March 31, 2013; Resurrection
Sunday, Psalm 118:15-29; Job 19:23-27;
I Corinthians 15:12-25; Mark 16:1-8; Title: The Hope that Conquers; Rev.
Tim Beck
Grace, mercy, and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
R: He is Risen, alleluia!
C: He is Risen Indeed, alleluia!
Our text: Oh that my words were
written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and
lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus
destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and
my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job
19:23-27)
What Christ accomplished is
manifest. He is declared victorious. He rose, alleluia! We who believe in Christ will rise to
everlasting life as He promised. This is our hope, a confidence set against
everything to the contrary. And the contrary
is all too common. Who wants to hear about the common on Resurrection
Sunday? We don’t want to hear about
everyday life or should we say everyday dying? But it is our experience. We
daily experience cost, loss, decline as much as we fight against it. Job’s cry
comes to our lips, my heart faints within me! We try our best to not be
fainting, beaten, broken. So we go to the gym, or buy a Red Bull, and when that
doesn’t do it, we use cosmetics and liposuction. But Job’s heart is our heart
even if we don’t want to admit it. The
odd thing about resurrection Sunday is, because you admit it, you’re here
today.
Today
is the glad announcement that death does not get the victory shout. There is a
louder trumpet, a sweeter sound, a full and rich tune. There is a liberating
fanfare of joy, of life restored. Where sin, death, and the devil drove the
Ford escort, we will be translated to a V-16, 9 liter engine. Even before that
day, Job, a man who lost everything, had a song. His vast wealth was lost, his
children dead, his body diseased, and his wife mocked “curse God and die.” Talk
about problems at home. His best friends mourned his sorry lot with him, Job in
rags, sitting in a pile of ashes, scrapping his sores. They wanted to comfort
him, to explain things, to make it better. And when Job asked, why did this
happen to me? I fear God! They answered
“It must be your fault. What have you done to make God so angry?” No wonder
Job’s heart fainted within him… well almost, almost fainted. Something kept him
going, someone, some hope, some sure promise.
“Oh
that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with
an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!” He had something
worth writing down. Not the litany of his woes or the accusations of his
friends, but a liturgy of hope. He has something to say, despite everything
that said the opposite. His heart full, what will he write, and not just on the
common materials of his day, on a clay tablet or papyrus, something that will
crack, wash away, or rot? What does he want chiseled out of solid rock, the lettering
filled in with lead, to last forever, as long as there are people to read it?
What does Job want put on what reminds us of a tombstone? He wants something
that will outlast his writing, even on engraved rock. For I know that my
Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin
has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for
myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
This
is what keeps Job going, why Job keeps waiting for his Lord’s help. This hope
is for you too, what Job declared so long ago. He looked forward to events at
which we look back. We don’t even know when this Old Testament man wrote his
story, perhaps on cuneiform tablets, or papyrus, or sheepskin. Perhaps Job’s
history is from the time of King Solomon, 1,000 B.C.; or perhaps earlier, in
the days of Abraham, near 2,000 B.C. His story endured, coming to us from over
3,000, perhaps 4,000 years ago. And Job speaks of earlier promises made to our
kin, near the dawn of time. Job speaks of hope given to real people beloved by
their Creator, and not only beloved, also redeemed. Job knows, not by the sick
feeling in his gut or by his failing sight or the trembling in his diseased
hands. He knows by the promise, a promise only faith can receive.
That
word was enough to lift Job up. And we have so much more. We have not only Job’s clear words; we have the
prophets, the history of Israel. We have the superb records of eyewitness, of
the apostles, authenticated accounts telling us what they saw: He is
risen! Jesus Christ, the Lamb for
sinners slain. He, who by the prophetic word, was born, suffered, and died as
our redemption price, rose. You heard one eyewitness account this morning. The
women who first saw it could not believe their ears or eyes. And if we read the
other resurrection accounts, we discover his closest disciples, Peter and John,
did not believe at first either. Then when Jesus appeared before the 12
disciples, they madly cried out “ghost!” That’s didn’t change the fact, He is
risen as He said. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen;
he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he
is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mk 16: 6, 7)
Despite
our unbelief, fears, cowardice, rebellion, and blindness, Jesus did all He
promised to do for us, and sealed it with His living body. Is there anything He cannot do for you? So Job, told years before these things took
place, believed the promises of God. And in his trouble, knew he had a future.
What a difference that made! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last
he will stand upon the earth. He, and
you, have a Redeemer, one who bought us back from decline, from death, from the
cause of death, from our common condition. We have a redeemer who exchanged our
sin, our rebel stain with his righteousness, so that we might call the Living
God “our Father.” Our redeemer purchased
our lives by spilling His blood. We have a redeemer who gives life in place of
death. This is Job’s hope, and the hope
of every believer. Our Redeemer will again stand upon the earth, at the last.
At the last of time, on the Day of Judgment, at the doorway to eternity, on the
threshold of paradise, Jesus Christ will return to apply the Redemption. He
already completed all things, though we who believe wait a little longer to
receive all things. With Job, our hearts may be full with the troubles of this
life, but Christ will come. He will rule, He will vanquish death, He will
banish evil, He will re-create and restore.
It will not be a cosmetic liposuction. It will not be back to the gym to
combat what you cannot win. Jesus, the
Lamb of God, won, and will restore what you lost. He will give you the fullness
of his righteousness. You will see God and live. You will live, no disembodied
vapor, no spiritual glop, but your body will become what it was created to be,
with the whole of you. Job rightly says, And after my skin has been thus
destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Job knows… Job believes he, who
because of sin cannot see God and live shall see with his eyes, the Living God
because of Christ.
Sitting
in ashes, having lost all near and dear, his faith mocked by his wife, his
friends accusing and God silent: Job hopes. He has a Redeemer, one who lives
and will impart life to him. Soon too the women who at first ran away were
changed by the mercy of God. They too believed, by the power of the resurrection,
by the work of the Holy Spirit opening hearts. Their emotions and earthly
reasoning that the dead do not rise passed away. They believed that the death
of Christ is the gift of eternal life. God is far more powerful than our
despair. His promises cannot fail; they even win our hearts. The women heard
what they soon believed: Do not be alarmed, do not be greatly amazed… He is
risen. Christ cannot be conquered by the devil, death, or sin. His specialty is
to do the impossible. Job believes so He receives. He looks forward to whom I
shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart
faints within me!
His
heart is full. Yes, he feels grief over all he lost and suffers. But that is
not the only thing filling his heart. There is also a confident hope, a blessed
joy, a certain expectation of a glorious future. His Redeemer shall stand upon
the earth on the last day, and Job shall see it with His eyes. And you will
too. He is risen, alleluia. He is risen indeed, Alleluia.
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