May 20, 2007 Sermon

Our Resurrections
I Thessalonians 4:13-19

Dumbledore is dead. Albus Dumbledore is dead. At least for now.

Albus Dumbledore is a central character in the Harry Potter series. At the conclusion of the sixth Harry Potter book Dumbledore had died. It was a shock to read it. Until the moment of his sacrificial death he had seemed indestructible. He was the rock, the most powerful, reassuring force against evil in the entire story line. But then he died. The book came out days before our mission trip in 2005. At least half of the kids—and adults—on the trip read it that week. Five or six copies of it came along; when one person finished it he or she passed it along to another. Our daughter Laura reached the end first. For about 24 hours she implored somebody, anybody else to finish. She needed to talk about it. She was that upset about Dumbledore’s death.

For two years Internet chat rooms and book clubs have buzzed with speculation over what might become of Dumbledore. Many believe the author, J. K. Rowling, will bring him back to life in the next (and final) Harry Potter book. They hope he might prove to be a kind of messianic figure, a Jesus-like character who saves others by dying and then coming back to life. We will not know the truth of this speculation until the publication of the last Harry Potter book this July.

Meanwhile, the controversy over Harry Potter in Christian circles continues. The most conservative wing of the Church has forbidden its people to read the books. After all, they deal with wizards, spirits, evil magic and all sorts of demonic things. So what if Ms. Rowling also uses redemptive themes in her story, themes like forgiveness and personal accountability? Until the ending appears nobody can be certain whether good or evil triumphs. Nobody can be certain what sort of theology Ms. Rowling has, or how her beliefs will finally shape her stories. This makes certain Christian leaders very nervous. Will she prove to be yet another celebrity who mocks Jesus and all he stands for?

For the decade it has taken for the Harry Potter books to come out I have wondered these things myself. But the possible outcome has not scared me. After all, Harry Potter is just a story. Whether Albus Dumbledore comes back to life will not have a major impact on my life. But it does bother me that so many take precisely this attitude toward Jesus of Nazareth. Maybe he died, maybe he didn’t. Maybe he came back to life, maybe he didn’t. We’ll see in the end. Meanwhile, no need to get all worked up about it. It’s just a story, right?

Wrong. The resurrection of Jesus is the hinge on which our lives stand or fall. Whether we believe in the resurrection of Jesus is a life or death matter. “We do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, about those who have died,” the Apostle Paul wrote to Christians in the brand-new Christian church in Thessalonica, “so you might not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus dies and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.” Paul believed Jesus had died and risen from the dead. Paul had faith. Paul also believed that because he had this faith he, too, would rise from the dead. He believed in life after death for ALL who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

We need to believe in the resurrection of Jesus in order to experience eternity with Him. Get faith, or strengthen faith.

For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord,” Paul continued. How do we know we can trust such a bold, unprovable assumption? How can we know whether to trust not only in the resurrection of Jesus, but in our own resurrections after we die? I once coached a youth basketball team. The boys were six or seven years old. Kids that age shoot a basketball from the hip. They think that’s the only way they can get that big ol’ heavy ball all the way up to the hoop. I taught these little boys the proper, Hoosier-approved way to do it. You cock your wrist, bring the ball up over your eyes, make an L shape with your elbow, jump, and snap your wrist. A proper jump shot finishes with your hand flopped all the way forward and your fingers spread apart.

I had a little trouble getting those boys to follow my directions. They had always done it their way and we all struggle with change. But that finishing move with your hand and fingers looks exactly like the motion people use to indicate they think somebody is gay. And elementary school boys are painfully aware of this. When I tried to get them to shoot the right way I caught them looking around at each other to see whether anybody else had the guts to go first. Then they tried my shooting motion with every component except the hand finish. It was only when a couple of them started making baskets my way that they all stampeded to try it, because winning in sports outweighs looking goofy in Little Boy World.

But we behave just like those little boys when it comes to believing in the resurrection. We do not like change. And we do not wish to look foolish in other people’s eyes. Faith takes a leap of courage. Many hesitate. That’s why we need the church. The Apostle Paul wrote our passage as part of a letter to a congregation. He wrote the “word of the Lord”, the truth as God had revealed it to Paul’s heart and mind, and he wrote it to a church. He knew from bitter experience how hard it was to get people to try this new faith. He knew how much ridicule and even physical abuse new Christians would receive. He knew how oddly this talk about our resurrections would hit those who did not believe.

Yet Paul continued to preach the Good News of the Gospel. He kept on teaching about Jesus’ resurrection—and about the resurrections of those who believe in Him. And Paul kept on imploring new Christians to feed their faith by staying active in the church. Active church membership builds faith. Faith leads to eternal life. Yes, Paul also wrote a detailed vision of how Jesus will come. First this will happen, then that, then the next, and finally all who have lived and died with faith in Him as the Son of God will enter heaven with Him. This is the culmination, the fulfillment of the Good News. And this vision addresses big questions we have about how it will all happen. (Notice that it says nothing about when.)

But as your preacher I choose to stress not Paul’s picture of how Christ will come again, but what we must do while we wait for Him. Stay active in church. Live life in the midst of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Build up one another’s faith in Him as the Risen Lord. Attend worship weekly. (That’s weekly with two Es, not E A.) Nothing can substitute for organizing your life around Sabbath worship. Nothing. You cannot sustain your Christian walk as an independent agent.
Take the time and spend the energy it takes to add a ministry to your worship attendance. Serve Christ and the world through the mission of our church. Find an infirm person to drive to church. Help lead a youth group. Swing a hammer when we start construction on our building addition. Get involved in one of the new ministries we will start when we have that new space. One will teach little children how to worship Jesus. The other will provide shelter for the homeless as part of an already-existing organization in the Grand Traverse region. Get into a small group. Worship every week but do not stop there: serve Christ beside your fellow believers.

It is hard, at times, to believe in Jesus and His resurrection. It can be even harder to believe in our own resurrections. We watch each other like those little boy basketball players to see who will try it first. But somebody always does. And whether you come to Christ first or last does not matter. It matters only that you use the church to help you believe. Let Christ use your belief to help you enter heaven. Get faith. Or strengthen faith. Whichever applies to you, start shooting from the hip.