Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

[please click on one of the items above for more information]

============================================================

Sermons

April 2003 (click here to return to "April 2003 Sermons" page)

Easter/Resurrection (April 20, 2003)

“How Do We Know?” Dr. Julie Adkins

Text: Mark 16:1-8, Acts 10:34-43

SERMON

You know, the gospel of Mark

is kind of unusual in several ways …

but maybe the strangest thing about it

is the way it ends.

The very earliest manuscripts that we know about

end right where we did,

with chapter 16, verse 8.

There’s no resurrection … not really, anyway.

There is an empty tomb,

and we know that something has happened …

But we don’t ever see Jesus again.

We end with the three women,

trembling and astonished,

afraid to tell anyone what they’ve just seen.

Some young man hanging around the tomb

said that Jesus had risen,

but how could they know that for sure?

Almost too scary to contemplate.

After all, there had been some suspicion all along on the part of the Romans

that a few of Jesus’ disciples

might sneak to the tomb late at night,

and steal Jesus’ body away somewhere,

so they could tell everybody he had risen.

Maybe they had.

Maybe it was the last desperate thing they could think of,

to shore up their shattered faith.

Or maybe the Romans came

and snatched the body away first,

so the disciples wouldn’t be able to!

But there’s no evidence of any of that …

just the empty tomb,

and the words of a young man

they’ve never laid eyes on before.

Jesus … risen?

How could you ever believe it,

without a whole lot more proof?

Preferably of the eyewitness variety.

Like, seeing it with your own eyes.

Of course, the other three gospels

all have tales of Jesus after the resurrection …

although all three have different stories;

have you noticed?

Apparently a fair number of people

actually did get to see Jesus,

raised and walking around.

And for them, that was proof enough.

But we don’t have that luxury …

we’ve come along a few thousand years too late.

The tangible evidence is long gone.

How do we know?

Think for a moment about how it is

that we know anything we claim to know.

Suppose you’re talking with a friend,

about whatever, and suddenly she stops you and says,

“Wait a minute, how do you know that?”

What goes through your mind?

I saw it happen.

I read it in an encyclopedia.

I saw it on the news last night.

I found the website,

I can prove it; here, let me draw you a picture.

We are thinking people.

(Presbyterians especially!)

We want evidence we can lay our hands on,

or our eyes at least,

or that we can run through in logical steps.

And the resurrection eludes us.

There are eyewitnesses of a sort,

people who saw Jesus before and after,

but no one who saw the actual moment of raising.

You can’t prove it scientifically in any way,

even though the folks with the Shroud of Turin

would like to think they can!

You can’t really even demonstrate it historically.

All the documents about it were written

at least twenty to thirty years later,

by biased observers!

So how do we know?

When a non-church-going person questions us,

“How can anyone believe that? Why do you even bother?

How do you know God raised Jesus from the dead?”

We can’t answer in any usual category

of our day-to-day thinking.

We have to speak on the basis of our own faith.

We have to talk of our own experience

of God, and of Jesus Christ.

And for many of us, that’s hard to do even within the church,

where we can assume some commonality of faith and experience.

How much more difficult it is,

to speak of such things in the world outside,

where we can make no such assumptions.

But really, the only answer we can give

that is both honest and compelling,

if someone asks us,

how do you know Jesus Christ was raised from the dead?

all we can say is,

“Because of the difference he has made in my life.”

And in your life … and your life.

To be sure, the experience will have been different for each of us,

but we can only speak on the basis of our faith

and our own personal knowledge.

And we have to find our own words with which to do that!

It’s tempting just to want to

quote someone who seems more eloquent than we …

Many of us find John Newton’s words powerful:

“I once was lost, but now am found;

was blind, but now I see.”

That sums it up pretty well!

We’d sign our names to that!

But our own words are important.

It could be something fairly specific:

“I used to have a vicious temper,

but God has mellowed me.”

or, “I used to use all kinds of illegal drugs,

but now I’m not even tempted.”

Or maybe it’s something less tangible, harder to describe:

“I know Christ is raised

because I feel his presence with me.”

Or even, “I know because when my faith is strong,

life seems good even when times are tough,

but at those times when my faith falters,

even the good times don’t seem all that great.”

This is sort of what Peter is getting at

when he’s talking to those folks in Caesarea.

Now of course, Peter had been an eyewitness

to some of the resurrection events,

so he had an advantage!

But what he is saying to those folks is that,

even though you all didn’t get to see him in person,

you can believe our testimony.

Not just because we were there,

not just because we say so,

but because you can see the effect it has had on us.

I used to be a fisherman,

lived in one place all my life …

now I’m traveling around as a preacher!

Once I was a self-righteous Jew,

but here I am telling you Gentiles about Jesus.

I was one of the worst …

I even got scared and denied ever knowing Jesus …

but he forgave me, and I will never deny him again.

This is my experience.

So even though you never got to meet Jesus,

you can believe in him,

because of how he has changed me.

What a powerful witness that is.

Much more powerful, in the long run,

than stating historical facts,

or scientific figures and test results.

How do I know Jesus is risen?

Because my life has changed.

Now that may leave some of us wondering,

what if I haven’t changed all that much?

If I believe, or am trying to believe,

that God raised Jesus from the dead,

but it doesn’t seem to have changed me,

what does that mean?

I would bet that in most cases,

it means at the very least

that we are thinking seriously about our faith.

And that, if we haven’t yet been changed, or not much,

it’s because the prospect of changing is scary,

and we wonder whether we’re ready.

And we know, that once we take that leap of faith,

and say, “Jesus Christ is raised,” and really mean it,

there’s no way that it won’t affect us.

Let’s face it, Jesus is much safer for us

if we leave him in the tomb.

Then we could treat him just like

and other great teacher from the past:

born in a certain year, lived in a certain place,

taught certain things that we find compelling,

and then died and “slept with his ancestors.”

But if God raised him,

brought him back from the dead,

then he’s someone we’d better take real seriously.

So if we’re still at the wondering phase, that’s okay;

we’re on the right track.

We just need to keep asking,

and talking to those who, like Peter,

seem to know the story a little better,

or believe it a little deeper.

Because Christ is raised,

and he will raise us along with him,

if we’ll let him.

How do we know?

We know because our risen Lord has touched us

and our lives are different from what they were before.

The story is real.

The promise is true.

Christ is risen.

Alleluia!

Amen.