"Is The Resurrection of Christ a Myth?"

A sermon preached on The Second Sunday of Lent, March 4, 2007 at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp. Sermon based on I Corinthians 15:1-8 and 12-20.

Have you ever considered what happens to us when we die? Do we live on as disembodied souls, as the ancient Greeks thought? Do we go through countless cycles of reincarnation, as the Hindus believe? Or, does both body and soul cease to exist as the Sadducees taught?

Because of their Greek heritage, the Corinthians questioned the reality of the resurrection and rightfully so. In our Scripture Lesson this morning, we see that Paul challenges their thinking by pointing out the absurd conclusions to which it leads. He reminds us that the resurrection is the crucial aspect of our hope in Christ.
Someone once said; "If something seems too good to be true, it usually is!" And a lot of times that is true! It doesn’t necessarily mean you are skeptical or a cynic, it is natural to want to examine and weigh the facts before drawing a conclusion. There are many who believe that, that is true of Christianity. They have difficulty accepting some of the doctrines and beliefs of the Christian faith and teachings - especially when it comes to the resurrection of Christ. There are many who claim; "It is impossible for a dead person to come back to life." Such was the difficulty Paul faced when he sought to teach the Greeks about Christ’s resurrection, in Acts chapter 17. Many of the Greeks, were well trained in philosophy and they had no trouble or difficulty accepting many of the ideas, teachings and beliefs of the Christian faith; but they just could not accept the doctrine of the resurrection. For them, dead people just do not come back to life - when you’re dead - you’re dead!
However, it’s the resurrection of Christ which is the basis or foundation of our faith! The novelist, John Updike in his poem; "Seven Stanzas at Easter," describes the doubt that seems to infect many, including Christians, when contemplating Christ’s resurrection. So "fuddled," he writes, are they by "the flowers, each soft Spring recurrent" that they arrive at views of the Resurrection that destroy its entire significance.
In fact, I want to share with you a few stanzas of his poem, he writes:

"Make no mistake: if [Jesus] rose at all it was as His body;
If the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, and the amino acids rekindle,
[Then surely] the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers, each soft Spring recurrent;
It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the eleven apostles;
It was as His Flesh.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
The same valved [pierced] heart that —
Died, withered, paused, and then regathered out of enduring Might new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor, analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded [gullibility] of earlier ages:
Let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
Not a stone in a story, but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of time
Will eclipse for each of us the wide light of day.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
For our own convenience, our own sense of beauty, lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour,
We are embarrassed by the miracle, and crushed by remonstrance."

Certainly, I think Paul would agree with John Updike’s words. In fact, Paul was never timid or ambiguous when it came to proclaiming and preaching the central miracle upon which the gospel rests - the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To Paul, it was no once-a-year seasonal greeting, either! Rather, it was the validating evidence of the Lordship of Jesus Christ; upon which Paul based his theology, his ministry, his faith and even his life. And no less should be expected of us, as Christians - followers of Christ. "If there is no resurrection of the dead," Paul proclaimed, "then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain" (I Corinthians 15:13-14).
Recently, a discovery made in 1980 has received a lot of attention and controversy. Such a discovery was said to cause an uproar among the Christian faith and community. That discovery is the "alleged" burial tomb of Jesus and his family. Its popularity is mainly due to a documentary that was done and is set to air tonight on the Discovery Channel; as well as some DNA testing on some fragments from two of the ossuaries. The DNA testing concluded that the DNA of the Jesus - Son of Joseph ossuary and the ossuary belonging to Mariamne (alleged to be Mary Magdalene) are not linked, thus causing some to believe that perhaps they were married - a theory that was made popular by the recent book and movie; The Da Vinci Code. I want to encourage you to watch the documentary and draw your own conclusions. I also think it is also vital that you watch the critical view of this documentary that is set to air following the documentary. That way, you are able to see both sides of the issue and form your own opinion.
But, I find it interesting how such discoveries seem to always surface during this time of the year. When many in the Christian community are celebrating Lent - a time when Christians focus on Christ’s Passion and Death, and spiritually prepare to celebrate Easter - Christ’s Resurrection. There are many distractions in life. And certainly, this is another attempt to divert our attention - to question our faith and belief in Christ. This is what Jesus faced in our Gospel Lesson last week. Satan came and sought to divert his attention from his true responsibility and calling to carry out God’s plan of salvation. And, undoubtedly, our attention is being diverted and distracted, especially now, during this holy season when our hearts and minds are fixed on Christ our Redeemer and Savior.
But, I must say that this has definitely caused some to reexamine or question their faith and belief in the resurrection of Christ. Keep in mind, the resurrection - both Christ’s and ours - is not a matter to be understood biologically or scientifically, but theologically.
C. William Nichols writes; "Sifting through the ashes of an ancient event just outside the city walls of Jerusalem two millennia ago will not yield the key to our quest. Nor can logic build a case that will make the [miraculous] even [credible] to the cautious cynic. The resurrection is not so much discovered in the test tubes of our intelligence as [it is] celebrated in the lyrical excesses of an ecstatic discovery. It is not in the scientific textbooks that we find the literature that proves the resurrection, but in the [rooftop] shoutings of those who have discovered that there are some things ‘too good not to be true.’ It is the final, undeniable verdict within our human experience that God is true, and will always be true."
Such a theory doesn’t cause me to question my faith in Christ’s Resurrection; rather, I continue to hold true to the testimony of those who witnessed it and based their lives upon it!
Let us consider Paul’s witness and testimony. Where did Paul find the evidence that convinced him of the unarguable truth of the resurrection? It was his own experience. And the same is true for us! You may recall, that it was Paul who was once Saul - a persecutor of the Christians, an enemy of the church, a bigot and hater who "breathed threats and murder against the followers of Christ." But it was in his meeting with the real presence of the resurrected Lord on his way to Damascus that his life suddenly and dramatically changed. He became a new man - a resurrected man, if you will.
This same resurrection occurred in each of the disciples’ lives. After the death of their Master, the disciples unraveled - they fell apart! Fear caused some to go into hiding. Others went back to their trade as fishermen. But over time as our risen Lord appeared to them, their lives were forever changed. No longer were they the fearful disciples, but they became fearless! So true was the resurrection to them and countless others that they were willing to give their lives for its truth.
Historically, we are told that Jesus appeared to more than 500 people after his resurrection. And, if the resurrection were not true, I believe that the whole idea of Christianity would have never evolved. The beliefs and teachings of Jesus Christ would have died that day when he was nailed to the cross. But, so true was the resurrection that a small crowd of followers virtually changed the whole world. So true was the resurrection that it has and continues to influence and impact the hearts and lives of millions.
C. Williams Nichols also writes of the resurrection: "This is how the resurrection is always proved: not in someone else’s life, but in our own." I can’t force you to believe in the resurrection! But the fact is, you’re not going to believe in it until you have first experienced it! That was true of Paul’s life! Once you experience the resurrecting power of Christ you experience transformation - a resurrection, yourself.
I always find it rather amusing when asking for directions how some people, instead of using routes and street names or exit numbers to direct me, they instead use landmarks, or certain buildings and restaurants to pave the way. My mother is one who does just that. She can’t tell you the name of a street, but she can tell you everything that is around that street. In fact, that reminds me of a story that I want to close with this morning.
It was beginning to get dark on the streets of London, the lights in the lampposts were just coming on, most children, by that time, were safe at home preparing to eat dinner, except a little girl who had lost her way. She stood crying on a street corner, she couldn’t find her way back home. She was sobbing her heart out when a policeman found her. Trying to help her, he asked, "Where do you live?" She couldn’t tell him, she didn’t know, she had gotten side tracked and just couldn’t remember the way back to her home. The policeman thought he would try another method, so he asked her, "Do you live near a big building of any kind – perhaps a school, a fire house, a police station?" "No," she replied, she didn’t. "Do you live near a park? A playground?" "No," she didn’t live by a park or a playground either. "Well," the policeman went on, "do you live near a church?" Suddenly, her tear-streaked face lighted up. "Yes, I live by the church with the cross. Show me the church with the cross, and I’ll know my way home."
How true that is! We can only discover our way home - home to God’s amazing love and grace by the way of the cross and the empty tomb. It is the cross, which exemplifies God’s love and it is empty tomb, which validates it.
That is why the Apostle Paul was always and forever pointing his converts to the cross of the Savior whom he preached. To the Galatians he wrote: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). Paul had experienced the resurrection! It was real to him, because he had died and rose with Christ and was a new man - a changed man - a resurrected man! But what about you?
The Christian faith is not a blind faith; it is grounded in fact. There are so many historical facts to prove the biblical account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection! But, my friends, the resurrection means nothing to you or to me, unless we have experienced it! Let’s go beyond A. H. Ackley’s words in that infamous Easter hymn; "You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart," and let us instead, proclaim that Jesus lives in our hearts because he first of all rose in the very history in which we are embedded. This isn’t some fairy tale; rather, this is the gospel - the good news! And once we realize it, our lives will truly be changed like Paul and those early apostles and followers!