Sunday's Sermon - Why Is the Resurrection of Jesus Important? (The Resurrection Anticipated the Holy Spirit)

Although we all know that Easter is about Jesus Christ being raised from the dead, we may not be quite as clear about the  meaning and significance of this pivotal event in human history. For that reason, for five Sundays in the months of April and May, we’ll consider this question: Why Is the Resurrection of Jesus Important? During this series, we’ll consider the following topic: 

• April 7 - The Resurrection Provides Validation
• April 21 - The Resurrection Was Physical
• April 28 - The Resurrection Offers Hope
• May 5 - The Resurrection Is Good News
• May 12 - The Resurrection Anticipated the Holy Spirit

We finished this series on Sunday when we looked how the resurrection of Jesus Christ anticipated the Holy Spirit. A recording and the text of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDST)

Now, of course, today is Mother’s Day. I mean, that’s why the Gallagher girls offered that wonderful special number, When God Made Me Your Mother, and then we listened to Emma White describe that special relationship between mothers and daughters. And that’s why the Deacons will give a flower to the women, because in one way or another, motherhood sort of ties us all together. In fact, that’s why Debbie isn’t here this morning. You see, yesterday was graduation day at WVU and tomorrow she’s scheduled to lead some tours around the campus; therefore, Maggie wasn’t able to come up here. And so the one whom God made her mother and with whom she fights every now and then, well, mom went down to daughter. I mean, that’s what mothers do, isn’t it?

But, you know, it’s kind of interesting; for me, the significance of this day has changed since my mom died. You see, in the past on Mother’s Day, I’m not sure I really spent a lot of time thinking about anything deeper than picking a card and sending some flowers. But in the five years she’s been gone, I now recognize that she did something remarkable and I didn’t ever realize she was doing it; she actually enabled me to live a good, compassionate, Christian life without her. In other words, she gave me the tools to be a good person and a compassionate husband and father and a man who looks to Jesus Christ as his guide for both faith and action, knowing that she wasn’t always going to be around to tell me that the stove was too hot or that the traffic was too busy or that the time we have is often too short. But, looking back, now I think that’s exactly what my mom did for me, but I don’t think I’m alone. In a real way, I believe that’s just what caring and loving mothers do. 

But I’ll tell you, it’s not just mothers who do this kind of thing, and that’s really what we’re going to talk about today. You see, this morning, we’re tying up a series we started right after Easter in which we asked this question: Why is the resurrection of Jesus important? And during that time, we’ve talked about different aspects of the resurrection that we just might want to understand, you know, like how it provided validation to Jesus’s life and ministry and how it was physical. And we talked about how it can, if we choose to understand its significance, offer a whole bunch of hope and maybe, because of that, it can shape how we share the good news with others. Now, that’s what we’ve been doing. 

And this morning, on not only Mother’s Day but the one Sunday a year that comes between the ascension, Jesus’s return to heaven, and Pentecost, we’re going to wrap this series up by spending a little time talking about how the resurrection and ascension actually anticipates the Holy Spirit. And do that, we’re going to look at two things. First, we’re going to look at three passages of scripture that really point to what happened, you know, the relationship between the resurrection and ascension with the coming of the Spirit. And then second, we’re going to spend a little time talking about how we can respond, in other words, what we might want to do for God given what God has done for us. Now, that’s the plan.

You see, as I read it, according to scripture, since Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit has come to us. Now that’s what happened. In other words, if Jesus hadn’t been raised from the dead and if he hadn’t ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit would never have descended to earth and filled the disciples, including us. Simply put, without Easter and the Ascension, there would have been no Pentecost. And like I said, I think we can see this established in three different passages of scripture. 

For example, just listen to what John wrote in his gospel as Jesus was right in the middle of his last conversation with his closest friends;

Jesus said to his disciples:

If you love me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.

I won’t leave you like orphans. I will come back to you. In a little while the people of this world won’t be able to see me, but you will see me. And because I live, you will live. Then you will know I am one with the Father. You will know you are one with me, and I am one with you. If you love me, you will do what I have said, and my Father will love you. I will also love you and show you what I am like.

The other Judas, not Judas Iscariot, then spoke up and asked, “Lord, what do you mean by saying that you will show us what you are like, but you will not show the people of this world?”

Jesus replied:

If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them. But anyone who doesn’t love me, won’t obey me. What they have heard me say doesn’t really come from me, but from the Father who sent me.

I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you. [John 14:15-25, CEV]

Now that’s what John wrote.

And according to Luke, from his Book of Acts,

For 40 days after Jesus had suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death. He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. While he was still with them, he said:

Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

While the apostles were still with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, are you now going to give Israel its own king again?”

Jesus said to them, “You don’t need to know the time of those events that only the Father controls. But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him, but as he went up, they kept looking up into the sky.

Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them. They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.” [Acts 1:3-11, CEV]

Now, that’s what Luke said. 

And finally, just listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans:

People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God’s laws. If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.

You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you. People who don’t have the Spirit of Christ in them don’t belong to him. But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit. [Romans 8:5-11, CEV]

Now that’s what Paul said. 

And I’ll tell you, when we take all three passages together, I think it’s pretty clear that, in a meaningful way, the third person of the Trinity wasn’t really going to shape the lives of the disciples until after Jesus had been resurrected and returned to the Father, marking the end of his ministry here on earth. But since Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit has come upon us. Now according to these three passages, I think that’s what happened. 

But then, that leaves us with a decision to make, doesn’t it? I mean, since Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven and as a result, the Holy Spirit has come upon us, now we really have to decide what we’re going to do about it, don’t we? 

For example, we have to decide if we’re going to listen to what Jesus promised his disciples according to John. In other words, we’re going to have to decide if we’re going to listen to Jesus when he told us that he sent the Holy Spirit to help us do what he commanded us to do. And what did he command us to do? Just listen:

But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples. [John 13:34-35, CEV]

You see, we have to decide if we’re going to listen to what Jesus said according to John.

But I’ll tell you, we also need to decide if we’re going to move like Jesus and those two guys in Acts told those disciples to move. I mean, although it might be a whole lot more comfortable to just stand there, with our mouths open, staring up into the clouds, I don’t think that’s what Jesus had in mind when he told his disciples to... 

Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. [Matthew 28:19-20, CEV]

You see, we have to decide if we’re going to move like we were told to move in Acts.

And finally, we’re going to have to decide if we’re going to change in the way Paul envisioned in his letter to the Romans. I mean, since Jesus was raised from the dead and since the Spirit is in us and since we know exactly how God wants us to live and exactly how God wants us to treat one another and exactly how God wants us to relate to him, we really need to determine whether or not we’re going to do what Paul wrote about when he said, again to the Romans:

Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. [Romans 12:9-10, CEV]

You see, whether it’s listening or moving or changing, I think we all face a decision. I mean, since Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven and as a result, the Holy Spirit has come upon us, now we really have to decide what we’re going to do about it.

And I’ll tell you, I believe that really brings us back to Mother’s Day and in particular, what I said about my mom. You see, although I didn’t recognize it when she was doing it, whether because I was in Louisiana or Montana or Indiana or whether she’d entered immortality, so much of what she did prepared me for life when she wasn’t around. And you know, that’s really what the resurrected Jesus did for his disciples and has done for us. I mean, since Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit has come upon us, something we’ll talk about next week on Pentecost. And since Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven and as a result, the Holy Spirit has come upon us, now we really have to decide what we’re going to do about it. And for those two reasons, I believe I’m safe in saying that, along with providing validation and being physical, offering hope and being good news, the resurrection of Jesus really does anticipate the Holy Spirit.