Resurrection

When he stood before the Jewish Council, Paul declared that he was on trial for the hope of the resurrection. That's how he summarized the Gospel in that situation: the hope of the resurrection. One of my goals for this morning is to help you to understand that hope a little better so that you can enjoy it a little more. This isn't going to be about what you should be doing when you're on your deathbed. It's something for you to hold onto every day. Everything in the Bible is intended to affect your life now. And that includes the hope of the resurrection. The text that I'm going to use is the familiar Psalm 22. But, instead of reading all of it at this point, I'm going to work through it, a section at a time. And we're going to look at it, first, in terms of David's life. After all, he wrote it about something that happened to him.

So, let’s get started. Here are the first few verses.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

David has a problem. Actually, he has several problems, and he will point them out as we work our way through his psalm. But right here is the biggest problem of them all. David feels abandoned. It's one thing if friends abandon you. Think: Job. But David feels as if God has abandoned him. After all, David cries out to his God day and night, but there is no relief. God does not answer him. David thinks that he has a reasonable expectation that God would answer him since this God is his God. That's why David says and repeats, ‘My God'. There is already a relationship between David and this God, a relationship filled with promises. But it doesn't feel like God is keeping those promises. And David struggles to understand that. He asks the pointed question, 'Why?'

Next section.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

'Yet...' This section is in contrast with the previous. Despite what he is feeling at the moment, David knows that his God can come through. He came through in the past. David's ancestors cried out to this same God. They trusted him, just as David does. And he answered them. He rescued them from whatever it was that was troubling them. They trusted, he answered, they praised him. This is a point of encouragement. David is reminding himself about the proven goodness of his God. But at the same time it is something that confuses David. His God hears the cries of his people. He rescues them. How encouraging. And yet, David's question remains unanswered: 'Why are you so far from saving me?'

Now a little information about what troubles David.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

David's problem is other people. He has been scorned and despised and mocked. And what is the focus of this ill-treatment? David's trust in his God. 'So, you delight in your God, David? Well, why hasn't he rescued you, huh? What's wrong with your God, David? Why hasn't he come through for you?' And that, of course, makes the silence from heaven all the more difficult.

But David hangs on.

Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

Here David points not to the experience of his ancestors, which he did earlier, but rather to his own personal experience. This God has been his God from birth, and even before that. And from that time he has been dependant on this God. David has a history with this God. And that encourages David to cry out:

          Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

Silence notwithstanding, David continues to appeal to his God. And there is a good reason for this. David knows that there is no one else who can help him.

The next section is longer and there are several things to notice.

Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet - I can count all my bones - they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of the wild oxen!

The first thing to notice here is David's use of the imagery of animals. He includes bulls, lions, dogs, oxen. Now, when you hear about these animals don't think Erie zoo. Think rather, wild dogs who viciously attack as a pack, or lions whose claws rip and tear flesh, or bulls and oxen that crush bones with brute strength. David is describing his oppressors. They are ferocious. They attack like wild animals.

The other thing to notice is how David describes his body. 'I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint...' and the rest. Whatever is going on, it is affecting him physically. He can see the results of these problems by just looking at his body. This could be the result of physical attacks, but I don't think so. Vicious words attack the soul, but the wounds can show in the body.

One last thing. His attackers have taken his clothes. I'm not sure what David is referring to. This could be poetic imagery. It might be about shame, pictured as going about naked. It might be a way of talking about how these others are treating him as if he is already dead by going through his possessions, including his clothing, to see what they might take. Or he might be pointing to how he has nothing left because of these enemies. They have even taken his clothing.

And so, David renews his cries to his God. 'But you, O Lord, do not be far off! … come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul ... Save me...'

So much for the overview of the first part of David's psalm. We need to pause here. It's important that this next point be clear. This psalm is David's life. It isn't every day of his life, but it is his description of something that was going on at some point in his life. And it isn't pretty. He is struggling. David is struggling with other people who are attacking him viciously. The struggle affects his health, his body. And the struggle includes his questions about where his God is during all of this. David cries out to his God, but he doesn't appear to be hearing him. And that, of course, makes everything worse. This is not a pleasant picture to consider. But it was what David was living at that time. This is David's life. This psalm is also a description of Jesus' life. You know that Jesus quotes from this psalm while he is dying. The particulars that I have pointed out to you fit what happened on Good Friday. But you need to remember that Jesus' suffering was not limited to one day. Every day had its share of suffering. Every day Jesus was confronted with the evil of this place. And does anyone really think that Satan tempted him at the beginning of ministry and then, having failed, gave up? I hope that it is obvious that while Jesus' suffering came to a climax on that one day, Satan was always after him, using this person or that demon. Threats and pressures and temptations. Jesus suffered every day. Every day. And it makes sense that Satan was after him. What was Jesus doing? He was dismantling Satan's kingdom. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God as the only kingdom. And Jesus was having success in this mission. It showed every time he freed someone from one of Satan's demons, every time he healed someone from some cursed disease, every time he exposed Satan's lies by teaching the people the truth. Rest assured that while Jesus was pursuing his mission Satan wasn't just standing around watching. He was at Jesus, using whatever and whomever. Every day. So, it makes sense that Jesus quoted from this psalm. It is certainly about Good Friday but not only about Good Friday.

So, the psalm is about David's life, and it's about Jesus' life. But - and this is the point that I want to be clear - this psalm is also about your life. No one in this room has suffered with the intensity that Jesus' experienced on that Cross. And you may never have been in any of those hard situations that David dealt with. But every Christian has suffered. We don't always see that. And that's unfortunate. We don't always see that because we've adapted to the suffering. We accept it as normal. When life gets hard we make excuses for it. We tell ourselves, 'Oh well, what are you going to do? That's life.' Or we talk about having to pay our dues before we're able to cash in. Some of you think that the problems that you face are your own fault. You tell yourself that you must be doing something wrong. If only you were more organized or worked harder or some such nonsense, then life would work much better. But that's not the real problem.

When we life gets hard we often compare ourselves and our situation with somebody else's situation and say, 'Well, at least my life isn't as bad as that', or 'Well, we're all struggling with the same thing. That must mean that it's just part of life', or something like that. To compare your situation with another situation is the right thing to do, but choose the right situation to compare with. What you need to do is compare your life here and now, with what it would be if you were still in the Garden of Eden before any sin. That's what life is supposed to be like. Anything less than that, anything harder than that, is the result of sin. When Adam ate from that tree, the world was changed. Everything was broken. And that's why life is so hard. You suffer because of sin and because of the schemes of Satan that are behind that sin.

So, we have David, and he is in trouble. People are attacking him like a pack of wild dogs. They mock him. They bring shame into his life. His body is falling apart. And then, to make it all worse, he cries out to God - and nothing happens. Have you never been in a situation that is at least a little like that? Have you never worked with people who made your life one trial after another? Has your body never betrayed you? What do you think? Should we ask the two men who spent time in the hospital this weekend if it was fun? Has no one ever said things, scornful things, that hurt you deeply? What do we say to this? 'Oh well, what are you going to do? That's life.' No it's not! It's suffering. And its cause is sin and Satan. It's common, but it is not the way life is supposed to be. And that's one reason why this poem by David is in the Bible. This psalm is about your life.

We've looked at the first part of the psalm and it is dark. But, everything changes with the next sentence.

          'You have answered me.'

I want you to remember how David begins this psalm.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer.

But, things have changed. Now, it's different. God is no longer quiet and, seemingly, distant. 'You have answered me.' So, what does that mean? What did God do? Let's get specific. What does that mean for Jesus? Remember, the psalm is about him, too. And the answer is obvious. Resurrection! It is so important that you get this. And that begins with understanding the word, resurrection, itself. Resurrection doesn't mean that Jesus died, and then he was revived. That's what happened to Lazarus. Jesus raised him from his grave. But Lazarus was not resurrected. He was revived. And we know that because at some later time Lazarus died. Resurrection means more. Resurrection means being beyond the touch of death. And that is true because resurrection means being beyond the touch of sin. And that's what happened to Jesus. 'You have answered me.'

One day you will be resurrected. One day your body and soul will be dramatically changed. You will be beyond the touch of death, in all of its forms. And the reason for that is that you will be beyond the touch of sin. And when that happens you will be in a place that will be just like the Garden of Eden, before Adam's foolish choice - except better. One day there will be no more suffering of any sort, none for your body, (total health) none for your relationships with others, (complete love) none for your relationship with God (always there walking and talking with you). That's what resurrection is.

Now Paul's comment makes sense. 'I am on trial because of the hope of the resurrection.' That's what the Gospel is about. For way too many Christians, resurrection is just a doctrine that they are supposed to believe. It's important because it says something about Jesus and the validity of the Gospel. And yet, for these folk, it really doesn't make any difference for how they live today. It's just a doctrine. But it really does make a difference. And the first step in seeing that clearly is understanding that life now, your life now, with all the conflict and sickness and questions about why God does what he does - your life now is not the way that it's supposed to be. The particulars will be different and how you express them will be different, but each of you could write your own version of Psalm 22. 'My God, my God, why...?' Right? And it is when you can see that clearly that the hope of resurrection becomes precious. That's when it becomes real. That's when it affects today. And it does that because it puts your hope in the right place. Your hope is not that you will somehow get more organized or that you will get used to the difficulties of life or some other impossibility. Your hope is that one day you will be a changed person in a changed place where there is no sin and no death and no suffering. The hope of the resurrection.

And to encourage you to continue to cling to that hope, the Father gives you tastes of it now. At some point in the midst of his life and its troubles, David was able to say, 'You have answered me.' His God finally responded, and David found relief. A taste of resurrection. God's ultimate response to your cries for rescue lies in the future. But you, like David, have already experienced those times when the Father did, in fact, hear your cries and acted. There have been those times when he acted and you found relief. What is that but a taste of resurrection; a reminder that pressing on, continuing to trust him in the face of such difficulties and too much silence, is worth it. You do that in the hope of resurrection.

The classic chapter on the resurrection is 1 Corinthians 15. Over the years I have found Paul's last sentence there intriguing.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

That's how he completes his teaching on the resurrection. You live in a world that is profoundly broken. Every day, in one way or other, you experience the effects of sin and suffering and death - and sometimes as intensely as David did, though never as intensely as Jesus did - not even close. It is in this broken world that Jesus has called you to follow him. And doing that is awfully hard. It is painful. But Paul reminded those saints in Corinth - and the Spirit reminds you - that keeping at that is worth it. 'Your labor is not in vain.' Why? Because at the end of it all there is resurrection.