book, goes into great detail about how Jesus’ resurrection has a direct impact on our lives and our eternities. With that in mind, check out our text. “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50, NIV) Paul sets up two choices for us. Flesh and blood vs. the kingdom of God. Perishable vs. Imperishable. Physical vs. Spiritual. And the reason he’s driving at these two choices is because we often live shortsighted lives. We’ve got this physical world that we can easily see. Then there’s this spiritual world that we can’t see. Flesh and blood, I can see that. The kingdom of God is invisible. I can see, taste, and touch the perishable things of my world, so I often choose them over the imperishable things of God’s world. And when you follow where this trail leads, it leads to a life of myopia. We become so shortsighted that we focus all our attention and energy on the things in our physical world. And you’re thinking, “Ok, but why is that a problem?” Paul lays it out very clearly for us. “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50, NIV) The problem is that flesh and blood, physical things, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. All the stuff in our world is perishable, temporary. But eternity is made up of the imperishable, the permanent. But many of us focus the majority of our lives toward chasing after the physical, the perishable, the temporary stuff. In the book of Colossians, God tells us, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2, NIV) If you were to divide your life into two categories, what percentage of your energy and devotion would be going toward something in our world? Something that is perishable and temporary? And what percentage would focus on the things of God, imperishable, eternal? For most of us, the scales in our lives inevitably tip toward the things of this world. And here’s what the does to us. It robs us. Focusing on our perishable world robs us of peace. It robs us of joy. When I was a youth minister, one of my favorite weeks of the year was going to Christ In Youth Summer Conference. I probably got more out of the conference than my students. I experienced some of my most intense, my powerful times of worship at these conferences. It was a week where I encountered God in a way that didn’t really happen in my day-to-day life. And it wasn’t just because they had great worship bands and powerful speakers and all of that stuff. It’s because, for that week, I disconnected with this world. For that week, I didn’t see any TV. I didn’t hear any news. I wasn’t on the internet. I was away from the phone. Nobody could email me. I unplugged from this world…and the result of that allowed me to encounter God’s world. But when I only focus on this world, it robs me of the chance to encounter God in a more significant and powerful way. This series is all about the resurrection of Jesus. Let me show you how the resurrection ties in here The resurrection defeated our world’s most powerful force: death. I read this week that, when a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first is usually sight, followed by taste, smell, and touch. Of course I’m thinking, “How in the world would they ever figure that out?” And why? If that was a government study, then I want some of my tax dollars back. I also learned something else interesting this week. How many of you are left-handed? If you are, raise your left hand up high. Well, you all had better be careful, because apparently over 2500 left-handed people are killed each year from using products made for right-handed people. Who figures this stuff out? We have been able to overcome a lot of things in our world. We can do some amazing stuff with science and technology. But one thing we can’t overcome is death. It is still our world’s most powerful force. Last week, Brian reminded us of how death provides us with feelings of doubt, disappointment, and discouragement. But he also showed us God’s deliverance through Jesus’ resurrection. Look at what Paul wrote right after our main text in 1 Corinthians 15. “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:51-55, NIV) Paul refers to Jesus’ resurrection as the final defeat of death. Death has no sting. It has no victory. It is a defeated enemy. The resurrection should give us a higher view of God. It’s a tangible demonstration of his power and his sovereignty. Death is the single most destructive force in our world, but it proved to be no problem for God. Now, this has all been fairly disconnected so far, so now let’s see how this all ties together. Let’s recap where we’ve been so far. We are often guilty of living these myopic, shortsighted lives. We focus the vast majority of our lives on chasing after perishable, temporary things in our world. We get bogged down on the problems and issues we face in our world. But God overcame the most unconquerable force in our world when he defeated death through the resurrection of Jesus. Now, if God can defeat the most powerful force in our world, then there is nothing he cannot do. Nothing he cannot conquer. Nothing is too big or too difficult for him. Most all of us agree with that. We would all probably say, “Yes! I believe that. I believe that there is nothing God cannot do. I believe that nothing is too difficult for him.” But for a lot of us, it’s just lip service because we live like we believe that God is too weak or too small to do something significant in our lives. We have focused on our world for so long, we’ve lost sight of the fact that God transcends our world. He’s bigger than our world. So we walk around in this haze that clouds our view. Instead of joy, there’s despair. Instead of hope, there’s hurt. Instead of peace, there’s an unsettledness about us. But the resurrection can relieve us of all of that. The resurrection’s power can relieve us of our shortsightedness and unleash a God-sized life. A whole slew of us have settled for less than a God-sized life. We’ve settled for a Frank Barone-sized life. In one episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Frank told his family, “You want to know the meaning of life? You're born, you go to school, you go to work, you die.” That is living focused solely on our perishable world, and it produces misery and monotony. And it’s time we stopped settling for that. We know the resurrection of Jesus overcame physical death. Obviously none of us have experienced that personally yet, but we may have experienced other deaths in our lives. The death of a dream. The death of a passion. The death of a mission. I love spending time around new Christians. People who are new to their faith and new to the church. I love being around them because of their passion and their fire. They’re ready to whip the world. And a lot of us old timers simply look at them and think, “That fire will go out soon. Soon they’ll realize why we can’t do that. They’ll understand that we can’t take those kinds of risks.” And it generally doesn’t take too long before we’re right. Once they’re around a group of seasoned Christians long enough, they lose their passion and their enthusiasm and just fall in line with the rest of us. And every time this happens I can just imagine this sigh of disappointment coming from heaven. We have reduced following Jesus to a science. Learn the right rules, avoid the wrong things, say the right words, sing the right songs, come to church at the right times, and that’s what following Jesus is all about. It seems as if we’ve completely lost sight of the fact that Jesus was a radical. An anti-establishment revolutionary. He prayed big prayers. He dreamed big dreams. And he called his followers to leave absolutely everything that was safe and secure to follow him. When was the last time that you took a faith-risk? When was the last time that you had a dream about doing something incredible for God? I just finished reading an incredible book called Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel. Near the end of the book, I read some words that leapt off the page and slapped me right in the face. In Matthew 25, Jesus told a story we refer to as the parable of the talents. In the story, a wealthy man had entrusted his money to three servants to invest on his behalf. Writing about that story, Craig said: When the man checked up on his servants, one of them said, “Master…I knew that you are a hard man…so I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” (vv. 24-25). Did the master commend such cautious discretion? No! He was a businessman. He shouted, “You wicked, lazy servant!” Then he took the money away from the fearful servant and gave it to another servant who had risked his money and multiplied it (vv. 26, 28.) What motivated the unfaithful servant? Fear of failure. Because of it, he avoided risk by burying his master’s money. How many people do that today? Instead of trying something new, many stay at home. Rather than accepting an invitation to make a difference, lots of Christ followers “play it safe.” …We’ve forgotten that the most dangerous thing we can do…is play it safe. That’s what the unfaithful servant did: hedged his bet, avoided his fears…and buried his master’s money. His decision forfeited any future opportunity to make a difference for his master. What if Jesus took your opportunities—or mine—and gave them to someone else? (Groeschel, Craig. Confessions of a Pastor. Portland: Multnomah, 2006.) What opportunity have you been missing? What risk haven’t you taken? What dream have you given up on? All because you’re afraid you might fail. Fear of failure cripples churches and it cripples Christians. I admit that I have been guilty of playing it safe. Even over the last year, I look back over 2006 and see that I’ve often chosen a safe road. I’ve chosen to do something less that will be ok instead of shooting for something big that might fail. Last week I decided to take a step out into the risky waters of faith. I’ve had a dream for a long time, but I’ve always pushed it aside. I’ve always been convinced that it can’t happen. I would definitely fail if I pursued this dream. But this book I read really convicted me of a truth of God. If we don’t take risks and accept the opportunities that God gives us, then he’ll give those opportunities to somebody else. So I have set out in pursuit of this dream. And in case you’re wondering…no, I’m not going to tell you what it is. My wife is the only person who knows that I’m pursuing this dream. I can just hear the discussions at lunch today. “What do you think his dream is?” “What’s he going to do?” I’ll tell you eventually, so hang in there. Here’s the thing about my dream…I may fail. Actually, the potential for failure is off-the-charts. But I’m tired of settling for less. Jesus’ resurrection has defeated physical death. I don’t have to worry about death because my eternal travel plans are already booked. But I don’t want to stop there. I’m learning that the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. I want the resurrection power of Jesus to relieve me of a mundane, ordinary life. I want it to relieve me of crippling fear and unleash me to live the life that God has dreamed for me to live. And I want the same for you and I want the same for our church. If we focus on what is practical, if we come up with excuses, if we always play it safe, then there’s no limit to what we can’t do. You’ve heard the excuses. Maybe you’ve even used the excuses. “At this point in my life, I can’t…” “I’m not talented enough to…” “Maybe when my life slows down, I will…” “I’m too old to…” “I don’t know enough to…” “I’m afraid that…” Michelangelo said, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Our flesh and blood, perishable world will give you a million and one reasons why you can’t do something. But those million reasons can melt away if we take our focus off the physical and place it on the spiritual. Keep in mind that this is not a guaranteed recipe for success. The potential for failure is still a reality. But God is looking for people who are willing to take a risk. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, the king has issued a decree that declared that his subjects could only worship a huge gold statue that he had constructed. No worship of any other image or god was allowed. There were three guys that just weren’t going to go along with this. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego continued to worship God in spite of the king’s command. The penalty for their disobedience was to be thrown in a blazing furnace and burned to death. But they stood their ground. I love their response to the king. They said, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18, NIV) They believed that God could save them, but they didn’t know if he would save them. But either way, they were willing to take the risk. We know that God did save them, but at this point, they had no idea what the outcome would be. But they didn’t allow the fear of failure to stop them. When you read God’s word, you see time after time after time that the people who followed him were risk-takers. They dreamed big. They took a chance. And that is still the kind of followers that God is seeking out today. Sometimes we have been guilty of watering Christianity down to a list of don’ts. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Just learn to avoid this sin and that sin, and you’re good to go. It’s all don’ts. But what about the do’s? Mark Batterson said, “Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are half-Christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong.” (Batterson, Mark. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Portland: Multnomah, 2006.) As we think about becoming dreamers and risk-takers who are proactive instead of reactive, we need to remember that that’s a good description of God. God is action-oriented. God had a dream. He had a dream of calling a rebellious and sinful group of people back to himself. His plan looked like it was doomed from the start. After all, his son was born in a manger, not a palace. He grew up in near obscurity. He ran around with the wrong crowd. He had losers for disciples. More than that, he let himself be crucified. A death that marked the ultimate failure. It was one thing to die. It was quite another to be crucified. We cannot comprehend the social stigma that was attached to crucifixion. So there was God’s dream, seemingly crushed by the failure of the cross. But we also know how the story ends. It ends with God turning what seemed like his moment of failure into his ultimate victory when Jesus rose from the dead. The price has been paid and the victory has been won. Now God’s dream is for you to accept it. To enter into the life that He designed for you. A life of risk and adventure and faith. God is not practical or pragmatic. He is wild. He is adventurous. He is a dreamer. And his ultimate dream is for you to spend your life and your eternity with him. If you’ve never accepted that free grace gift, we’d love to pray with you about that this morning. Mike Edmisten Tags: relieve, 1 Corinthians 15, adventure, Colossians 3, death, dream, failure, fear, resurrection, risk |
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