The Final Word

One thing I have noticed over the years about Easter preaching is the reluctance of preachers to talk about resurrection.  And, even as I make the observation, I must confess that I have gone that route more than just a year or two as well.  Strange.  The very thing which gives everything about the gospel credibility is found in the empty tomb.  The Apostle Paul had it right when he wrote those Corinthian Christians saying, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain."  (I Corinthians 15:13-14) 

 

While everything hangs on the resurrection of Jesus, too many times we preachers end up avoiding the literal event which happened and its implication for a watered down talk about hope and new beginnings.  It is not like we are not going to die.  One thing we all have in common, one thing which is inevitable, is our death.  Perhaps, that is part of the reason for the avoidance of resurrection preaching.  Resurrection pre-supposes dying and who wants to be reminded of their death when they are all dressed up in their finest. 

But, the gospel is about our living and dying and rising.  Just like Jesus.  We say we believe that Jesus lived and died and was raised from the dead and that even as He has died and been raised, so shall we.  It is just not something we talk about.  Maybe no one wants to be called other worldly.  Maybe dealing with the problems of the present moment seem to call for more attention than the message of the resurrection.  However, when the end is upon us, it seems to me that two things confront us.  We want to know our life has not been a wasted trip.  We want to close our eyes in death knowing that our life counted.  And secondly, we want to have an assurance that though death is real, it never has the final word in living.  Somehow, I figure more folks on Easter Sunday want to hear that the final word has been proclaimed from the empty tomb.