¤¤
00:00:01.10\00:00:04.00
>> Good morning,
and happy Sabbath.
00:00:09.00\00:00:12.04
What a glorious day to
be at church, isn't it?
00:00:12.21\00:00:14.91
It's a beautiful day to be here.
I invite you to stand as we give
00:00:14.91\00:00:18.51
praise and prayer to
our God and our King.
00:00:18.51\00:00:22.32
Pray with me. Holy, holy, holy
is God Almighty who was, who is,
00:00:25.45\00:00:33.90
and who ever shall be. Father,
may our hope grow strong today.
00:00:33.90\00:00:38.37
May our love endure and may our
faith be a testament to what we
know to be true, that Jesus came
00:00:38.37\00:00:45.94
to this Earth. He lived, he
died, and was resurrected and
00:00:45.94\00:00:51.98
promises to come again. In
Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
00:00:51.98\00:00:55.45
Sing "Christ is Alive," hymn
number 182 with us this morning.
00:00:55.45\00:01:02.62
¤¤ [ Congregation sings ]
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Amen. [ "Mighty to Save" plays ]
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[ Congregation sings ]
00:03:21.86\00:03:24.90
¤¤
00:04:17.32\00:04:20.22
¤¤
00:06:39.23\00:06:42.10
[ "How Deep the
Father's Love For Us" plays ]
00:06:57.68\00:07:02.15
[ Congregation sings ]
00:07:11.53\00:07:14.40
¤¤
00:08:04.05\00:08:06.95
¤¤
00:10:16.34\00:10:19.25
>> Oh, Happy Easter
Sabbath to you, boys and girls.
00:11:17.61\00:11:20.14
Nice to have you. I
got a little show and tell
00:11:20.14\00:11:22.44
today. In this
white bag is something
00:11:22.44\00:11:25.78
from Cuba.
00:11:25.78\00:11:27.08
The country of Cuba. 31 one of
us from the seminary were down
there for -- what was
00:11:27.25\00:11:32.55
it? -- 10, 11 days. I wrote it
up for your mom and dad in the
00:11:32.55\00:11:36.46
blog. But two weeks from today,
don't miss it -- We got a big
report, big screen, pictures and
00:11:36.46\00:11:41.30
all. The whole team will be
here. But so, this is from Cuba.
I'm gonna show you -- Have you
00:11:41.30\00:11:47.80
ever seen one of these? These
are something. Have you ever
00:11:47.80\00:11:53.41
seen one? Ta-da! This is
not just a block of wood.
00:11:53.41\00:11:59.48
This is a box with the
Cuban flag on it. This is a box.
00:11:59.48\00:12:07.22
This is a mystery box, no box
like it anywhere on Earth. And I
have it right here.
00:12:07.22\00:12:16.13
I need a volunteer, all right?
Young man in the blue shirt.
What I'm gonna do is I'm
00:12:16.13\00:12:21.70
gonna -- because this box can be
opened. I'm gonna give this box
00:12:21.70\00:12:25.31
to this young man. And would
you please open this for us, all
00:12:25.31\00:12:28.34
right? So, he's got the box.
He's gonna open the box for us.
Then I want to show you.
00:12:28.34\00:12:31.28
It's just such a cool, little
box. What's the problem with
00:12:31.28\00:12:37.09
him? Could you open the box?
[ Laughter ] Oh, no, don't break
00:12:37.09\00:12:42.02
it. [ Chuckles ] So, he's got
the box. What's he trying to do
00:12:42.02\00:12:45.59
with the box? >> Open
it! >> Trying to open it.
00:12:45.59\00:12:47.50
>> Trying to open the box.
What's his problem? >> He can't
00:12:47.50\00:12:50.53
open it. >> That's exactly
right. He can't open it. Yeah,
go ahead. Try that.
00:12:50.53\00:12:56.44
[ Chuckles ] No lock on it.
Come on. What's the problem?
00:12:56.44\00:13:03.91
Well, let me try it. Let me just
try it. And this is the part I'm
00:13:03.91\00:13:08.05
really nervous about. [ Laughter
] Because you and I will both go
00:13:08.05\00:13:12.72
home early.
Okay. So, here's a box.
00:13:12.72\00:13:16.69
No, I can't... It sounds a
little hollow. Let me just try
00:13:16.69\00:13:22.10
this. I don't know. Oh! What?!
00:13:22.10\00:13:28.97
Look at that! It's a mystery
box. Has a secret, little drawer
00:13:28.97\00:13:34.01
that goes in like this. And
nobody can find what's inside
because you have to know
00:13:34.01\00:13:41.08
just how to open it. And
when you know how to open it, it
00:13:41.08\00:13:47.86
opens! You know, there's some
people that think this is what
00:13:47.86\00:13:50.53
the grave is. They think that
when you go into a casket, when
you go into a coffin, adios.
00:13:50.53\00:13:54.96
We'll never see you again.
That's what some people believe
00:13:54.96\00:13:59.63
the grave is. But this weekend,
we're celebrating somebody who
came from far away to this
00:13:59.63\00:14:03.04
Earth. What's his name? >>
Jesus! >> We're celebrating
00:14:03.04\00:14:05.54
Jesus, who came and went into
the grave. And because he knew
the secret and had the power,
00:14:05.54\00:14:11.21
just like that, on Sunday
morning, what happened? Satan
said, "He'll never get out
00:14:11.21\00:14:16.15
of my grave now!" And on Sunday
morning, voilà! Jesus rose.
00:14:16.15\00:14:22.26
And because he's opened the
grave, nobody has to be afraid
of going into a wooden box ever
00:14:22.26\00:14:26.93
again. You don't have to
be afraid if you have Jesus.
00:14:26.93\00:14:32.33
Amen. Thank you, Cuba,
for that wonderful lesson.
00:14:32.33\00:14:36.67
Who would like to thank Jesus
for opening the secret mystery
box for us so that we never have
00:14:36.67\00:14:42.31
to be afraid again? I need
a young lady. I've got a young
00:14:42.31\00:14:46.82
lady right there. All right,
let's close our eyes and fold
our hands with Sissy as
00:14:46.82\00:14:53.29
she thanks Jesus for opening. >>
Dear Jesus, thank you that, on
Friday, you died for us to
00:14:53.29\00:15:03.50
save us from death because of
our sins, and thank you that you
paid the price for us and that,
00:15:03.50\00:15:13.07
on Sunday, you woke up and you
came out of your grave. And
thank you that you promised
00:15:13.07\00:15:22.68
that one day you would come back
and save us and take us home to
00:15:22.68\00:15:27.92
Heaven with you. In Jesus' name,
amen. >> Amen. That was such a
00:15:27.92\00:15:31.49
beautiful prayer. That was the
whole gospel. Beautifully done.
00:15:31.49\00:15:34.66
Thank you, Sissy. God bless you,
children. Remember what Sissy
00:15:34.66\00:15:39.33
just prayed. Thank you, Jesus.
You are the one who has opened
00:15:39.33\00:15:45.84
the box for us. [ "Christ
the Lord is Risen Today" plays ]
00:15:48.44\00:15:52.68
[ Congregation sings ]
00:16:24.95\00:16:27.52
¤¤
00:18:23.77\00:18:26.67
[ Congregation sings ]
00:18:48.72\00:18:50.93
>> O, God, we sing our hope,
ours the cross, the grave, the
00:19:35.07\00:19:43.45
skies. Now set that hope ablaze
and send us into this dark
world. We pray in Christ's name.
00:19:43.45\00:19:51.62
Amen. Be seated, please.
00:19:51.62\00:19:54.29
On this Easter Sabbath,
two stories and a commentary.
00:20:09.24\00:20:14.98
Story number one.
Russell Baker, syndicated and
00:20:14.98\00:20:21.42
Pulitzer Prize winning
columnist, New York Times,
00:20:21.42\00:20:24.52
stories from his
memoir entitled "Growing Up."
00:20:24.52\00:20:31.06
5-year-old Russell -- his daddy
is sick, sicker than the little
00:20:31.06\00:20:37.30
boy realizes, by the way.
00:20:37.30\00:20:39.67
Here we go. "It was a gentle,
pastel, Indian summer morning,
00:20:39.83\00:20:45.37
warm and sweet. I wandered
around the backyard until the
sun burned off the frost.
00:20:45.37\00:20:48.41
And after a while, my mother
came out. 'The doctor's here,'
00:20:48.41\00:20:52.71
she said. 'He's going to take
Daddy to the hospital in
Frederick so he can get better.
00:20:52.71\00:20:56.79
Come and kiss him goodbye.' To
my surprise, my father was fully
dressed and seated in the
00:20:56.79\00:21:01.56
doctor's small roadster at the
front of the house. I walked
across the lawn to the
00:21:01.56\00:21:06.70
car, and he leaned out the
window and smiled, but he didn't
have much to say to me.
00:21:06.70\00:21:11.27
Just, 'Daddy'll be home in a day
or two. Be a good boy till I get
00:21:11.27\00:21:16.57
back.' My mother held me up, and
he gave me a kiss. 'We'd better
00:21:16.57\00:21:20.11
be going,' the doctor said. My
mother set me down and leaned
into the car and kissed him.
00:21:20.11\00:21:24.08
She and I watched the roadster
together until it passed over
the brow of the hill, headed for
00:21:24.08\00:21:29.18
the Maryland side of the
Potomac. The next day, I set off
00:21:29.18\00:21:34.99
on one of my daily wandering
expeditions, taking the road
00:21:34.99\00:21:40.26
toward the creek. I was down
there by myself. You could
always find something
00:21:40.26\00:21:43.77
entertaining to do around
Morrisonville. Climb a fence.
Take a stick. Scratch pictures
00:21:43.77\00:21:47.17
in the dirt. There were always
cows around, or a horse. Throw
pebbles at a locust tree.
00:21:47.17\00:21:51.07
I was busy at this sort of thing
when I saw my second cousins
Kenneth and Ruth Lee coming down
00:21:51.07\00:21:57.51
the road. Besides Doris and
Audrey, my sisters and me, they
00:21:57.51\00:22:02.85
were the only children living in
Morrisonville. Kenneth, two
years older than I,
00:22:02.85\00:22:06.39
was our leader. He was coming
down the road with Ruth Lee
following, as usual.
00:22:06.39\00:22:10.13
I was happy to see them. We
usually played in the fields and
around the barns and straw
00:22:10.13\00:22:14.20
ricks together and I was glad
now to have company. When
Kenneth walked right up to
00:22:14.20\00:22:18.77
me, though, he stared at me with
such a stare as I'd never seen.
'Your father's dead,' he said.
00:22:18.77\00:22:26.81
It was like an accusation that
my father had done something
vile and criminal, and I came to
00:22:26.81\00:22:30.78
my father's defense. 'He is
not,' I said. But, of course,
00:22:30.78\00:22:34.08
they didn't know the situation.
I started to explain. He was
sick. In the hospital.
00:22:34.08\00:22:37.09
My mother was bringing him home
right now. 'He's dead,' Kenneth
00:22:37.09\00:22:43.79
said. His assurance slid an
icicle into my heart. 'He is not
either!' I shouted.
00:22:43.79\00:22:47.86
'He is too,' Ruth Lee said. 'And
they want you to come home right
00:22:47.86\00:22:52.87
away.' I started running up the
road screaming, 'He is not!' It
was a weak argument.
00:22:52.87\00:22:58.54
They had the evidence and gave
it to me as I hurried home
crying, 'He is not. He is not.
00:22:58.54\00:23:03.68
He is not.' I was almost certain
before I got there that he was.
00:23:03.68\00:23:09.25
And I was right. Arriving at the
hospital that morning, my mother
00:23:09.25\00:23:13.39
was told he had died at 4 A.M.
in 'acute diabetic coma.' He was
00:23:13.39\00:23:20.83
33 years old. When I came
running home, my mother was
still not back from Frederick,
00:23:20.83\00:23:24.57
but the women had descended on
our house, as women there did in
such times, and were already
00:23:24.57\00:23:28.34
busy with the ritual
housecleaning and cooking that
was Morrisonville's instinctual
00:23:28.34\00:23:33.07
response to death. With a
thousand tasks to do, they had
no time to handle a howling
00:23:33.07\00:23:37.05
5-year-old. I was sent to the
opposite end of town, to Bessie
00:23:37.05\00:23:41.18
Scott's house. Poor Bessie
Scott. All afternoon she
listened, patiently as a saint,
00:23:41.18\00:23:46.55
while I sat in her kitchen and
cried myself out. For the first
00:23:46.55\00:23:52.76
time, I thought seriously about
God. Between sobs, I told Bessie
that if God could do things like
00:23:52.76\00:23:58.13
this to people, then God was
hateful and I had no more use
for Him. Bessie told me about
00:23:58.13\00:24:03.91
the peace of heaven and the joy
of being among the angels and
the happiness of my father, who
00:24:03.91\00:24:07.74
was already there. This argument
failed to quiet my rage.
00:24:07.74\00:24:12.65
'God loves us all like His own
children,' Bessie said. 'Well,
if God loves me, why did
00:24:12.65\00:24:17.12
He make my father die?' Bessie
said I would understand someday,
but she was only partly
00:24:17.12\00:24:22.89
right. That afternoon, though
I couldn't have phrased it this
00:24:22.89\00:24:27.23
way then, I decided God was a
lot less interested in people
than anybody in Morrisonville
00:24:27.23\00:24:33.47
was willing to admit. That day,
I decided God was not entirely
00:24:33.47\00:24:40.18
to be trusted. After all, after
that, I never cried again with
any real conviction, nor
00:24:40.18\00:24:49.05
expected much of anyone's God
except indifference, nor loved
deeply without fearing it would
00:24:49.05\00:24:54.36
cost me dearly in pain. At the
age of 5, I had become a
skeptic, began to sense that
00:24:54.36\00:25:00.70
any happiness coming my way
might be the prelude to some
00:25:00.70\00:25:10.41
grim cosmic joke." Sad, isn't
it? Makes you wonder how many of
us had been living for years
00:25:10.41\00:25:19.85
with an abandoned hope born out
of a broken heart, chasing hope
from an empty tomb, a new
00:25:19.85\00:25:34.30
season. But what hope is there?
Story number two. Let's go to
00:25:34.30\00:25:40.97
it. The Gospel of Mark, the
dramatic, terse Gospel of Mark.
Mark Chapter 16, the last page
00:25:40.97\00:25:46.88
of the Gospel. Mark
16. Story number two.
00:25:46.88\00:25:54.22
Mark 16:1.
00:25:54.22\00:25:57.32
"Who will roll the stone away?"
Maybe that was the haunting
00:26:23.55\00:26:29.58
question that we heard over and
over again this week through the
00:26:29.58\00:26:35.06
din and the dust and the
smoke and the flame, the fury of
00:26:35.06\00:26:44.47
another city, yet another
city added to the roll call of
00:26:44.47\00:26:48.97
terrorist targets.
Poor Brussels, Belgium.
00:26:48.97\00:26:52.91
Who rolled the stone away?
Who will deliver us from this
00:26:52.91\00:27:01.02
death?
00:27:01.02\00:27:03.02
Verse 2 again.
00:27:09.16\00:27:11.29
Wasn't that what the little
5-year-old Russell was screaming
00:27:23.64\00:27:27.84
into that afternoon air
as he cried all the way home?
00:27:27.84\00:27:32.01
"He is not. He
is not. He is not."
00:27:32.01\00:27:35.98
I want you to see Russell's
words written as an adult.
00:27:35.98\00:27:41.22
Celebrated writer. Put
him on the screen for you.
00:27:41.22\00:27:45.23
I just read them to you.
00:27:45.23\00:27:47.13
And by the way, not even the
brightest minds on Earth have
00:28:27.07\00:28:35.94
figured it out. In the March
issue of this year of the New
Republic magazine, literary
00:28:35.94\00:28:42.38
critic William Giraldi ravingly
reviews Katie Roiphe's new book
on death. She entitled the book
00:28:42.38\00:28:47.16
"The Violet Hour." "The Violet
Hour," a phrase borrowed from
00:28:47.16\00:28:51.99
T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."
Let me read just a piece of his
review of her book.
00:28:51.99\00:28:58.10
Giraldi writing, "A writer's
dying" -- because she's gonna
study five dying authors -- "A
00:28:58.10\00:29:06.17
writer's dying can seem the coda
to his work, since one
definition of the poet and
00:29:06.17\00:29:12.21
novelist is, or should be,
someone who's been preparing to
die all along -- someone whose
00:29:12.21\00:29:17.72
imaginative life is usurped by
the inevitability of our flesh,
and the consequences that
00:29:17.72\00:29:23.16
inevitability has for the
spirit." He goes on, "In 'The
00:29:23.16\00:29:27.60
Violet Hour,' Katie Roiphe
delivers a composite of daring
beauty on the deaths of Susan
00:29:27.60\00:29:34.30
Sontag, Sigmund Freud,
John Updike, Dylan Thomas, and
00:29:34.30\00:29:39.27
Maurice Sendak. In the slow fade
of her five writers -- cancer
00:29:39.44\00:29:44.85
came for Sontag, Freud, and
Updike; a stroke felled Sendak;
00:29:44.85\00:29:50.75
Thomas decimated himself
exuberantly with drink -- Roiphe
00:29:50.75\00:29:54.29
finds" -- and now he quotes her
book -- she finds 'glimpses of
00:29:54.29\00:29:57.43
bravery'" -- as they're dying
-- "of beauty, of truly terrible
00:29:57.43\00:30:01.20
behavior, of creative bursts, of
superb devotion, of glitteringly
00:30:01.20\00:30:05.30
accurate self-knowledge,
and of magnificent delusion.
00:30:05.30\00:30:08.74
'I think if I can capture death
on the page,' she writes, 'I'll
repair or heal something.
00:30:08.90\00:30:15.11
I'll feel better. It comes down
to that.'" But does it really?
00:30:15.11\00:30:20.88
Does it come down to that? You
capture death on a page and that
00:30:20.88\00:30:26.32
settles it? But maybe we
couldn't capture death anywhere
else anyway but on a page.
00:30:26.32\00:30:35.16
Story number two continues.
00:30:35.16\00:30:38.00
I found a cheerful, little poem
written by the 19th century
English poet John Clare.
00:31:04.09\00:31:09.93
A cheery piece, quietly builds
to the last line that ends, by
the way, with a question mark.
00:31:09.93\00:31:15.74
I want to read it to you. If
you're like me, when somebody
reads poetry and I can't see the
00:31:15.74\00:31:20.11
words, I mean, it's just -- I
just can't quite get it, so I
want you to see what you're
00:31:20.11\00:31:24.98
hearing. Reach into your worship
bulletin, your Easter bulletin.
00:31:24.98\00:31:28.35
The study guide is there, which
is a collection of the quotes in
00:31:28.35\00:31:31.99
this teaching. Pull it out.
Right there at the top, you see
00:31:31.99\00:31:35.52
John Clare's poem. Title of his
poem, "The Instinct of Hope."
00:31:35.52\00:31:39.09
You see it there? So, you'll
hear it and now you'll read it
at the same time. Not putting it
00:31:39.09\00:31:44.37
on the screen. Okay? "The
Instinct of Hope." "Is there
another world for this
00:31:44.37\00:31:53.38
frail dust to warm with life and
be itself again? Something about
00:31:53.38\00:31:59.58
me daily speaks there must, and
why should instinct nourish
hopes in vain? 'Tis nature's
00:31:59.58\00:32:05.45
prophecy that such will be, and
everything seems struggling to
explain the close sealed volume
00:32:05.45\00:32:10.29
of its mystery. Time wandering
onward keeps its usual pace as
00:32:10.29\00:32:15.46
seeming anxious of eternity, to
meet that calm and find a
resting place. Even the small
00:32:15.46\00:32:22.64
violet feels a future power and
waits each year renewing blooms
to bring, and surely man is no
00:32:22.64\00:32:30.01
inferior flower to die unworthy
of a second spring?" Is he? Is
00:32:30.01\00:32:39.35
she? I'm gonna read
those last four lines again.
00:32:39.35\00:32:42.22
And when they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been
00:32:57.37\00:33:02.68
removed. What is this second
spring of which the poet speaks?
Maybe only in the dank, the dark
00:33:02.68\00:33:11.65
chilled air of a sepulchre
we can know the truth. Verse 4
00:33:11.65\00:33:18.93
again. What a conflicted ending
to this dramatic gospel.
Manuscripts indicate this is
00:33:55.30\00:33:59.80
probably the actual ending,
conflicted in the end, because
every reader who will read this
00:33:59.80\00:34:06.04
story lives in a conflicted
world where hope and fear and
faith and doubt are mixed in a
00:34:06.04\00:34:13.25
terrible embrace.
00:34:13.25\00:34:15.72
Wow. Chasing hope. I
mean, what else can you do
00:34:21.06\00:34:27.50
with hope but chase it? Chasing
hope, a new series for a new
00:34:27.50\00:34:36.94
season. Because the fact is,
this fall, there will be
something called hope trending,
00:34:36.94\00:34:43.95
a crash course on how to live
without fear. You look at the
cover of the bulletin, it says
00:34:43.95\00:34:49.55
29 weeks and counting away. So
before hope trending, why not
chasing hope, the season that
00:34:49.55\00:34:57.36
precedes it? What else can
we do with hope but chase it?
00:34:57.36\00:35:04.77
The apostle Peter. There's a
line he writes, and we go to it.
00:35:04.77\00:35:11.61
And the reason we can go to it
is because, as you know, many
scholars believe that Peter
00:35:11.61\00:35:15.88
himself, the big fisherman
Peter, he was the personal
mentor and father figure for
00:35:15.88\00:35:20.15
young John Mark. Do you remember
John Mark, who Paul took under
00:35:20.15\00:35:24.95
his wing, this intrepid
missionary Paul, on that
missionary team, but Paul sent
00:35:24.95\00:35:31.33
the boy packing halfway in
because Paul apparently didn't
brook crybabies and sissies on
00:35:31.33\00:35:38.80
such major missions as this, and
so, shamed, John Mark returns to
Jerusalem, where his mother
00:35:38.80\00:35:44.91
lives. But the wise fisherman
saw a diamond in the rough. He
put his arms around that boy.
00:35:44.91\00:35:52.21
Scholars tell us that, in fact,
the Gospel of Mark is really the
gospel according to Peter,
00:35:52.21\00:35:56.75
because did you notice only in
the Gospel of Mark, the angel
says, "Go tell his disciples and
00:35:56.75\00:36:01.46
Peter." You can bet Peter hung
on to that one word of hope for
00:36:01.46\00:36:08.73
a long, long time. So, we've
heard Peter's recitation of the
00:36:08.73\00:36:13.20
resurrection, and now we go to
Peter. Come on. Let's go. 1
Peter. He only wrote two little
00:36:13.20\00:36:17.37
letters in the New Testament.
This is the commentary to the
00:36:17.37\00:36:21.18
two stories. Here it comes.
1 Peter 1. Near the end of your
00:36:21.18\00:36:26.05
Bible. 1 Peter 1. Let's go.
00:36:26.05\00:36:30.15
We go to this line because, as
it turns out, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ turns out to be
00:36:33.19\00:36:42.10
the tour de force of the
Gospel Proclamation in the New
00:36:42.10\00:36:47.77
Testament. It is the
quintessence of the Gospel.
00:36:47.77\00:36:52.01
Watch. All right. 1 Peter 1.
00:36:52.01\00:36:53.58
Oh, let's just begin the letter
where most letters begin -- at
00:36:53.74\00:36:56.31
the beginning.
"Peter, an apostle of
00:36:56.31\00:36:58.15
Jesus Christ, to God's elect,
exiles scattered throughout the
00:36:58.15\00:37:01.35
provinces of Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
00:37:01.35\00:37:04.05
Bithynia" -- That would be
Turkey, Asia Minor today --
00:37:04.05\00:37:07.82
"who have been chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God the
00:37:07.82\00:37:11.53
Father, through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit" --
00:37:11.53\00:37:14.76
Good night, we've got
the whole Trinity here --
00:37:14.76\00:37:16.93
and they've been chosen "to
be obedient to Jesus Christ and
00:37:16.93\00:37:21.57
sprinkled with his blood."
Now, notice the next line.
00:37:21.57\00:37:25.01
"Grace and peace be
yours in abundance."
00:37:25.01\00:37:28.98
And I love that line. We
haven't even gotten -- we're
00:37:28.98\00:37:30.81
chasing hope, but we've run
into grace and peace on the way.
00:37:30.81\00:37:33.48
Let it be in abundance. Let it
be for you in abundance. And why
00:37:33.65\00:37:38.05
wouldn't it be in abundance when
you have the entire Trinity on
your side? Did you get what we
00:37:38.05\00:37:44.93
just read? God the Father -- who
is He? God the Father is the one
who, with foreknowledge, picks
00:37:44.93\00:37:48.96
you out before you were in your
mother's tummy. Said, "I want
00:37:48.96\00:37:52.40
that girl to be born. I want
that boy to be born." And by the
way, if you are alive
00:37:52.40\00:37:55.60
today, you are alive because of
the foreknowledge of the God of
00:37:55.60\00:37:59.21
this universe. I don't care who
your mommy was, and I don't care
what your daddy did.
00:37:59.21\00:38:03.65
The fact is, you're alive today
because there is a divine being
who chose you before you were
00:38:03.65\00:38:10.45
born and said, "I want
you, girl. I want you, boy.
00:38:10.45\00:38:14.29
You're gonna follow me for the
rest of your life." But it's not
00:38:14.29\00:38:18.56
just God the Father. You have
God the Spirit. What does the
00:38:18.56\00:38:20.96
Spirit do? He does this
sanctifying work. And what is
that? Espiritu santo, as I've
00:38:20.96\00:38:24.40
been learning to say in Spanish,
in Cuba, what does sanctifying
00:38:24.40\00:38:29.87
mean? It means the Spirit has
reached into your life. Get this
-- He has pulled you
00:38:29.87\00:38:33.24
out of the pack. He's
pulled you out of the crowd.
00:38:33.24\00:38:35.61
He's separated you from the
gang. "You're no longer a part
00:38:35.61\00:38:38.41
of them. Boy, you
stay right here with me.
00:38:38.41\00:38:40.35
You and me. You belong to
me, girl. You stay here with me.
00:38:40.35\00:38:43.35
I have separated you for me."
That's what sanctifying means.
And then you have Jesus with the
00:38:43.35\00:38:48.52
code language of Calvary,
sprinkled with his blood. It's
because of Jesus that the
00:38:48.52\00:38:53.16
Good Friday is good. The
entire Trinity is on our side.
00:38:53.16\00:38:59.60
What's not to like about that
this Easter? No wonder grace and
00:38:59.60\00:39:04.71
peace be yours in abundance.
Rest in God. Oh, but you were
00:39:04.71\00:39:10.75
chasing hope. That's right,
Peter says. You're chasing hope.
00:39:10.75\00:39:13.98
Let's go. Verse 3. Not a dead
hope, not a half-baked hope -- a
00:39:21.72\00:39:25.49
living hope, a vibrant,
pulsating, breathing, living
00:39:25.49\00:39:29.30
hope. "I have
given you a living hope."
00:39:29.30\00:39:32.70
You hold on to that hope.
00:39:32.87\00:39:35.54
And how has he given it to us?
Ah! Through the resurrection of
00:39:39.17\00:39:46.58
Jesus Christ. From the dead. You
see, Good Friday's not enough,
not if you're God as He
00:39:46.58\00:39:54.36
is. Good Friday -- yes, oh,
Good Friday was eternal love's
00:39:54.36\00:39:57.33
sacrificial death for the entire
human race from beginning to
00:39:57.33\00:40:00.46
end. Oh, yes, without Good
Friday, we would not even be
here today, but the death of
00:40:00.46\00:40:06.33
Good Friday means nothing
without the resurrection of
Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is
00:40:06.33\00:40:14.04
the divine seal of approval on
this tour de force. The
atonement ratified seal.
00:40:14.04\00:40:22.28
And never to be broken.
Only when God arose was the seal
00:40:22.28\00:40:33.90
affixed. What was declared by
faith finished on Friday, really
got finished on Sunday.
00:40:33.90\00:40:41.10
Wow. That's why the New
Testament just repeats and
00:40:41.10\00:40:47.38
repeats and repeats. No Easter
Sunday -- There is no Good
00:40:47.38\00:40:52.41
Friday. Which, by the way, is
precisely Paul's point. Paul, a
00:40:52.41\00:40:57.15
buddy of Peter's. They didn't
always see eye to eye, but they
were friends. Paul, who has
00:40:57.15\00:41:02.62
heard about a toxic rumor that
is filtering through this newly
planted church in Corinth, a
00:41:02.62\00:41:07.76
deadly rumor that suggests,
"You know what? All this
00:41:07.76\00:41:11.83
resurrecting-dead-
bodies stuff is a bunch of bunk.
00:41:11.83\00:41:17.77
experientially, it's just bunk."
Intellectually and And Paul
jumps, thunders to his literary
00:41:17.77\00:41:23.08
feet, and I need you to see what
he actually writes. Keep your
finger here. We'll be right
00:41:23.08\00:41:26.61
back. But 1 Corinthians 15, the
great resurrection chapter of
the entire Bible. 1 Corinthians
00:41:26.61\00:41:31.25
15. Paul deals with this rumor.
Snap it out. Snap it in the bud.
00:41:31.25\00:41:35.59
Here we go. 1 Corinthians 15:12.
00:41:35.59\00:41:38.96
I don't understand this,
folks. Think of the logic now.
00:41:47.20\00:41:50.07
Let me run some logic by you,
Paul is writing -- verse 13.
00:41:50.07\00:41:53.54
Because apparently some are
saying, "Well, Jesus might have.
00:41:56.28\00:41:59.21
Jesus raised. Okay. But not
us. He was a God. We're not."
00:41:59.21\00:42:02.92
No, Paul says.
Rubbish. Verse 14.
00:42:02.92\00:42:06.49
And, oh, by the way -- verse
18. "Then those also who have
00:42:31.38\00:42:34.68
fallen asleep in Christ"
-- read, died -- "are lost."
00:42:34.68\00:42:38.32
Verse 19.
00:42:38.32\00:42:40.26
You can't have the
Gospel without the resurrection.
00:42:46.63\00:42:49.23
You can't have Good
Friday without Easter Sunday.
00:42:49.23\00:42:52.60
That's the point.
Otherwise, we might as well
00:42:52.60\00:42:55.30
believe the anthropologist
-- what's his name? --
00:42:55.30\00:42:57.34
Ernest Becker.
What did he suggest?
00:42:57.34\00:42:58.87
I'll put his words
on the screen for you.
00:42:58.87\00:43:00.68
"The soberest conclusion"
-- bright mind, now...
00:43:00.68\00:43:04.75
How'd you like that to be the
end of your story? "And he
became fertilizer."
00:43:16.19\00:43:21.93
If there is no resurrection, you
might as well believe with
Becker, and Baker, whom we read
00:43:25.70\00:43:30.57
at the beginning.
"Grim cosmic joke." Hmm.
00:43:30.57\00:43:38.81
That's why Peter can write with
such bold confidence as he does.
Now back to where your finger
00:43:38.81\00:43:42.92
is. Verse 3 again.
"Praise be," Peter writes, "to
00:43:42.92\00:43:45.92
the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. In his great
00:43:45.92\00:43:50.16
mercy, he's given us new birth
into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ
00:43:50.16\00:43:54.66
from the dead." Chasing hope
from an empty tomb. I repeat,
the New Testament is absolutely
00:43:54.66\00:44:02.24
unequivocal in declaring that
Christ's resurrection is the
divine seal on the efficacy of
00:44:02.24\00:44:09.81
his atoning death. No
resurrection, no atonement,
00:44:09.81\00:44:15.45
period! And thus it is the
resurrection of our Lord, Jesus,
that ignites our hopes.
00:44:19.52\00:44:23.12
You want to chase hope? You run
through an empty tomb. Let me
put Eugene Peterson's
00:44:23.12\00:44:29.10
rendition of this. I love this.
This is from "The Message."
00:44:29.10\00:44:31.67
I'll put it on
the screen for you.
00:44:31.83\00:44:33.87
"What a God we
have!" he translates.
00:44:33.87\00:44:37.07
1 Peter 3, 1:3.
00:44:37.07\00:44:39.11
Don't you worry -- "The Day" --
capital "D" -- "is coming when
00:44:57.46\00:45:01.20
you'll have it all --
life healed and whole."
00:45:01.20\00:45:05.70
Did you catch that?
00:45:05.70\00:45:07.10
"And the future begins now."
Starts right now. Because in the
00:45:07.27\00:45:13.54
New Testament, the future breaks
into the present, and we live
the future in the present.
00:45:13.54\00:45:20.22
And that's why we have hope.
That is precisely why we have
00:45:20.22\00:45:25.05
hope. "And the future starts
now." No matter how dark today
is, no matter how wretched your
00:45:25.05\00:45:33.53
heart feels now, we have hope
for tomorrow. We have hope now
00:45:33.53\00:45:45.11
for tomorrow. I want to end by
reading you a thoughtful essay
written by Lewis Smedes,
00:45:45.11\00:45:50.41
ethicist, theologian, taught
at Fuller for years. I had the
00:45:50.41\00:45:54.78
privilege of interviewing him.
Delightful interviewee, by the
way, on our program "The
00:45:54.78\00:46:00.36
Evidence." And this is in his
book, "How Can It Be All Right
00:46:00.36\00:46:04.03
When Everything is All Wrong?" I
want to end with this. Just read
00:46:04.03\00:46:13.54
it to you. Here it is. Oh, so
here he goes. "I bought a
brand-new date book
00:46:13.54\00:46:17.84
yesterday." You remember
those things? Date books?
00:46:17.84\00:46:20.78
It's all on the phone now, but
you remember the date books. "I
bought a brand-new date book
00:46:20.78\00:46:25.11
yesterday, the kind I use every
year -- spiral bound, black
imitation, leather covers
00:46:25.11\00:46:29.25
wrapped around pages and pages
of blank squares. Each square
has a number to tell
00:46:29.25\00:46:33.22
me which day of the month I'm in
at the moment. Each square is a
00:46:33.22\00:46:37.03
frame for one episode of my
life. Before I'm through with
the book, I will fill the
00:46:37.03\00:46:40.83
squares with classes I will
teach, people I will eat lunch
with, and ever-lasting committee
00:46:40.83\00:46:45.17
meetings I will sit through."
And some of you can identify
00:46:45.17\00:46:50.81
with that. "And these are only
the things I cannot afford to
00:46:50.81\00:46:53.68
forget. I fill the squares, too,
with things I do not write down
00:46:53.84\00:46:57.41
for me to remember, thousands
of cups of beverage, some
00:46:57.41\00:47:00.58
lovemaking, some praying, and
I hope gestures of help to my
00:47:00.58\00:47:04.09
neighbors.
Whatever I do, it has to fit
00:47:04.09\00:47:06.89
inside one of these
squares on my date book.
00:47:06.89\00:47:11.33
I live one square at a time. The
four lines that make that square
are the walls of time
00:47:11.49\00:47:16.13
that organize my life.
Everything I do has to fit in
00:47:16.13\00:47:19.30
one square. I cannot straddle
the lines. Each square has an
invisible door that leads to the
00:47:19.30\00:47:23.34
next square. At a silent stroke,
the door opens, and I am pulled
00:47:23.34\00:47:28.28
through as if by a magnet,
sucked into the next square in
line. There I will, again, fill
00:47:28.28\00:47:34.82
the time frame that seals me.
Fill it with my busyness just as
I did the square before.
00:47:34.82\00:47:40.46
As I get older, the squares
seem to get smaller." Hmm.
00:47:40.46\00:47:46.33
"One day I will walk into
a square that has no door.
00:47:46.33\00:47:51.57
There will be no mysterious
opening and no walking into an
00:47:55.70\00:48:01.18
adjoining square. One of the
squares will be terminal. I do
not know which square it
00:48:01.18\00:48:05.85
will be." Everybody here
-- one square without a door.
00:48:05.85\00:48:14.96
"A life insurance person can
roughly guess the squares I may
expect before I get to the last
00:48:14.96\00:48:19.09
one." Some of you math majors
are gonna end up with -- what is
00:48:19.09\00:48:22.80
it? Actuarials. You know, these
charts figured out how long
you're gonna really
00:48:22.80\00:48:27.04
live. "How many do I have left?
How many squares do I have left?
00:48:27.04\00:48:31.11
Okay, "for the sake of
illustration, suppose I have
exactly 1,029 squares left.
00:48:31.11\00:48:36.18
What difference would it make to
me now as I fill up this square,
the only one that holds me
00:48:36.18\00:48:41.15
today? Ah, the difference
depends not so much on how many
00:48:41.15\00:48:45.72
squares are left, but on what
really is going to happen to me
when I get to that final
00:48:45.72\00:48:51.69
square." By the way, he was
taking down his lights after
Christmas, hanging along the
00:48:51.69\00:49:00.24
eaves of his house in
California, when he slipped on a
ladder and died. That was the
00:49:00.24\00:49:09.58
last square. 1,029 -- I don't
know. Maybe you have 10,029.
00:49:09.58\00:49:18.99
Maybe you have 29. We don't
know. "Now, when I get to that
final square, what is really
00:49:18.99\00:49:24.36
gonna happen? Two
things can happen." Here we go.
00:49:24.36\00:49:26.56
Which of the two does happen
tells pretty much what life is
and what our world is all about,
00:49:26.56\00:49:30.90
so we ought to face the
two possibilities with utter
00:49:30.90\00:49:33.97
honesty. This is no time for
make-believe. Here's the first
00:49:33.97\00:49:36.81
possibility. It's that when I
walk in the last square, the one
with no door, I will be
00:49:36.81\00:49:41.38
suffocated inside of it. The
walls of the square may close in
on me as it were to
00:49:41.38\00:49:45.08
choke me. All my yesterdays may
have only vomited me into this
00:49:45.08\00:49:50.85
dark room with no exit. I may
have strutted my petty pace
through each day only to be
00:49:50.85\00:49:55.59
seduced into this blank square
that silences my sounds forever.
I have pretended in all those
00:49:55.59\00:50:01.73
squares to be somebody special.
Now I may share my bed with dead
00:50:01.73\00:50:07.34
rats. This could be happens to
me 1,029 squares from now. And
if it happens to me, it
00:50:07.34\00:50:13.68
likely happens to everybody when
he or she slides into the final
square of that date book.
00:50:13.68\00:50:21.88
Now, the second possibility is
that when I walk into the last
00:50:22.05\00:50:25.79
square, I will discover that the
reason it has no door is that it
00:50:25.79\00:50:29.76
has no walls for
a door to fit into.
00:50:29.76\00:50:34.76
The four unmovable lines
that seal me inside all my other
00:50:34.93\00:50:40.84
frames are erased. The last day
of my life turns out to be the
beginning of life in new
00:50:40.84\00:50:46.04
dimensions, free somehow because
the walls of regulated time have
fallen away. The last square is
00:50:46.04\00:50:50.88
not death. It is a new dimension
of life." And everything inside
of us is going, "Whoa, whoa,
00:50:50.88\00:50:57.05
whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop,
stop. That's not the way it
goes. Oh, yes, it is, as he will
00:50:57.05\00:51:01.72
point out. He'll make it right.
You'll be surprised what he
00:51:01.72\00:51:04.79
believes. It's coming.
"The Christian Gospel comes down
00:51:04.79\00:51:08.70
to a promise that the second
possibility is the real one. Our
00:51:08.70\00:51:13.30
last square is an introduction
into a new expansive world of
perfect peace and total justice.
00:51:13.30\00:51:18.21
When we believe the promise,
we have what is called the
00:51:18.21\00:51:21.61
Christian hope." Now, the last
words -- I'm gonna put them on
the screen for you. Here he
00:51:21.61\00:51:25.41
goes. Look, I agree.
"There will be an intermission."
00:51:46.43\00:51:49.24
Now, see? "There
will be an intermission,
00:51:49.24\00:51:51.21
of course, between my arrival at
my own private last square and
00:51:51.21\00:51:54.64
the arrival of the new world."
00:51:54.64\00:51:56.78
Because of Jesus' resurrection,
guess what? This is death.
00:52:15.10\00:52:19.60
Eyes closed.
Eyes open. You sleep.
00:52:19.60\00:52:26.98
There is no passage of time.
Death will feel a half a second
00:52:26.98\00:52:31.45
long. Eyes closed. Eyes open.
Maybe light years have gone by.
00:52:31.45\00:52:38.79
Doesn't matter.
Eyes closed. Eyes open.
00:52:38.79\00:52:48.03
He has born us anew to a living
hope for the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead.
00:52:48.03\00:52:56.04
And the future starts right now.
Amen. The Brazilian philosopher
00:52:56.04\00:53:08.85
Rubem Alves once wrote, "Hope
is hearing the melody of the
00:53:08.85\00:53:16.96
future. Faith is to dance to
it." Because the future starts
00:53:16.96\00:53:26.57
right now. Let us pray. O, God,
don't let us lose this truth.
00:53:26.57\00:53:32.41
We will chase hope throughout
our lives just to know that in
00:53:32.41\00:53:44.62
Christ Jesus. The future is now.
And death is shattered. And hope
rules forever and ever.
00:53:44.62\00:53:57.07
Seal it in our hearts and give
us a new reason to chase hope
00:53:57.07\00:54:06.88
this new season. In the name
of Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen.
00:54:06.88\00:54:12.78
¤¤
00:54:12.78\00:54:15.68
[ Congregation sings ]
00:54:31.30\00:54:34.20
And all the people said, "Amen."
Now may the God of hope who
brought back from the dead our
00:56:52.04\00:56:59.28
Lord Jesus Christ fill you with
all joy and peace as you trust
in him so that you may overflow
00:56:59.28\00:57:06.89
with hope by the power
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
00:57:06.89\00:57:12.86
>> I wanted to take an extra
moment to let you know how
grateful I am you joined us
00:57:14.76\00:57:18.77
today. I hear from viewers and
listeners like you all across
00:57:18.77\00:57:21.84
this nation, and literally
around the world, and I'm
thankful, because it's through
00:57:21.84\00:57:25.84
the generosity of the members of
this congregation and people
like you that we're able to
00:57:25.84\00:57:30.11
bring you this program. So, if
what we've shared today has
touched your heart, I'd like
00:57:30.11\00:57:33.48
to invite you to become a
financial partner with us. Just
00:57:33.48\00:57:36.72
give us a call. The toll-free
number, 877 -- the two words
00:57:36.89\00:57:40.36
"his will." 877-his-will.
Or if you'd rather, go to our
00:57:40.36\00:57:43.69
website, www.pmchurch.tv.
Either way, your generosity will
00:57:43.69\00:57:49.43
bless a new generation in
cyberspace all over this planet.
00:57:49.43\00:57:53.13
So thank you. Thank
you very much for your
00:57:53.13\00:57:56.67
partnership. ¤¤
00:57:56.67\00:58:02.58