[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK] Do
you wonder what will
happen when you die?
Find out next on Time of
Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
This is one of the
dilemmas that outreach
workers really have.
Now I've never lived or
done that kind of job or
really day-to-day worked
at trying to persuade
people who were homeless
so I have to kind of
listen to what those
outreach workers say about
the rationale of why
somebody would prefer life
on the street to actually
having a pillow and a
blanket and a locked door
to sleep where there'd be
some kind of security.
Not only is it cold but,
man, the homeless people
are vulnerable to being
abused and robbed of what
tiny little they might
have might be taken away
because there's nowhere to
run, nowhere to go.
Very often, they're not
well, they're not
physically in very good
shape, they can't run away
or defend themselves very
well.
Why would somebody prefer
life on the street?
Well, here's what I've
learned.
Number one, they're afraid
of the unknown, which
isn't so surprising, is
it?
You and I are afraid of
the unknown, too.
Second, they don't know if
they can trust this person
who's pitching something
to them.
Third, the street is what
they know; that's where
they're comfortable.
Fourth, it's hard to make
a change in life.
Fifth, who lets a stranger
change your life?
I don't.
I don't let you change my
life much.
If I let you change even a
little bit of my life,
it's a minor miracle and
you don't want me messing
too much with you, either,
do you?
You let me have a tiny
bit.
Now it strikes me that the
same decision dysfunctions
that keep homeless people
struggling and
dysfunctional - even when
there is help being
offered to help them at
least get a shower and a
shave and maybe trim their
hair and get a change of
clothes or at least smell
better and eat a solid hot
meal instead of scrounging
whatever scraps they can
find and giving them some
job interviews or some
counseling to try to help
them find a stable way of
life instead of endlessly
begging, going from
day-to-day survival
mentality - it has a
corollary to me of people
who are spiritually
homeless.
What is it about the
Christian message of
invitation that people
find so disappointing or
non-compelling that they
would say, "No, not
interested?"
It seems to me the same
dysfunctional thinking
goes on of people who've
got no time for the
Christian message.
Think of the people you
that you have invited to
church in the last 10
years who put the hand up
and said, "Talk to the
hand.
Not interested."
Same basic decision
package.
"I'm fine.
I've got my life and it's
a mess but it's my mess,
at least.
I'm doing - it's what I
know.
Yeah, I don't know where
I'm going.
Yes, I have no possible
way to suppose I'm going
to heaven when I die but
that's then; all I care
about is right now."
And you try to help people
to connect with the
life-giving Word but
they're more interested in
control cause it's a
foolish thing.
Homeless people think they
have freedom but is that
freedom to have to sleep
under a bridge at night,
under a piece of
cardboard?
Do you call that freedom?
That doesn't sound real
free to me; that sounds
like you're enslaved to a
life.
First of all, you may die
of hypothermia in winter
if you have the misfortune
to live in a northern city
and have to endure winter.
You're looking for heat
grates just trying to stay
alive.
You are desperately
looking for scraps every
day just to eat.
Does that sound like a
great life?
And they say, "Well, at
least I'm free."
Man, it doesn't sound too
free to me but it's
compelling to them.
And people who think I
don't want to be involved
in any kind of organized
religion because I want to
be free, I want to
assemble my own belief
system, I want to control
my own personal
philosophy, well, there's
a little bit of compelling
logic to that, isn't
there?
You know what cafeteria
religion is?
Raise your hand if you
know what I'm talking
about; okay, a couple of
you.
Okay, well you know what a
cafeteria is, right?
You get a tray and you
slide it along the rails
and you look over all the
food and you say, "I'll
have a little of this,"
and "I'll have a little of
that and I'll have one of
these," and "this will be
my drink," and you get
your cup out and you load
it up with whatever liquid
you feel like washing down
the food you just picked.
So you reject 90 percent
of what's in that
cafeteria and you only
pick out the items that
appeal to you.
That is how many of your
fellow citizens of the
city and our country view
their faith life with God.
They think, I'm free to
determine whatever I feel
is true and I will pick
out the pieces of
Christianity that appeal
to me and I'll ignore the
rest.
And I may also pick pieces
from the Hindu café and
I'll go over to the Muslim
cafeteria; I like this and
this from that world.
And here's the Buddhist
world; there's a little
bit of Zen in me so I
admire this and I'll do a
little of this
transcendental meditation.
I like that.
And I'll do a little Yoga
and you put this all
together and people think,
I want to be free to
believe whatever I think.
And that is as
dysfunctional as a
homeless person thinking,
"I've got it all," as
they're shivering under
their cardboard.
It's a delusion of Satan
to make you think that you
are free.
And this isn't - we're
going to hear in a few
minutes of some real
weakness of faith on the
part of some of the people
that St. Paul originally
evangelized in Corinth -
and I've got to caution
you and I've got to be
careful in my tone, also,
not to be doing this like,
"Those idiots," wagging
that finger.
You know, wagging your
scolding finger like
what's wrong with you,
people, because we have
our own weaknesses of
faith.
Every one of us is tempted
by homeless people type
thinking all the time.
Jesus ran into this on
Easter Sunday already!
As the news of his
resurrected body is
ricocheting around, as
soon as people figure it
out and see him, they go
and tell their friends but
as you heard me share with
you a few minutes ago from
Mark 16, what was the
reaction that the
eyewitnesses got?
"It can't be happening.
Don't believe it."
Jesus himself told his
disciples, "Whoever
believes and is baptized
shall be [Audience:
saved].
Whoever does not believe,
will be [Audience:
condemned]."
Unbelief kills.
It is spiritual suicide.
You are not free to
assemble your own belief
system any more than you
are free to believe or not
believe in gravity.
It is a reality that
exists entirely apart from
your opinion of it and
you're an idiot if you
ignore the fact that it's
there.
Or friction - a very
useful feature of life on
earth; it's one of the
basic laws of physics - we
count on it.
That's the only reason you
can walk without slipping
like you're on a banana
peel every step you take.
The friction between your
shoes and the wood or the
carpet or the concrete
you're walking on keeps
you propelling forward.
If it wasn't for that, you
couldn't ever go anywhere
because you couldn't get
any traction.
The only reason traction
exists is because of
friction.
The Christian message that
comes to you and me is not
a religious philosophy or
a collection of opinions.
It is reality and it is a
life or death reality.
That's why Jesus was so
disappointed.
You think on Easter
there'd be no scoldings or
there would be no bad news
on Easter but Easter was a
day of painful
realizations to Christ
that his disciples, who he
had been training to be
his proclaimers,
themselves did not even
believe the message even
when it was given to them
by eyewitnesses, much less
remembering the clear
teachings he had given
them.
So he had to tell them
over and over because of
how slow they were.
Just as you have to invite
a homeless person over and
over to trust you and let
them pull you into an
overnight shelter, at
least get some first aid,
get a medical checkup, get
a shower, get some clean -
wash your clothes and lock
up your stuff in a locker
overnight so you can
actually sleep through the
night without worrying
that somebody's going to
beat you up or try to
steal what little you
might have.
It was a problem in
Corinth, as well, as it
was.
A couple of weeks ago, we
dug into a section of
Scripture from 1
Thessalonians 4 and I
shared with you that the
Thessalonians were
struggling with
understanding last day
issues; the return of
Christ.
They were confused about
that and were actually, as
an organization, were
sharing wrong ideas, which
were hurtful to people's
faith.
The Corinthians had such
spiritual strength that
Paul praised them for what
they were achieving, but
they had some terrible
weaknesses, also.
One of them was fighting
among themselves in a
cliquey sort of
factionalism, where
instead of feeling like
you were part of a unified
group of people, you were
- it was like they were
being pitted against one
another and they were also
stratified by social class
and wealth.
The wealthy people stayed
apart from the poor people
who looked enviously at
them and they wouldn't
share and wouldn't
interact together; they
were like different
cliques within that
congregation.
And they got a royal
spanking from Paul in the
earlier chapters.
They also had their heads
on crooked when it comes
to the resurrection
issues.
I'd like to invite you to
take your Bible and open
it up to 1 Corinthians 15,
or you can look it up on
your mobile device, also.
And this incredible
chapter - one long essay
on the meaning and power
of the resurrection - was
written with one
particular goal in mind
and that is the people had
doubts about the
resurrection and about
Easter.
And this isn't just like a
peripheral issue off to
the side like, "Well,
okay, I guess you could
believe that or not and it
won't hurt the core of
your faith."
This is the core of your
faith!
You can't mess with this
without disrupting
everything else.
It's like standing on a
volcano.
If the volcano blows, you
also are going to be
carried away in a river of
molten lava.
If your head is messed up
about Easter, everything
else gets messed up, too,
for it is Easter that
guarantees to you the
forgiveness of your sins.
The crucifixion in and of
itself doesn't guarantee
it, for Christ might still
have been slaughtered.
But if he had failed in
any way to be everything
the Lamb of God was
supposed to be, he would
have died anyway but it
would have been
meaningless and you and I
would still be stuck in
our sins.
The resurrection is the
pivot point of all human
history for it is there
that God put his stamp of
approval on the sacrifice
offered by his son.
And the coming back to
life shows that it worked
and if you have trouble
with that, everything else
falls apart, too, and
you've got nothing left
but a gigantic grab bag of
half-baked religious
opinions that will do
nothing for you.
"If Christ has not been
raised," Paul wrote, "your
faith is futile and you're
still stuck in your sins,"
for which you will be
rightly condemned on the
Day of Judgment.
But Christ has, indeed,
been risen.
But the Corinthians were
struggling with this; this
was a weakness of theirs.
And St. Paul wrote
eloquently to show how the
resurrection was at the
middle of everything.
In 1 Corinthians 15:12,
you hear the powerful
phrase that in some ways
sets up all of this
chapter; why Paul thought
he needed to write this
entire chapter.
And please, I've only got
a few minutes with you to
do a few tastes; we're
just doing a tasting from
this chapter.
Please read the whole
thing as soon as your life
permits so that you can
get the whole story.
It's an incredible essay
on the resurrection of
Jesus and us.
"How can some of you say
that there is no
resurrection of the dead?"
And you know what?
I think I can answer that
question for Paul; I think
I know why.
Because they thought if
we're supposed to rise
just like Christ, then why
ain't it happening?
The fact that their dead
stayed dead was creeping
them out.
They had only listened
partly when they first had
the gospel brought to them
and they thought, "Okay,
we're going to rise just
like Christ," so they
buried their loved ones
and three days later,
they're waiting for their
loved ones personal Easter
and it doesn't happen.
So they started getting
cynical: "Maybe this
resurrection thing is a
fraud?
I don't see my mother
coming back to life.
Where is she?"
And they started getting
cynical: "I guess this
isn't going to happen."
Paul wanted them to see
that was never the
promise.
You were not listening.
We will indeed rise!
But the resurrection of
Christ is the guarantee
that that promise is gold;
you can take it to the
bank.
And this isn't, as I said,
a peripheral issue; this
is like spiritual life or
death.
Let your eyes slide down
to verse thirty-four.
To these Christians, who
in many ways were strong
and admirable, they had
this flaw right in the
middle: "Come back to your
senses as you ought and
stop sinning."
So this is - this has
enormous spiritual
significance.
Here is the promise - if
you jump ahead now with me
to verse 42 where we - I'm
going to slow down a
little bit and just savor
some of these powerful
verses.
Paul is now going to
explain what's going on
that you cannot see.
He had been given
wonderful spiritual
insights to share with us.
Here's what the
resurrection of the dead
is going to be like, he
said, in verse 42: "The
body," our bodies, when we
go to a funeral, "that is
sown is perishable."
Now this is not "sown" as
s-e-w-n; this isn't
talking about sewing.
When it's spelled s-o-w-n,
when something is sown,
that means what?
It's planted.
So you have to pretend
when you go to the funeral
director's office and you
plan the funeral for your
grandmother or your dad,
you have to pretend that
you're farming.
You ever think of that?
That you're farming?
Because what looks to be a
dry, dead, husk of
something with no life in
it, like a seed, will only
come to life and fruition
when it's planted or sown
in the ground.
Now doesn't that sound
counterintuitive?
When you put stuff in the
ground that's organic,
what happens to it?
It disintegrates.
Ashes to ashes, [Audience:
dust to dust].
Dust you are, Adam, and to
dust you will return.
It looks like it's over,
the party's over, and
you're dead and gone.
But with a Christian point
of view, he invites you to
think of yourself as the
farmer planting this dead
thing so that you will get
a living harvest back.
And it will happen when
Christ returns.
Our resurrections will not
be on the third day, like
Jesus', but they're as
certain as his
resurrection is certain.
"The body that's planted
or sown is perishable."
Now normally, when you
hear that word, it's kind
of a happy word because it
means that's the fresh
food in your fridge.
We like perishables
because that's, you know,
your milk and that's the
meat and the eggs that you
have; the stuff that if
you wait too long, it will
go bad, as opposed to
canned food or stuff in
airtight bottles.
This means your body's
falling apart and,
ultimately, it will
disintegrate.
The body we plant in the
ground is not what's going
to inherit eternal life
because it's perishable.
But it will be raised
imperishable.
Every one of us has the
seeds of death in us ever
since the rebellion of
Adam and Eve.
There's like a little -
it's like being irradiated
with some kind of
radioactive destructive
force that slowly is going
to kill you.
The sin in us is killing
us!
We're all dying; even
children are dying.
Their bodies get sick,
which are like little
previews of what's going
to take them down
ultimately and sometimes
children do die.
I'm not trying to creep
you out; just describing
how the world we live in -
you probably will have
already had or will soon
have the painful
experience of attending a
funeral of a child because
they've got this
radioactive destructive
thing in them, as well.
What's painful about death
is the reason for it.
The soul that sends shall
die, Scripture says.
"The wages of sin is
death."
That's what creeps us out
about death.
It's bad enough of the
separation but the fact
that it's a criminal
sentence and punishment
being put on us by an
angry God gives us the
creeps.
It's a heavy psychological
burden; it's a
realization.
It happens to be the truth
but it's a heavy load.
But it will be raised
imperishable and so the
shame and dishonor with
which we are planted will
be raised in glory.
The resurrection of the
bodies of the believers is
a guarantee that not only
was the forgiveness of
sins bought for them for
free, but that it was
received by them.
When we get our lost loved
ones back on Judgment Day,
it's a guarantee that they
are loved and forgiven, as
well.
So we're raised in glory;
when we're raised we get
our honor back.
"It is sown in weakness."
Gosh, a dying and dead
body are sure helpless,
aren't they?
Ever been at the bedside
of somebody in the week
before she or he died?
They're helpless; they
can't do a thing.
We're planted in weakness
but we're raised in power.
We're planted a "natural
body."
Now, this doesn't mean
we're raised unnatural;
this is an almost
untranslatable word and I
have to like lay out the
cluster of meanings behind
this.
The fourth characteristic
- along with perishable,
dishonored, weak, and now
natural - doesn't mean
there's something
unnatural about our
resurrection bodies.
Natural here is in the
sense of earthbound;
materialistic only.
Dying.
It's got the death
sentence and it's limited
to flourishing in this
life and will soon be
over.
It is raised a spiritual
body; meaning we're
connected with God the
Spirit where we come alive
again, we get our life
back.
Jump down to verse 50: "I
declare to you, brothers,
that flesh and blood,"
meaning as we know it,
human beings as we are
now, "cannot inherit the
kingdom of God," without a
change, "nor does the
perishable inherit the
imperishable."
If there was some way for
you and me to work our way
into heaven, skip the
dying process, it would
have happened long ago.
But the fact that
everybody keeps dying is
pretty good proof that
everybody is sinful.
"We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed
in a flash, in the
twinkling of an eye, at
the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will
sound, the dead will be
raised imperishable, and
we will all be changed."
The perishable gets
changed into imperishable,
the mortal gets changed
into immortality.
Then, finally, will come
true the saying that has
been written: "Death has
been swallowed up in
victory.
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is
the law.
But thanks be to God who
gives us our victory
through our Lord Jesus
Christ."
So believing in the
resurrection of the body
is not just one of your
many options of things to
believe in.
It is the heart and core,
the soul of everything.
Everything flows out of
that.
If you have got that,
everything else will fall
into place.
If you don't have that,
nothing else will make
sense.
I believe in the
resurrection of the body;
the body of Christ that
guarantees to me the
forgiveness of my sins,
guarantees God's favor to
me that he likes me.
Guarantees to me that I
can live my life without
fear because I'm not
always stressing over the
fact that I'm running out
of time; got to do it
faster - go faster.
Do more.
Hate her because she's got
what I want but I'm
running out of time and
I'll never have it so I
envy her; envy her life
and that eats up at your
stomach and you're
thinking I wish I could do
what he does; I wish I had
his money.
I'm stuck.
Running out of time; go
faster.
And then, suddenly, you're
80 years old and you
think, "I got screwed.
What a lousy so-called
life I've had.
I didn't do this, I didn't
do this, I never got this.
I wanted this and never
got it," and you can sit
there and stew in a
negative pile of acid
eating up your stomach.
Instead, say to yourself,
look in the mirror - do it
after your shower so
you're clean [Audience:
Laughter] - look in the
mirror and say, "You know
what, Mark?
You have all the time in
the world.
R-e-l-a-x.
You've got all the time in
eternity.
I don't have to get it all
now.
I can enjoy my life with
whatever God has given me.
I can enjoy the people
around me as God has been
gracious and kind to me.
I can just enjoy the
people around me and be
kind and gracious to them.
I can look for the treats
that God will send me and
I know he always sends me
something every day that
will make me smile.
And I can put up with the
hardships I have because I
know they're temporary and
they're not signs of a
lack of favor.
In fact, we're told in
Scripture that even our
hardships work for God
because they keep us close
to him because our
hardships can destroy
illusions that there's
heaven on earth.
It destroys the illusions
that there's happiness and
freedom apart from God.
There isn't.
That's a lie.
Our happiness comes from
being connected to God.
Relax.
Enjoy your life because of
the resurrection of the
body.
Let me hear you say, "I
believe in the
resurrection of the body."
Ready?
[Pastor and Audience: I
believe in the
resurrection of the body].
And I do, too.
Good news for God's
people, Amen!
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
Thank you, Pastor
Jeske, for that incredibly
encouraging message from
the word of God.
What an awesome assurance
that because Jesus lives,
we too live eternally, but
also with a lot of hope
until we get to our home
in heaven.
I'll be right back to pray
with you.
[PROMOTION] "Why can't you
be more put together like
her?
You're such a mess." "What
kind of man are you?
Don't be such a wimp."
"How can you expect anyone
to like you when you're so
lame all the time?"
I wrote this book, "Change
of Story," because we all
tell ourselves stories and
some of those stories take
us to somewhere good and
some of those stories
spiral down into more and
more temptations into dark
places.
It's at those moments,
like Asaph or David, where
we have to hear God's
story for us.
And so, in this book,
you'll see what God's
story is for you and how
God can connect you to
that story so that you can
change where you're going
and start leading a life
closer to God.
And it's our thanks for
your donation to help
reach more people with
God's timeless truths.
So get your copy of
"Change of Story" when you
give today and begin your
journey away from negative
thoughts and into the true
story of God's love.
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
Thank you for your ongoing
support of this ministry.
This ministry simply would
not be possible without
friends like you.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, We are so
grateful for this
certainty of your
resurrection because it
means that our
resurrection one day is
also certain.
As we walk through our
lives on earth, our bodies
get so tired and so weary
and our hearts get so
tired and so weary as we
face the death of friends
and family that we love;
as we face all the
troubles and trials of
this world.
But in the middle of all
of that, we have the
assurance that you are
alive and that you have
prepared a wonderful home
for each one of us.
Lord Jesus, we're so
grateful for the assurance
that once day we will be
by your side, stripped
away of all troubles, and
covered with righteous
perfection that is ours
through faith in you - our
friend, our brother, and
our risen Savior.
In your name we pray,
Amen.
I'm Pastor Jeremy Mattek
with Time of Grace and it
all starts now.
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
brought to you by the
friends and partners of
Time of Grace.
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