Sunday's Message - I BELIEVE in...the resurrection of the body

During the sermon series I Believe: Exploring the Apostle's Creed, the congregation of Sligo Presbyterian Church is using The Apostles Creed to discuss some basic Christian beliefs. We’ll also take those beliefs and apply them to our daily living. This includes talking about why they're important and how they might shape our thoughts, feelings and faith. Below are the topics we'll cover:

• August 10 - I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
• August 17 - I BELIEVE in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
• August 24 - I BELIEVE in Jesus Christ,...who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
• August 31 - I BELIEVE...he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
• September 7 - I BELIEVE...he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.
• September 14 - I BELIEVE...he ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
• September 21 - I BELIEVE...from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
• September 28 - I BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit,
• October 5 - I BELIEVE in...the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
• October 12 - I BELIEVE in...the forgiveness of sins,
• October 19 - I BELIEVE in...the resurrection of the body,
• October 26 - I BELIEVE in...and the life everlasting. Amen.

On Sunday, October 19, we continued this series by looking at the meaning and significance of saying, "I BELIEVE in...the resurrection of the body." Below is the text and a video presentation of the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

Now, I graduated from Union Theological Seminary on May 24, 1987. I was ordained on June 14th. And for the last thirty-eight years, I’ve worked with congregations in Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, and now Pennsylvania. And in the approximately two thousand worship services I’ve led, today is the first time that any of my congregations have sung “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” in the month of October. I mean, that’s a song you sing in the Spring, not the Fall; you know, when the temperature is getting warmer, not colder, and plants are starting to sprout up, not die back, and the preferred colors are pastels, not orange and brown. And yet, here we are, singing a song about Easter, when Christmas is still 67 days away. 

Of course, there’s a good reason for breaking tradition this morning. You see, as most of y’all know, over the last couple of months, we’ve been exploring The Apostles Creed. And to this point, we’ve discussed the following, and as we’ve been doing, please read this with me.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

Now that’s what we’ve already covered.

And this morning, we’re moving on to the next affirmation, I BELIEVE in...the resurrection of the body. Of course, before we can discuss it, we need to be on the same page about whose body we’re talking. You see, it’s not about the resurrection of Jesus Christ; that’s something we’ve already looked at when we focused on I BELIEVE...he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. No, the resurrection we’re talking about this morning is the resurrection of us, you know, of our bodies. And I’ll tell you, when you think about it, this is not exactly an idea that’s important to many Christians now-a-days. I mean, most church-going folks believe that their body is sort of like a shell, and that, when they die, their soul leaves the body behind and goes up to heaven, right? Now that’s the basis for their hope. And because of that, this idea that the body, and I’m talking about our bodies, are going to be raised from death physically, well, that seems both confusing and unnecessary. I mean, exactly how is this going to happen? Is our soul going to come down from heaven and reunite with our nasty old, decayed physical bodies in the grave? That doesn’t make sense. But maybe more important than that, why would it be necessary? I mean, we’ve finally left our mortal toil, haven’t we; why in heaven’s name, no pun intended, would a loving and merciful God make us go back? It would be like cutting the grass, taking a shower and then putting back on your sweaty clothes, yuck. And so, for those reasons, this idea of the dead being raised is either ignored or rejected by a lot of Christians. And yet, here it is, in both the Creed and the Bible. 

And for that reason, we’re going to spend a little time talking about the resurrection of the body. You see, we’re going to consider its meaning and importance. And in particular, we’re going to look at three pretty important benefits that come from accepting our future resurrection. 

For example, first, when we accept the resurrection of the body, I believe our understanding of Jesus’s resurrection deepens. In other words, the whole idea that one day, God’s going to raise us from the dead, I think that actually explains why the resurrection of Jesus Christ was such a big deal. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote this to Corinthians:

If we preach that Christ was raised from death, how can some of you say the dead will not be raised to life? If they won’t be raised to life, Christ himself wasn’t raised to life. And if Christ wasn’t raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith. If the dead won’t be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying he raised Christ to life, when he really did not.

So if the dead won’t be raised to life, Christ wasn’t raised to life. Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.

But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life. Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ. Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us. [1 Corinthians 15:12-22, CEV]

Now that’s what it says. 

And tell you, I think that’s really important. You see, for Paul, the resurrection of Jesus wasn’t just a spectacular miracle, you know, an awesome display of God’s power and authority. Instead, its impact and importance is far more personal. I’ll tell you, for Paul, it was both a fulfillment and a beginning. I mean, it was the fulfillment of a promise that was described by both Isaiah and Ezekiel in the Old Testament. And it was the beginning of a process in which we’ll all be involved. You see, since the Jews, you know, guys like both Paul and Jesus, since they believed that souls couldn’t exist without bodies any more than bodies could really live without souls, our resurrection, both body and soul, was necessary for us to have any kind of life after death. And even though that had been just a promise for thousands of years, this resurrection process started when God caused Christ to be raised from death to life. I mean, remember Paul wrote, “Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ. Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us.” [1 Corinthians 15:21-22, CEV] You see, since Jesus was raised, body and soul, we have good reason to trust that the day is coming when we will be too.

And in that way, it becomes a tangible reason to hope. Of course, we can always accept the philosophical idea that the body and soul are separate and that, when we die, the spiritual separates from the physical and goes somewhere else. I mean, we can intellectually accept this concept, if that’s what we want to do. Or we can look into the empty tomb with those women. And we can be with those disciples as they touched the holes in his hands and feet and side. And we can stand on that physical mountain in Galilee and hear him tell us exactly what he wants us to do. And as we look and as we touch and as we hear, we can believe that because Jesus Christ was physically raised by God from death to life, so will we. You see, that can be the basis for our hope, because our understanding of Jesus’s resurrection has deepened. And that’s the first thing that I believe will happen, when we accept the resurrection of the body. But that’s not all.

You see, second, when we accept our own coming resurrection, our vision of the future changes. I mean, since we’re talking about something a whole lot more concrete and tangible than the “Family Circus” view of heaven, with the dearly departed floating around on clouds, in white robes and sandals, watching what Billy and Dolly, Jeffy and P.J. are doing down below, since we’ve moved past that vision, we can expect a future that is real and solid. As a matter of fact, it will be as real and as solid as the kind of ultimate future envisioned by John of Patmos in his Revelation. He wrote, 

I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea. Then I saw New Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.

I heard a loud voice shout from the throne:

God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.

God’s curse will no longer be on the people of that city. He and the Lamb will be seated there on their thrones, and its people will worship God and will see him face to face. God’s name will be written on the foreheads of the people. Never again will night appear, and no one who lives there will ever need a lamp or the sun. The Lord God will be their light, and they will rule forever. [Revelation 21:1-4; 22:3-5,  CEV]

You see, as he gazed into the future, our future, John didn’t see disembodied spirits floating around, you know, playing the harp and talking about how great a time they’re having with absolutely nothing to do but float on clouds, because, let’s face it, there’s nothing better than being bored out of your mind. No, that’s not what he saw. Instead, he saw a regenerated creation, a restored universe, a new heaven and a new earth without the decay and death that was part of the old. You see, all that stuff will be no more. And we’ll return to Eden, a place where we’ll be able to hear God’s voice and to see his face and to feel him wipe all tears from our eyes. Now for John, that’s our future.

And when we claim it, man, our vision has got to change. For example, when I see my mother again, I don’t believe she’ll be floating around on a cloud; instead, she’ll probably be ironing everything in sight, including underwear and socks, because that’s what she did during her life, and she took pride in us looking good. And I don’t believe she’ll be playing the harp; instead, I hope she’s baking some gingerbread, her specialty, something that right now, I can smell and taste even though it’s probably been twenty years. And I don’t believe she’s been spending her time up there, out there, just waiting for us to die; instead, I expect us all to be together in the twinkling of an eye, in a brand new world where there’ll be no death, no suffering, no crying, and no pain, because those things of the past are gone forever. I’ll tell you, that’s what I think I’ll see, because my vision of the future has changed. And that’s the second thing I believe that will happen, when we accept the resurrection of the body.

And third, right along with deepening our understanding and changing our vision, when we accept the resurrection of the body, I think our appreciation of the physical world increases. In other words, when we understand just how important the physical resurrection of Jesus was and when our vision of our ultimate future is actually grounded, I firmly believe we’ll feel more connected with this physical world that God has made and will redeem. As a matter of fact, we might actually feel the same kind thing the Apostle Paul felt when he wrote this to the Romans:

I am sure what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth. [Romans 8:18-22, CEV]

You see, when Paul looked out at creation, I don’t think he felt this sense of superiority over everything else that God made, because he was spiritual and the land and the sky wasn’t and he had a soul and the plants and the animals didn’t. Instead, with the rest of creation, I believe he knew that he was “eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are.” And with the rest of creation, he knew that he was confused and hoping for that time when all things would be set free from decay and set free to share in God’s glorious freedom. And with the rest of creation, he knew that he was groaning and in pain, “like a woman about to give birth.” You see, unlike those who might believe that their own spiritual nature gives them the right to exploit the physical and that the goal of life is the escape creation, Paul sure seemed to believe that he was a part of what God had made.

And you know, so can we. You see, because we understand the importance of the physical resurrection of Jesus and because we envision our future in a new heaven and a new earth, right here and now, we can decide to take care of this world in which we share so much. For example, we can decide to care for the environment that, according to what he said in Genesis, God entrusted to us as stewards, not exploiters. And we can decide to care for our neighbors, all our neighbors whether they’re across the street or on the other side of the world. And we can decide to care for ourselves, and I’m talking about our bodies and our minds and our spirits. In other words, right here and now, we can decide that what God made is worth saving, something that I believe we’re going to be willing to do, because our appreciation of the physical world has increased; the third thing I believe will happen, when we accept the resurrection of the body.

Now, like I said a little a while ago, although I’d never done it before, it was right and appropriate for us to sing an Easter song in the middle of October. But I’ll tell you, I think it may be just as appropriate to end the service this morning, with “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder,” a song that focuses on our future. I mean, in the second verse, James Black, wrote,

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,

And the glory of his resurrection share;

When his chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,

And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

You see, when we take these words seriously, our understanding of Jesus’s resurrection deepens and our vision of the future changes and our appreciation of the physical world increases. I’m telling you, this will happen, the minute we say with faith and focus I BELIEVE in...the resurrection of the body.