April 8, 2007, Easter Sunday

Back to the Well, Refreshing Your Spirit: The Ultimate Refreshment

Pastor Joe Kutter

It is nearly as predictable as taxes and death. Every Easter and Christmas, something to shock Christians will be published, something to challenge the historic faith. Last Easter it was “The Gospel According to Judas”, another presentation of Gnosticism, and this Easter we have “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.” James Cameron produced a documentary for The Discovery Channel that claims that a tomb has been uncovered that contains the bones of Jesus and Mary Magdalene along with his mother and brothers and a son that Jesus and Mary had together. 

The truth is the tomb was uncovered in 1980 and archeologists have been well aware of it and it took the producer of that great historic file, “The Titanic” to turn it into a spectacular challenge for the Christian faith.

Other than saying that the archeological science behind the claim seems to be a little sloppy, I do not want to get into the argument. I simply do not know enough about the archeology. However, as a long-time Christian who has been nurtured by the Easter stories in the Gospels, I will say that I am predisposed to disbelief that the tomb belongs to Jesus. I find it easy to believe the archeologists who discount the possibility that it belongs to Jesus.

At the same time, reading the articles about the discovery caused me to ask another question of myself, why do I believe in Easter? What is Easter to me? What testimony do I have to offer? 

If the resurrection happened 2,000 years ago, then I have to ask, so what?  What does that have to do with me in 2007?  That takes me to the essence of Easter, to what matters most to me.

I believe that today’s Easter headline should read, “Jesus Has Been Found Alive in Topeka Today”.  That Jesus lived 2,000 years ago in Palestine is a good thing. That Jesus lives in Topeka today is a life-changing reality.

So, you ask, if Jesus is alive today, where might I find him?  Let me offer three places to start and then I’ll tell you how to proceed. 

1. Jesus is to be found in the church which the Apostle Paul called “The Body of Christ.”  Jesus’ Spirit finds its material reality in this fellowship called church. But, we have a problem. The church can also be a place in which the Spirit of Jesus has grown cold and where the most important thing that happens is the spread of really juicy gossip. The church can be a place that hurts people as well as carries the healing spirit of Jesus. Even so, the church is one place to start.
2. Jesus can be found in the lives of his disciples, the men and women who follow him today, right here in Topeka, Kansas. But, we can have a problem here too. Some who claim to be Jesus’ disciples are mean-spirited, hate-filled, self-centered souls who know nothing about Jesus. It’s true. Even so, look around and you will see some apparently ordinary people who are loving and caring and who seek God’s justice in this world.  Look carefully and you’ll see the spirit of Jesus in the lives of some people who are sitting here in this room.
3. Jesus can be found in the pages of the Bible.  But there can be a problem there too. The Bible can be a confusing book and some parts of the Bible can be used in ways that contradict the spirit of Jesus.  Even so, the story of Jesus is told in the Bible and it is a place to start in your quest for the living Jesus.

Now let me say something that may be troublesome to some of us. There are times when we in the church get in the way of people who are looking to discover the living Jesus. And we do so with the very best of intentions. How so?

We sometimes say to a person, “If you want to be saved, you need to believe in Jesus.” And then we ask, “Do you believe in Jesus?” And when the person says, “I believe,” we assure him or her of salvation. So, you ask, how is that a problem?

How can you believe in a person that you do not know? We ask people to believe in Jesus before they know anything about him.

That kind of evangelism is akin to arranging a marriage with a mail-order bride and getting married to a woman that you have never met and then, after you are married, never seeing her again. You say to the man, “Are you married?”

He answers, “Yes.”

“Tell me about her,” we ask.

And the sad response is, “I did not really know her before we were married and I have spent no time with her since the wedding. I’m married but I don’t really know her.” The truth is that he may have a certificate but he is not married! In the same way, I fear that some of us believe in Jesus but we don’t really know him!

So, how do you look for Jesus in Topeka, Kansas in 2007? 

First you date! That’s right, get to know him before you make a commitment to him because if you do not know him, your commitment won’t mean anything anyway! 

How do you date? Spend time in church. Spend time with men and women who are following him, and read about him in the Bible. AND you pray, “Jesus, I would really like to meet and know you.” Or you may need to pray, “Jesus, if you are really alive and present, I would like to meet you personally.” 

Now, I have to say that this dating process may take some time. You may discover that Jesus is not the person that you thought him to be! Your first impressions may be entirely wrong.

·         You will find that he is not meek and mild.

·         You will find that he will ask you to do some things that seem to be really strange; forgive those who have harmed you and love your neighbor and love your enemy and worship and love God with every ounce of your being.

·         You will find that he is a great and troubling story teller who causes more questions than answers. Just who is “the Good Samaritan”?  Who is the prodigal son and who is the older brother?   What does it mean that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven? Jesus’ stories have a bite.

·         He was a healer who broke the Sabbath rules, what does that mean?

·         What does it mean to “take up your cross daily and follow me”?

As you pray, “Jesus, I would really like to meet and know you”, you are very likely to come to a crisis. You will be forced to answer a question; do I really want to follow him?  Do I really want to know him? Do I want this man to live with me and within me?

This crisis is a good thing? It is spiritually and emotionally challenging but it is a really good thing. It is almost like a proposal in marriage. “Do I want this relationship or not? Do I want Jesus to shape my soul ... because if he lives with you, Jesus will shape your soul.”

This is the part that is impossible to describe or explain but I have it on the authority of Christians for the past 2,000 years that it is true. Somewhere in this prayerful wrestling match, you will discover that you are not wrestling only with an idea, you are wrestling with a living person – a living spirit. You are wrestling with Jesus himself and he is alive! He is alive with you in Topeka, Kansas.

The Easter headline is clearly this, “Jesus is alive and well in Topeka, Kansas and You Can Meet Him Here.”

That is what is important about Easter to me. Jesus is alive.

I would love to introduce you to him. I would love to pray with you as you ask to meet and know him. I would love to know that you have found him for yourself.

There are people here in this room who will confirm what I say. Actually, every one of them will say something like this, “It wasn’t quite like that for me. But Yes, I know that Jesus is alive because he lives in me and with me and I have found him in my church and he is shaping my life and soul. Jesus is alive.”