Nathan E. Lewis

Resurrection Sunday
“Remember Jesus Christ, Risen from the Dead�
II Timothy 2:8-13
(Resurrection Sunday sermon at Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, Oregon)

This Resurrection Sunday, 2006, we follow the command of St. Paul to Timothy, to “remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.� While Paul was yet Saul, the persecutor of the Church, the apostle Peter preached the resurrection of Jesus during the feast of Pentecost. To the crowds gathered in Jerusalem, he said, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.�
Paul writes to Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.� Saul the persecutor of Christians was transformed by the blinding light of Christ Jesus. God renamed him, “Paul,� and called him to preach the same gospel as Peter was preaching. Indeed Paul’s gospel is the gospel of the resurrection of the Son of David. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, the community of faith in which Timothy first heard Paul preach the gospel: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive….�
Paul is now writing in his prison cell. The persecutor of the church is now a persecuted Christian. Paul writes to Timothy, “I am suffering for the gospel I preached to you, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!� The Scriptures bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Imprison the servant of God. Burn the Bibles. Prohibit proselytizing. There has not been one century of human history free of this endeavor to silence the gospel. There has yet to be a successful attempt. In the humility of his prison cell, Paul has confidence in the freedom of God’s word. “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.� Paul is willing to suffer in his prison cell as long as it takes for all of God’s children to receive salvation by union with Jesus Christ.
Paul supplies Timothy with yet another concise, poetic presentation of the gospel. Through out his two letters to Timothy, Paul introduces these summaries of the gospel with the statement: “This is a trustworthy statement.� He then quotes a bit of a hymn, or a poem, easily committed to memory and easily remembered. Indeed those who have been imprisoned know the value of such summaries. For those of us who enjoy freedom, merely constrained by busy schedules, fleeting memories, and the constant barrage of visual images, this concise presentation of the gospel is most welcome and helpful. Consider with me the four lines of Paul’s poem plus the delightful surprise ending.
These four lines are written conditionally. When Paul writes, “If…� he is not questioning the veracity or reality of the statements. He uses the conditional “If� to connect one truth to another. “If� the first statement is true, and it is, then the second statement connected to it is also true.
“If we have died with him, we will also live with him.� The first summary of the gospel is that we have died with Christ and so we shall also live with Christ. What do you mean that we have died with Christ. He died 2,000 years ago and here we are as alive as ever. Paul’s theology is founded upon our union with Christ Jesus. He writes to the church at Galatia: “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.� Paul tells the church to die to sin and to live unto righteousness. Paul writes, “For you were once dead in your sins but now you have been made alive in Christ.� Every one of us who is united to Jesus Christ has died to self and to sin. We are no longer living estranged from God. This old life that we once lived in rebellion against God, in spiritual darkness, imprisoned by guilt and shame, has been put to death. This is true of every single one of us who are united to Jesus Christ. And so, it is also true of us that we are very much alive in Christ Jesus. He has risen from the dead and so we have also risen to new life in Christ Jesus. Paul writes to the church at Corinth, “If any one is in Christ he is a new creature.� Paul also writes, “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and brings us with you into his presence….So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.�
Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?� Martha said, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.�
“If we endure, we will also reign with him.� The second line of the gospel summary connects the suffering of perseverance to the privilege of reigning with Christ. United to Jesus Christ we enter into a life of perseverance. God does not let go of us and we doggedly hang on to God. The doctrine of perseverance is most often presented by Jesus and the apostles in the context of persecution and suffering of various kinds. The apostle Peter writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Christ Jesus.� Peter describes our earthly life as “a little while.� He describes our present life as the period in which, if necessary, we will suffer various trials for the testing of our faith. We are to view our perseverance through suffering in light of our union with Christ which will usher us into the longer and permanent period of our lives where we will enter into our inheritance, kept in heaven for us.
Paul presents the same views as Peter. Paul writes to the church at Rome, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.� Where did these men discover this view of suffering giving way to glory? Their teacher was Jesus who said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.� Just prior to speaking these words, in the same setting Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.�
“If we deny him, he also will deny us.� This fourth line of the summary teaches us that not all of us embrace God, let alone acknowledge his existence. God does not unite himself to such a person. What a harsh statement to make in the middle of a summary of the gospel! How is this good news? How does this line help us to remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead? First of all, anyone who does not care to embrace God, to even acknowledge his existence, would not have much trouble with this line. If God does not exist, why should I care if he denies me or embraces me? If I choose to live my life apart from God, why should I care if God does not show his love to me? Those of us who have difficulty with such a line are those who have a deep longing for everyone to come to the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We have an idea what such a person is missing, what is at stake if he/she remains estranged from God.
This line is altogether important in presenting the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Remember, the “If� in this line does not communicate a cause and effect relationship. This line communicates that if it is true that a person may deny God, and this is true, then it is also true that God denies that person. The “If� in no way communicates that a person first denies God and then in response God denies that person. The “If� strongly communicates that both denials are true and apply to the same relationship. Only God knows who confesses him and who denies him. Our job is to preach the gospel to all creation. God’s job is to apply his love and peace to those who are united to Jesus Christ.
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful.� The fourth line teaches us that we are united to God, not because we are faithful but because God is faithful. How is it that any of us confess Christ rather than deny God? Is it because we are faithful, good, smart, and responsible? Paul tells us that it has everything to do with divine faithfulness. If we belong to God, then he remains faithful to us. If it is true that we are faithless, and it is true, then it is also true that God is faithful, infinitely faithful. To what does God remain faithful? He remains faithful to his will, his redemptive plan, and his ongoing work to bring us safely into his eternal joy. And this realization leads us into the surprise ending of Paul’s poem.
Why is God faithful to us? “If we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.� God is faithful to us because he is infinitely and thus perfectly consistent. God has a plan that includes our salvation from sin and death. And so he is consistent with his plan, carrying it out to completion.
“Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.� God the Father did not allow his Son, Jesus Christ, to decay in the tomb. He raised him to new life on the third day. God cannot deny himself. His plan to redeem the whole world culminated in his raising Jesus Christ from the dead. But his redemption did not stop with the resurrection of Jesus. God is faithful to keep all his promises. In Christ’s resurrection, God has raised us to new life, according to his promise of a new creation. He cannot deny himself and so we have been powerfully and freely granted new and eternal life. Thanks be to God.