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Sermons

"THE BOTTOM LINE"
EPISTLE SCRIPTURE TEXT:
I CORINTHIANS 15:1-4 & 12-20

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
EASTER SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 12, 2009

SCRIPTURE LESSON: 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 12....if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

MESSAGE: "The bottom line." It's an expression originally from the business world which has come into frequent use in our complex contemporary society. An automobile salesman can talk for hours on end about options, accessories, performance, discounts, rebates, deals, promises, etc. and etc. -- but when it's all said and done, just one thing is really important -- the bottom line. The bottom line tells you exactly how much you're going to have to pay for the car you want. Our recent United States Presidents, one and all, have had a great gift for gab in front of the TV cameras. Many times I've sat listening to a President bob and weave, spin and rotate, duck and dodge around the "whys" and "wherefores" of an issue. And most of those times, I find myself saying -- at least silently -- "That's all very interesting, Mr. President, but what are you really saying? What are you going to do in this situation? What's the bottom line?"

In the United Methodist Church, we try to meet the needs of a lot of people. We've got eight million full members, three million preparatory members, five million or so constituents and semi-permanent visitors, plus about twenty million additional persons who, lacking any other sort of religious affiliation, will look first to a United Methodist Church for help in time of need. We're big, broad-based, mainline. We try to serve just about everybody. We attempt to communicate God's love to all sorts of humans, being on the one hand faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other flexible enough to accommodate the individual faith-needs of many millions of diverse persons -- without forcing anybody into a neatly-molded box.

You here today constitute a cross-section of the wonderful diversity that is found in the United Methodist Church. There are more of you here today than at most other times of the year, and that's a typical United Methodist attribute, too. While each of you is special, unique, and distinct in your perspective regarding the Christian faith, we each also share a great deal in common as Christians, whatever stripe, shade, or label we may choose for ourselves.

My experience as a pastor, plus my study of the experiences of other Christians, has convinced me that, while every individual's faith is somewhat unique, most persons come to faith in Jesus in four generalized ways. I've gradually come to consider these the four principal points of entry into the Christian life.

The first point of entry into the Christian life -- the one through which the majority of persons I've encountered seem to begin their journey with Jesus -- is the teachings of our Lord: The Golden Rule, the Sermon on the Mount, the parables and stories Jesus told. "As you wish that men would do to you, do so to them" -- that statement has an appeal in and of itself. It "feels right" to most people. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." That sounds like how things ought to be; there's an inherent ring of basic truth there. On hearing the Parable of the Good Samaritan, without ever being told outright, we know what kind of neighbors we ought to be, one to another. The teachings of Jesus are powerful -- truthful -- appealing. Many a person has begun to believe in Jesus Christ through acceptance of his teachings. Some of you probably began your journey of faith in Christ via this point of entry -- His teachings.

Many other people approach the Christian life of faith from the starting point of belief in the exemplary life that Jesus Himself led. Some begin here, others, after hearing and believing in His teachings, want to know more of the life of the one who could teach such wisdom and truth. His demonstrated love, His power, His purity of heart, His open, forgiving nature: The life of Jesus is a magnetic example to millions, beckoning us -- "Come, and live likewise." Little children, invited to sit on His knees and hear of the love of God. A word of pardon for a dwarfish tax-collector whose sins and wrongs were infamous far and wide. A soft answer to turn away the wrath of those who sought to make a fool of Him in public. The life of an adulteress saved by an insightful, penetrating response to her would-be executioners. The life of Jesus has no equal among humans. It draws us: "Come! Follow me!" Again, some of you have probably come to Christ via this, the second point of entry into Christian faith -- Jesus' exemplary life.

Still other persons enter into the Christian faith through the fundamental appeal of the death of Jesus. If His life was exemplary among men, His death was even more so. It was a sacrificial death -- inspiring, as are all truly sacrificial deaths. A soldier falls on an exploding grenade to save his buddies in a foxhole. A woman runs into the street to push a small child out of the way of a speeding car, losing her own life in the rescue. However, the death of Jesus went far beyond the usual bounds of even sacrificial death. Examples of offering up one's life for a friend are few -- for a stranger even fewer. But to die for the good of one's sworn enemies - that's unheard of. To forgive one's murderers in the act of carrying out their vile deed -- unimaginable. The death of Jesus becomes the unique example, for all time, of death with honor, dignity, mastery. It too, like the teachings and the life of Jesus, has a quality which draws men and women to follow after Him. Perhaps you've been drawn to Christ by the attraction of His unique, sacrificial death.

By now, however, I imagine you might be asking yourself: I wonder how he plans to end this sermon? This is all fine for the preliminaries, preacher, but let's get on with what you really want to say this morning. What's the bottom line? OK. The 'bottom line' -- the fourth, final, and most significant point of entry into the Christian faith -- is exactly what we're here to celebrate today: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the Resurrection, any who would dare to call themselves Christians are fools. Without the Resurrection all other bases for faith in Christ crumble. As a teacher, Jesus becomes a liar -- for He clearly taught that He, and those who followed Him, would rise from death. The exemplary life of Jesus becomes a sham -- a devious plot designed to win fame and notoriety through reverse psychology. And the inspiring death of Jesus becomes a dead end -- a life needlessly wasted, thrown away at far too early an age. It sounds blunt to put it this way, but it's plain truth: If you cannot believe that Christ rose from the dead, you're wasting your time sitting here this morning.

But if you can affirm that Christ has risen, as I proclaim to you on this beautiful Easter morning, then you are in possession of the greatest hope that any human can ever know -- the hope of immortality. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the bottom line of the Christian faith. The message of Easter is simple and straightforward -- Christ has Risen from the dead! Christ has Risen from the dead! I offer you that message -- and that hope -- and I pray you will accept it as the ground of your faith in Jesus Christ, who conquered death on the first of countless Easter mornings yet to come. Amen.

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