Why Look for Living Among the Dead?

Judith

Luke 24:1-8
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" 8 Then they remembered his words.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the story - here's what's happened. The Israeli religious leaders accused Jesus Christ of blaspheme and convinced the Roman ruler of the area to have Him executed for treason. A friend and follower took Jesus' body and put it in a tomb - with a huge stone rolled over the entrance.

Because the death occurred very near the Sabbath, customary Jewish burial traditions could not be followed then. So here on Sunday, the first light after the Sabbath ended - some women come to anoint Jesus' body with fragrant spices.

The women were Mary Magdalene - out of whom Jesus drove 7 demons, Joanna, a follower of Christ, Mary the mother of James, Salome - and others - all women.

They find the heavy stone rolled away - and the body missing. They are met by two guys in gleaming clothing who tell them some very interesting and troubling news.

Usually on Resurrection Sunday we key in Jesus Christ's appearances after he was "raised again." - you know: to Mary near the tomb, to the guys walking along the road to Emmaus, and to Peter and the boys.

But today I want to look at something said a little earlier - before anyone has actually seen the risen Lord. And I want to start by giving you the results of a poll taken recently here in the U.S.

According to Jessica Haynes, career and relationship counselor - a nationwide poll revealed the following list, in order, in answer to the question: What brings happiness?

1. Wealth
2. Physical appearance
3. Age
4. Power/Influence
5. Children
6. Possessions
7. Fame
8. Education

I don't think many of us would argue with that list.

Money brings security, lack of stress, and lots of toys.
Being beautiful or handsome makes us feel desirable and accepted
To Be Young - means to have promise and energy
Power - makes us feel important
Children - bring us a sense of destiny and fulfillment and joy
Having lots of stuff makes us feel successful and comfortable
Popularity gives us a sense of self worth
Learning & Recognition for Learning make us feel like we are contributing and worthy.

These are the things that we desire - the things that make up our lives and our goals.

For many they do indeed bring happiness. But as we all know, happiness is like the snow in Oregon - it's wonderful as it falls and covers the ground, but as soon as daylight comes, it melts away.

Happiness lasts until you get laid off, or fall and injure yourself, or contract a debilitating disease or until your marriage fails or, heaven forbid, you start getting on in years.

Here's where we come back to the story.

The angel says ten very powerful words: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"

If what Jesus had said about Himself were true - That He was alive - then why were they looking for a body in a cemetery?

Now, follow me on this - I think there is a principal that goes beyond the situation we are looking at today. Why look for the living among the dead? Or, put another way, why search for life in places where this is no life?

Back to the poll I mentioned earlier - there is a big difference between what brings happiness, and what keeps happiness around.

Here is a list generated in answer to the question "what maintains happiness?"

1. A feeling of being in control of one's life and one's choices. Being adaptable to experiences and outcomes.
2. A relationship, partnership, and lasting commitment.
3. A satisfying and rewarding job or career.
4. Good friends.
5. Leisure. Time to travel, retreat or relax. Private time to be alone, and authentic time to share with others.
6. Exercise. Exercising in any style, degree of effort, or time duration that you need or want.
7. Sense of feeling connected to God. Having an avenue to express and experience Spirituality.
8. Hope.

So what happened to "grab for all the gusto you can" and "live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse"? Somehow, deep down, we know that all the money and beauty and fame and power and education aren't enough to sustain us in the long run.

We're getting beyond the surface - the things on the outside of our lives that we crave - and into the things inside our souls that really drive us.

I'd boil the list down into four qualities they have in common.

o Belonging
o Control
o Peace, and
o Purpose.

Belonging means we matter to people, family, and God.
Control means life in the present won't phase us, and life in the future won't hurt us.
Peace means we can do what we want, whatever makes us feel good in a sense of security.
Purpose means are lives matter - what we do counts for something - to ourselves and others.

We know deep down that these are the things that we need for a sense of permanent happiness, of real life - and yet we go about trying to find this permanent happiness using means that lead only to temporary happiness.

So what do we do, armed with this information? Let's turn first to some well known thinkers and philosophers:

Marcus Aurelius:
"To live happily is an inward power of the soul."

Alice Meynell:
"Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends upon the tides of the mind."

And finally: Aristotle
"Happiness depends upon ourselves."

So to follow their logic - we have the ability to create happiness ourselves - it is an inward power of the soul that effects the tides of the mind and has nothing to do with events around us - it is all internal - we are in control of our own destiny.

There's only one problem with this logic - reality.

Imagine the captain of the Titanic using the "tides of the mind" to convince himself that his ship really hadn't hit an iceberg. But there was nothing he could do to stop the fact that the ship had indeed hit an iceberg and was going to sink.

We are in fact in much the same "boat" as that captain. The ship that we are in set sail on its maiden voyage in the Garden of Eden. The day was bright and full of promise. The ship builder of the Garden told us to go and explore - only avoid one area where icebergs, in the form of a special tree - lay in wait.

We set sail and tested the limits of our engines - naming creatures and exploring this vast ocean of a land. But soon we found ourselves arrogant. "What did he mean about certain death if we ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?" The ship builder is keeping something from us - we won't die if we eat, we won't sink - we're indestructible.

But disobeying the ship builder's instructions brought with it terrible consequences. Our ship sprung a huge leak, and the life, provided by the ship builder, began to slip out of us.

There was nothing we could do at that point - our act was irreversible. We could plead or cry, or convince ourselves that sin had not occurred but to what end? The reality was we were separated from God, the ship builder, because we disobeyed - showing we were not like Him.

So the ship builder Himself had to come and let us pierce Him, His body - His life in exchange for ours. He had to move for us - externally. And He did it, not just for Adam and Eve - but for you, personally.

You cannot fix your own boat - because of sin we are born with a death sentence - "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," and "the payment for sin is death."

And yet: "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

We won't find life among the dead, and we won't find Christ among the dead - He died and rose to new life so that we could give up our old leaky vessel, and take on His new, truly indestructible one.

You can have that life by simply admitting that as captain you've made a mess of your life, and need Jesus' death to start out new - make Him Savior - the payment for your sins, and Lord - the new captain.

This is where we find the stuff that maintains happiness:

o Belonging
o Control
o Peace, and
o Purpose.

When we give our lives to Christ we belong to His family - Jesus says "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He now controls our lives, so all is under control - we are at peace with God and ourselves and have purpose to love Him and serve Him with all of our hearts.

For us who are already believers there is application here too - for though we have become Christians we easily fall into the same pattern - having found life we try to keep it by looking amongst the dead.

We can so easily find ourselves longing after money and fame and beauty and youth - when we too need belonging and self control and peace and purpose - things found only in Christ, not the dead works and values of the world.

We must keep ourselves from sleepwalking in the cemetery! There's only one reason to be there really: Remember - the stone was rolled away not so that Jesus could get out, but so that we could go in and see that He has risen.

To sum up I want to make 3 Points:

o Do we too often try to find life and success in the dead works and ways of the world? To find life we must die.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

o When all that is around us is death, do we too forget the words of the Lord?

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

o Do we look for Jesus in the Bible treated just as an historical document - do we go to church as if it's a memorial service? Or do we expect Jesus to be alive and active in our lives today?
Why seek the living among the dead? Instead seek the living among the living - find life in Jesus, then keep it by focusing on Him, not the dead works of the world.