Preaching in Mizoram is Easier on TV

So I've met one of my first big challenges that I'll have to overcome during my time in Mizoram: preaching. For those who know me, the challenge might seem odd as I am quite comfortable speaking in front of large crowds. The difficulty comes when I have to speak with a translator, especially if the translator is not fluent in english. As a result, it's tough to build momentum in a message because I have to wait for a minute after each sentence for translation. In addition, to help with translation I've been writing manuscripts. But I really hate manuscripts because I become very mechanical as I read what I wrote and my style of preaching always relies upon the fluid expression of ideas (so I most often preach from an outline).

It's good though, I'm glad I have a challenge I can work on while I'm here. I have all this in mind because last night I was asked to speak at Romplenot (sp?) church in Aizawl. Romplenot is the second largest church in Aizawl with about 700 members. Last Sunday, one of the elders asked that I speak on the "resurrection of the dead" at their Wednesday night Bible study as part of their series on the Second Coming of Christ. I accepted the offer although I knew I would have some difficulty writing the message.

My main difficulty comes from two main points: First, many Christians today are pretty entrenched into whatever ideas they have about the Second Coming. Most people get their ideas from books like Left Behind or some supposed scholar who wrote a book on the subject. As a result, when you preach about this issue everyone feels that they are a scholar on the matter and are deadset in their ways. For instance, many Christians might be upset if I told them that most of the imagery in the book of Revelations has to do with the Roman empire and nothing to do with some future evil political leader. Although I am the one with a bachelor's degree and soon to be masters in the subject who quotes PhD scholars, you'd be surprised how many people want to correct people like me (and quite passionately I might add). So needless to say, I'm always hesitant to speak on such matters.

Second, my personal theology doesn't really emphasize eschatology. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the resurrection of the dead and Jesus enthroned in power. I just don't find conversations about who the anti-Christ is all that important. Jesus, and the rest of the Bible, seems more concerned with how you treat the poor, how we act toward one another, and who God is rather than on the end of time. So I tend to speak on these issues rather than speculating on things we just can't know.

Whew, okay, enough of my soap box. At any rate, I prepared the message for wednesday night with the idea that I'd have about thirty 40-50 yr old church leaders in the crowd. Rev. Zolawma said the crowd would be small with the World Cup going on and few young people would be in attendance. Also, the pastor fancies himself an eschatology expert (go figure) so even Rev. Zolawma told me to be careful in how I crafted my sermon.

But when we arrived, I was informed that over 100 high school students were going to be in attendance (students here stay in dorms like boarding schools so I guess they just invited the dorms or "hostels" as they're called here.). "Perfect," I thought, "I've just written a dense Bible study for old folks and now my crowd is 99% teenagers who could careless about the subject I was given." But when life gives you lemons, some times things go sour.

I'm grown enough to admit that by the end of my 35 mins, many students were snoozing. Even amongst the first 7 rows of all girls (students divided themselves into sections by sex. also, why does God like to mock me?), who were quite interested in a young western man preaching, I had some closed eyes. My 30 or so old folks, who the message was for, seemed to be with me right until the I made my third turn in the message. See, I'm a social justice minded preacher who reads the prophets and doesn't think you should give a message without some practical point. So when I started on the "quit oppressing the poor" and the "go seek forgiveness from someone you've wronged" points, the old folks were not so happy. They wanted to hear about what the new bodies of the resurrected in the future were like, I told them to go clothe the naked bodies that were here. Nevertheless, all the old folks thanked me afterward and I think I'll get a chance to redeem myself with the teenagers later. Rev. Zolawma told me next time he'll have them tell us who will be in the crowd so we can give the proper message. I was thankful for his understanding.

At any rate, below I've posted my message from last night for those avid readers who want to read more. For those of you who are worried my blogs are getting too long, this is the point in the post where you can move on to YouTube or Facebook. So like a nervous singer, I've given you all the reasons why if you don't like the performance not to be too harsh haha. But I'd love to hear feedback on the message if you feel so inclined. Until next time, pax et bonum.




Resurrecting the Dead to Lives of Love and Justice

Tonight we continue the series exploring subject of the Second Coming of Christ or, as theologians would refer to it, eschatology. For those of you unfamiliar with the word, “eschatology” is a term which literally means “the study of the last things.” To be more specific, eschatology studies the end of history. As Christians, we believe that history will conclude with the return of Jesus the Christ. As a result, Dr. Bob Patterson of Baylor University favors referring to eschatology as “the study of Christian hope.” Indeed, the book of Revelations (where Christians draw much of their imagery for the end of time) is a letter written to provide hope to the persecuted Christian community during the first or second century. Tonight, may we find hope in our study of one topic involved in Christian eschatology: the resurrection of the dead.

When we think about what the Bible says about the resurrection of the dead, we often think about the book of Revelations. We might also think about Jesus debating with the Sadducees or Paul writing his first letter to the Corinthians. But I think that few of us think about the prophets Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. As a matter of fact, the idea of the dead being raised at the end of time originates in the Old Testament. Although we often associate the discussion of the resurrection of the dead with Paul or John of Patmos, our study tonight begins with the prophet Daniel. In the book of Daniel chapter 12 verse 1b-2, the prophet writes,

But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

In the passage from Daniel, we see very clearly the prophet writing about the “awaking” or rising of the dead at the conclusion of history. For Daniel, at the end of time all the dead will rise to either punishment or reward. Although the passage seems very clear, the proper interpretation of the writing was a debated issue around the time of Jesus.

The debate about interpretation was among the three major schools of Judaism that existed in first-century Palestine: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. Much of our knowledge of these schools of thought comes from the ancient Jewish historian Josephus. Josephus tells us that among these three schools, only the Pharisees and the Essenes believed in the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees, on the other hand, believed “that souls die with the bodies” and therefore rejected the Pharisees’ belief in the resurrection of the dead. As a result, it’s important to keep in mind that the belief in the resurrection of the dead has a long, yet hotly debated history. This history dates back long before Jesus teaches about the end of time or Paul and John of Patmos write about it. In addition, the early Christian teachings concerning the resurrection of the dead develop from a tradition in which the issue is not agreed upon by religious leaders.

Indeed, our only knowledge of Jesus’ position on the issue comes from a dialogue with the Sadducees recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 20 verses 27-40, Luke writes:

27There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30And the second 31and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32Afterward the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife."

34And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him." 39Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." 40For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

In verses 34-38, Jesus provides details about the nature of the resurrection of the dead which the apostle Paul will expand upon in his first letter to the Corinthians. Amongst these details, Jesus teaches that those who have been raised to new life can no longer die because they have been made like the heavenly beings. Indeed, those who have been raised from the dead will be equal with the angels and become members of God’s family. Jesus frames his argument in the context of Moses’ confession that the LORD is a god of the living. As a result, those whom God has called his own cannot die because the LORD is not god of the dead but the god of those who live to him.

The information given to us by the prophet Daniel and by Jesus provide a source of great hope. They tell us that God will deliver his people by raising them to new, everlasting life. For God’s chosen, there truly is no “end of time” because they will live forever. But some of you may wonder if it is necessary to believe in the resurrection of the dead considering that the early Jewish teachers in Jesus’ own time did not agree on the subject. Indeed we are left with the question, “do we have to believe in the resurrection of the dead?” If you are secretly asking this question or something like it, then you are not alone. The same question appears to have been asked by the Christians in Corinth during the time of Paul. The apostle addresses the issue by telling the Corinthian church that belief in the resurrection of the dead is essential for Christians. Paul explains his position in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, selected verses beginning with verse 12. He writes:

12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised...17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished…20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Paul instructs the Christian community at Corinth that if they do not believe the dead are raised, then they do not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Yet such a claim goes against the teachings of Christianity since the belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the central teaching and foundational belief of the faith. Indeed if we belief anything which contradicts the teaching of God’s resurrection of Jesus from the dead, then we have rejected the rest of the faith because all other beliefs come from the confession of Jesus’ resurrection. As a result, believing in the resurrection of the dead is incredibly important to our faith and to our understanding of our identity as Christians. As Jesus says, we are sons and daughters of the resurrection. We are the people God will deliver from the grip of death. Since Christ was raised from the dead, so we also look to God’s raising us to everlasting life.

Paul continues his discussion about the resurrection of the dead by addressing the nature of those who will be raised. The writing found here is very similar to the teachings of Jesus found in the Gospel of Luke. If you are interested in further study on the nature of the resurrection of the dead, I encourage you to read the entirety of chapter 15 in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. You will find the way in which the apostle provides hope to Christians based upon faith in Jesus’ overcoming death. But for our time here tonight, we will move on to other issues.

We have now seen that the resurrection of the dead was prophesized by the prophet Daniel, taught by Jesus, and written about by Paul. Each teacher believed the resurrection of the dead was an essential belief of the faith demonstrating God’s love, justice, and promise of hope for his people. But perhaps some of you are still not satisfied with simply the promise of the dead rising. Some may say, “I am not dead or dying so what does this have to do with me?” Or maybe since you cannot experience resurrection until the end of time you might wonder if the belief has any significance for your life today.
For those of you wondering what practical importance belief in the resurrection of the dead has for you, let us turn to Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 6 verses 8-13. The apostle writes:

8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Paul’s message to the Romans tells us that the resurrection of the dead not only gives hope for tomorrow, but challenges us today. If we are raised in Christ from the dead, then we are raised to a new life as well. Such new life begins here and now, given to us upon our baptism in which we participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus. By participating in the death, we no longer allow sin to rule over us; by participating in the resurrection, we live out the teachings of the gospel each day. Therefore, as those who have been raised to new life in Christ, Paul challenges us to daily embody the love of Christ to others. We must not practice corruption, deceitful dealing, and oppression. We must not forget the poor and the needy in their time of trouble. We must not refuse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoner. Indeed, if we have been raised from the dead then we will daily “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, [and] plead the widow’s cause,” just as the prophet Isaiah instructs us. Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is not an empty promise for the perishing but it is a challenge for the living. The resurrection of the dead is not a far off hope for some future time, but a hope to be lived today. As the church, we are the community of the resurrected ones; we are the people whose mission it is to bring new light into an often dark world.

The question for tonight’s Bible study is this: are you still living as one who is dead? Are you still without the life-giving breath of love in your life? If so, the apostle Paul calls you to rise to a new way of living found in Christ. Indeed, God is persistently inviting us to participate in his present, yet coming kingdom. The question we must ask ourselves is whether or not we will accept his invitation. Perhaps that means for you that tonight you need to seek forgiveness from a person you have wronged, or to grant forgiveness to a person who has wronged you. Each of us still has times in our lives where we live as those who are dead rather than those who have been raised. So tonight I challenge all of us to awake to new life and to live as those who have been resurrected. We are no longer slaves to sin and bound by death, but have been delivered by God into new life. Now our great hope is in Jesus who is the Christ, the lamb of God, who rescues us from sin. May we also live a life which rescues others from the death of poverty, injustice, and oppression. For in this way we live as true sons and daughters of the resurrection and awake to everlasting life.