He Is Risen! Are you listening? (an Easter sermon)

In this sermon, our pastor, Ian Forest-Jones, reminded us our Creator has shown us a better way of life than the way of fallenness and sin our world is falling for and blindly following. Jesus the Christ, an innocent, willing accepted the most disastrous consequences of our sin and did so he would conquer sin and death and thus provide us a rescue. Are you listening?

This sermon was delivered on Sunday, 31 March 2024.

We were reminded last week that Holy Week begins with Jesus’ so-called ‘Triumphal Entry’. By entering Jerusalem on that day, to the waving of palm branches and shouts of praise, Jesus entered the city not to overthrow the oppressor but to suffer and die, so as to overthrow sin and death. Not surprisingly the city was thrown into an uproar because of Jesus’ arrival.

We are currently in a similar time and state.  The disruption caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic created ongoing political, economic and social upheaval.  We thought the pandemic would pass with the introduction of a vaccine, yet we are far from ‘getting back to normal’.

Nevertheless, let us continue to proclaim together, “Jesus is Lord!”, as we challenge and correct any complacency we find in ourselves, as well as the status quo in our neighbourhood and state.

There is no better reason to proclaim together, “Jesus is Lord!”, than the remembrance of his resurrection.

This fact was affirmed on Channel 7’s Sunrise morning show, when former host David Koch —or “Kochie”, as he is affectionately known— once said on live television, “The resurrection was not a party trick. It was a real thing. It is Easter.” (Apr-2020)

But in the midst of political, economic and social upheaval, are we listening? Do we have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to understand that we might turn back to our Creator and be healed? (Mt 13:14-15)[1]

Preparing for Disaster

Jesus once asked a question using the metaphor of a king preparing for war:

What king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?

Luke 14:31

If you know a war or disaster is coming, then you will prepare for it, won’t you?

Yet, during a TED talk in 2015, Bill Gates predicted the disastrous results of a new viral epidemic. He outlined then what governments should begin doing to minimise the risk.[2] He argued the world should prepare for an outbreak in the same manner as if we were preparing for war. Did anyone listen?

Asian countries that learnt from two previous outbreaks, and took extreme measures quickly, kept the disaster to a minimum.[3] The city-state of Singapore, a country of 5.8 million people, three months after the outbreak began, had more than 1,400 cases of coronavirus and yet only six deaths. The key to its response was how well it executed the strategies of quarantining and tracing people who had come into contact with the virus.

South Korea’s response was informed by its shortcomings in fighting a previous disease, which claimed 36 lives in 2015. Even before the country had any confirmed cases, quarantine and screening measures were put in place for arrivals from Wuhan, China. South Korea had a model response despite early setbacks.

All of the countries doing well utilised three strategies that worked —acting early, extensive testing and contact tracing, and physical distancing.

Australia did not heed Gates’ warning.  We were not prepared but our governments did tack action quickly. While Australia’s infection rate was higher than countries like Singapore, there is evidence that early decisions made, like restricting arrivals from China, helped to delay the spread of the virus across the country.

The US did not prepare and did not take action quickly. If our Asian neighbours were examples of taking proactive measures, the United States offered insight into what happens when pandemics are handled poorly. The United States tracked the highest rate of infection at a time when countries like South Korea and China slashed the number of new infections. The US quickly eclipsed China as the country with the highest number of infections.

The saddest statistic: An intelligence agency that provides reports to the military, uncovered the coronavirus outbreak and briefed multiple government agencies well in advance. The Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, and the White House were all made aware of the outbreak in November 2019. The Chinese government didn’t disclose the outbreak until 27 December, meaning the US had an extra month to try and prepare for the onslaught, yet did not act.[4]

There have always been doomsayers like Bill Gates throughout history. Yet, the global experience of fighting the 1918 flu pandemic, the SARS outbreak in 2002 and MERS in 2015 should have made governments concerned and prepared. It appears, few were listening and, in Australia, we were not prepared for the disaster we should have been anticipating.

The Tragic Consequences

What makes natural disasters so terrible and tragic is the death of innocent people.

We can almost understand when criminals shoot each other. But the public is outraged when an innocent bystander is killed in the crossfire.

We could almost accept capital punishment if we were assured, without a doubt, no innocent person would ever be sentenced to death.

It is sad when soldiers die in war but when civilians are used as shields, and become unintended casualties of war, something must be done!

The most heinous crime of all is when an unsuspecting woman is assaulted and raped while walking home.

Crimes against innocent people are unquestionably terrible and tragic.

But none of us are really innocent, are we?[5] We are born into a fallen world and quickly succumb to sinfulness ourselves.  We chase vice instead of virtue. We want to go our own way, make our own mistakes, and we sadly suffer the unintended consequences we could have avoided, but then complain about it all anyway.

The current state of our so-called new world order is a disaster of our own making.

Children are confused as to what gender they are. Young adults involve themselves with random sexual partners at the swipe of a finger. The sanctity of marriage has been completely undermined and rendered irrelevant.

Corporate and banking CEOs make far more money than they could ever need while their frontline workers live homeless in their cars and cannot afford healthcare (e.g. Disney).

Some world leaders behave so outrageously (e.g. recent US presidents and a NSW minister photographed living at holiday home during the pandemic) and others persecute their citizens without mercy (e.g. China closing churches and preventing online worship).

Social media amplifies narcissistic tendencies and ordinary people are becoming increasingly incapable of allowing others to hold alternative opinions to their own.

Our Creator warned sin would result in these kinds of consequences for humankind.[6] He has been intervening in human history ever since the earliest records to show us a better way. Did anyone listen?

Throughout the ancient records, God warned, through the prophets, the most disastrous consequence would be the death of an innocent man.[7] Willingly choosing to be that man, Jesus predicted his own death three times.[8] Did anyone listen?

Jesus was falsely accused, wrongfully convicted, tortured, and executed in the most humiliating and agonising way possible. Does anyone care Jesus accepted all this on our behalf, the punishment we deserve?

Conclusion

Yet the story did not end there.

He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Matthew 28:6

The stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty. Jesus appeared to, had meals with, and spoke with his disciples for 40 days following his resurrection. The evidence is compelling.

Now that Jesus has died and come back to life, are you listening?

The proof of the disaster of sin has been revealed and continues unabated all around us and within us.

The solution of our Creator has been applied. The just penalty of our sin has been satisfied. Are you listening?

Jesus led an exemplary life —on that point no one disagrees. By his Spirit, Jesus continues to make himself known to people, convicting us of sin, judgement and righteousness (Jn 16:7–11). He continues to empower his friends to resist sin and follow the commandments of God (Ez 36:26-27).

If you know a disaster is coming, you will prepare for it, correct? You will avoid it, won’t you?

Unfortunately, the disaster of sin cannot be avoided, the consequences continue to swirl all around us.

When the rescue is offered, you would accept it gratefully and adjust your life accordingly, wouldn’t you?

Christ Jesus has shown us a better way of life than the way of fallenness and sin our world is falling for and blindly following.

An innocent man, yet God-in-the-flesh, Jesus voluntarily accepted the disastrous consequences of our sin and did so that he would conquer sin and death, and thus provide a rescue for you and for me and for all. Are you listening?

Place your faith, hope and trust in Jesus, the resurrected one, and return to your Creator. Follow Jesus’ example; the whole of your life depends on it.

Whether in this place or online, feel free to listen prayerfully affirming our faith with the following statement:

This is the good news we have received,
in which we stand,
and by which we are saved:

Christ died for our sins, was buried,
was raised on the third day,
and appeared first to the women,
then to Peter and the Twelve,
and then to many faithful witnesses.
We believe Jesus is the Christ,
the Anointed One of God,
the firstborn of all creation,
the firstborn from the dead,
in whom all things hold together,
in whom the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell
by the power of the Spirit.

Christ is the head of the body, the Church,
and by the blood of the cross
reconciles all things to God. Amen.

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[1]Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from The Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN, USA: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).

[2]Kara Harris, “Fact check: Did Bill Gates predict the coronavirus in 2015?”, USA Today, 26-Mar-2020, https://bit.ly/39YgMHC (accessed 10-Apr-2020.

[3]The information that follows is taken from “What we can learn from the countries winning the coronavirus fight”, ABC News, updated 8-Apr-2020, https://ab.co/2Xqj14c (accessed 10-Apr-2020).

[4]Dan Robitzski, “US Intelligence Warned Of “Cataclysmic” Coronavirus In November”, Futurism, 9-Apr-2020, https://bit.ly/3b0RIBh (accessed 10-Apr-2020).

[5]See Romans 1:18–20; 3:10–12.

[6]See Genesis 3:8–19; cf. 6:5–8.

[7]See Isaiah 53:1–11.

[8]See Matthew 16:21–23; 17:22–23; 20:17–19.