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Potent Worship (Practical Christianity #9) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Many modern Christians simply equate “praise” and “worship.” But the Bible teaches that praise is one component of worship, not the whole thing. The word “worship” literally means to “bow down.” It is an action and posture from the heart of complete surrender and ascribing all worth and value. But how do you do that for the Lord of the Universe? Our existence compared to God is like a gnat before the Sun. How do we do that?

Worship is doing in God’s presence what He has commanded us to do in sincerity and truth, which is not whatever makes us feel good or whatever we come up with. God has a plan to grow us and this world up into a mature glory we cannot even imagine, and obedient worship is one of the central ways God is accomplishing that plan.

The Text: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ…” (1 Pet. 2:1-10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Having been born again by the word of God (1:23), Christians are to lay aside all malice, envy, and hypocrisy, and like newborn babies desire the milk of the word to grow – which is evidence that you really know the Lord’s grace (1 Pet. 2:1-3). As you grow up into Christ, you are drawing closer to Christ, but you do this by coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men, by chosen by God and precious (1 Pet. 2:4). As you come to Him as that precious, living stone, God builds us all together as living stones and priests into His temple, as we worship God through Christ the living Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:5). This was the prophecy of Isaiah that the Messiah would be the chief cornerstone of a new building – which becomes a precious-honor for those who believe, but, as was also foretold, a rock rejected and offensive to those who refuse the word (1 Pet. 2:6-8). Those who believe have been appointed to be a royal priesthood, a new Israel of God’s mercy (1 Pet. 2:9-10).

So those who see Christ as the most precious living cornerstone become living stones and share in His glory, but those who reject Him are broken and offended by Him. It is as we see Him as precious and perform our priestly duties from the heart that God sets us in our places and makes us into the glory we were made for. This is the potency of worship.

WORSHIP IS CENTRAL

When we say that worship is central, one way to think about this is simply as Christ as our Cornerstone. A cornerstone is the first stone laid in a foundation that establishes the integrity of the entire project: it must be solid, secure, plumb, and square. If the first stone is off, the rest of the foundation and building will be off. We gather on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, every week, to align (and re-align) ourself and our families to Christ our Cornerstone. And God uses this worship service as the primary way of shaping us as to fit into His building project rightly.

Because we are made in the image of God, people are naturally builders/makers. We are all building/making something with our lives. The only question is whether we are building something worthwhile, something good or not. Solomon spent many years and great resources building the temple, but when he was old his many wives turned his heart away from the Lord and he built shrines and altars for all of their false gods (1 Kgs. 11). Not only were they worthless; they became snares for generations to come. What are you building? You are building whatever orients your life. You are building on whatever is actually your cornerstone. What orients your days? Your life? What is your security? Your peace?

COMING TO HIM AS PRECIOUS

That which is precious to you is carefully guarded, protected, and planned for. If worship is our formal, corporate gathering to Christ, it should be guarded, protected, and planned. It is precious. It need not be stuffy or fussy, but like a carefully planned wedding or a military formation, worship is a liturgy (an order of service) because Christ is precious to us. We plan out what we are going to say, sing, and do here because Christ is worthy.

After the Fall, the only way for fallen man to draw near to God is through sacrifice. In the Old Covenant, the three main sacrifices were the Sin Offering, the Ascension Offering, and the Peace Offering, and when they were offered together, they were done in that order, most clearly in the ordination of the priests (Lev. 9, cf. Num. 6:13-17, 2 Chron. 29:20-35). The Sin Offering focused on the removal of guilt and corresponds to our Confession of Sin. The Ascension Offering focused on the dedication of the entire body which was burned and ascended in smoke to God, and that corresponds to our Scripture Reading, Prayers, and Sermon. Finally, the Peace Offering was the one sacrifice that ordinary worshipers could eat a portion of in the presence of God, and that corresponds to our Lord’s Supper. Throughout Scripture, we see that God calls His people to worship Him and then sends them out with His blessing, and so we call this structure of worship Covenant Renewal Worship (or the 5 C’s: Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion, Commission).

CONCLUSION

To renew covenant is to remember and re-align with Christ our Cornerstone. We do this by doing the main things He requires of us, which are confession of sin (1 Jn. 1:9), consecration of our entire lives to Him (Rom. 12:1), and communion with Him full of joy and thanksgiving (1 Cor. 10:16-17, 11:23-26). And by this means, He is building His temple in this world and His Kingdom will fill the earth.

By drawing near in sincere obedience, we are bowing down and we are ascribing to Christ His great worth. Some traditions try to gin up the sincerity with highly emotional music and think that if they have “spiritual feelings” they must have worshiped. Other traditions know that can’t be it and emphasize the liturgy, but God does not want us merely going through the motions. He is here, and He is real. And He knows our hearts.

And this is why our only hope is Christ. God does not accept our worship because we “did it right” or had “the right feelings.” He accepts our worship because it is offered up in Christ and through Christ. But true worship is sincere. God receives us gladly as the easily distracted children that we are. But are you looking to Him? Are you hoping in Him? Come to Him as your Cornerstone and you will never be ashamed.

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The Sure Mercies of David (Acts of the Apostles #29) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

We are here given an outline of the sermon Paul preached in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. The sermon was preached to Jews and Gentile God-fearers both. Remember that by this point in history, the faith of Israel was mighty attractive to many Gentiles, and they admired it from their seats in the back row. But circumcision and keeping the entire law was a real barrier to full entry, and the message brought by the Christian evangelists was therefore electrifying.

THE TEXT

“But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it . . . (Acts 13:14–41).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

They left Perga and came to Pisidian Antioch, and went to the synagogue on the sabbath, and sat (v. 14). After the Scripture reading, the synagogue rulers invited them to speak to the people (v. 15). Paul stood, motioned with his hand, and addressed both the Jews and the God-fearers (v. 16). The God of Israel chose “our fathers,” and exalted them with a high arm by bringing them out of Egypt (v. 17). He then put up with them for the 40 years in the wilderness (v. 18). After destroying the seven Canaanite nations, He divided the land up for them by lot (v. 19). He gave them judges for 450 years (v. 20), until the time of Samuel the prophet. When they sought a king, He gave them Saul, a Benjamite, for 40 years (v. 21). After He removed Saul, He raised up David instead. God testified concerning David, that he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), and that he would fulfill all God’s will (v. 22). From David’s seed, God fulfilled His promise by raising up a savior for Israel, this Jesus (v. 23). Before He arrived, John came first, preaching repentance (v. 24). And as John finished his ministry, he denied that he was the one, and that he was unworthy to untie the shoes of the coming one (v. 25). You children of Abraham, and you God-fearers, this word of salvation is for you (v. 26). The residents of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Him, or the voices of the prophets that they themselves fulfilled (v. 27). There was no guilt in Him, but they demanded Pilate execute Him anyway (v. 28). After all was fulfilled, they took Him from the tree and laid Him in a sepulcher (v. 29), and then God raised Him from the dead (v. 30). He was seen over the course of many days by many Galileans, who can bear witness (v. 31). And so Paul declares to them about the promise God made to the fathers (v. 32). God fulfilled that promise by raising Jesus, as was promised in the second psalm (v. 33). Once raised, Christ was placed beyond the reach of corruption, receiving the sure mercies of David (v. 34). He said this in yet another psalm—the Holy One would not see corruption (v. 35). But David himself did see corruption (v. 36). But the one raised did not see corruption (v. 37). They should therefore know that through this man there is forgiveness of sins (v. 38). Those who believe are justified from all things, things the law of Moses could not touch (v. 39). But the prophets who predicted all this also issued a warning (v. 40). Despisers are called to be astonished, and then to die—because God was going to do something that they would in no way believe, even if it were to be spelled out to them (v. 41).

UNTOUCHED BY DECAY

Paul walks through a history of Israel, doing so in order to highlight David, the one through whom all the promises would be fulfilled. He comes to David in v. 22, the one through whom everything would come together. But even though God was extraordinarily kind to David, it was nevertheless true that David died and decomposed (v. 36). This means that the promise in David’s psalm (Ps. 16:10)—that the Holy One would never see decay—had to be talking about someone else. That someone was the Son of David, the Lord Jesus.

FIRSTBORN FROM AMOUNG THE DEAD

A glorious declaration is made in Psalm 2— “I will declare the decree: The LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” (Psalm 2:7). Someone who held to the heretical belief that the Son is a created being might point to this and say, “See? Today I have begotten you.”

But Paul tells us in our text that this was fulfilled when Christ was raised from the dead. “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee” (Acts 13:33). This is not saying that Jesus is the first created being. It is saying that He was the first one to be raised from the dead.

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” (Revelation 1:5).

THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID

The phrase “sure mercies of David” (v. 34) comes from Isaiah (55:3), and we are told that this is also about the resurrection. This is about the resurrection, but what is the resurrection about? It is about the forgiveness of sins (v. 38). It is about a free and complete and unalterable justification (v. 39). Just as the body of Christ can never decay, so also is it impossible for your justification ever to decay. That justification is perfect forever.

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

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Serious Gentile Territory (Acts of the Apostles #28) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

We are now accompanying Paul on his first missionary journey, together with Barnabas and their associate minister, John Mark. Now remember the theme of the book of Acts—that being the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem at one end to the uttermost parts of the earth on the other. We are engaged in the arduous process of including the Gentiles in the Christian church, and we have now come to the first giant step.

THE TEXT

“Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away . . .” (Acts 13:1–13).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We begin with a description of the leadership at Syrian Antioch, made up of prophets and teachers. There was Barnabas, an encouraging man we already now. There was a black man named Simeon (his nickname gives him away). Lucius was from Cyrene, located in the eastern part of modern-day Libya. Manaen was likely a noble, having been raised together with Herod the tetrarch. And there was Saul (v. 1). As they ministered before the Lord (the word is leitourgeo, from which we get liturgy) and were fasting, the Spirit directed them to set apart Saul and Barnabas for the mission work He was calling them to (v. 2). So they fasted and prayed, ordained them to the task by laying hands on them, and sent them off (v. 3). Seleucia was the port city for Antioch, so they went there and then sailed for Cyprus (v. 4), sixty miles west, where Barnabas was originally from (Acts 4:36). Arriving at Salamis, the main port of Cyprus, on the east side of the island, they preached in various synagogues, and John Mark was their associate minister (v. 5). Paphos was a city on the southwestern coast of Cyprus, and when they arrived there they encountered a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-jesus (v. 6). This false one was somehow attached to the Roman proconsul named Sergius Paulus, an intelligent Gentile who was open to the gospel (v. 7). But Elymas (Bar-jesus) opposed his interest and tried to turn him away from the faith (v. 8). So then Saul (or Paul) was filled with the Spirit, fixed his eyes on him (v. 9), and called him a bunch of names (v. 10). He said Elymas was filled with trickery and villainy, a child of the devil, and an enemy of righteousness. “When are you going to stop your perversions?” And then Paul with a word struck him blind for a season, and Elymas began groping in a dark mist, looking for a hand (v. 11). So Sergius Paulus, astonished, believed in the Lord (v. 12). They then sailed north to the city of Perga in Pamphylia (modern Turkey), and John Mark abandoned them there, returning to Jerusalem (v. 13).

A GENTILE COLD CALL

To date, the book of Acts has been slowly inching toward the deep end. We can hear the overture of this theme in the sermon of Stephen to the Sanhedrin—God was not going to safely contained in their holy box. But the initial forays are all Jewish adjacent. The Samaritans are included, but they were at least partly Jewish (Acts 8:14). The Ethiopian eunuch was saved, but he had just been worshiping in Jerusalem (a clear God-fearer), and then he had the good grace to disappear back to Ethiopia (Acts 8:39). Then there was Cornelius, a Roman centurion, but he was a God-fearer also, and had a reputation as such among the Jews (Acts 10:22). So he was included also, but there was disputing over it. The road was starting to get bumpy.

The conversion of Sergius Paulus was the first recorded Gentile convert straight out of paganism.When Saul and Barnabas were ministering in the synagogues of Cyprus, John Mark was right there, serving as their assistant. But then when they presented the gospel to a man who up until ten minutes before had had a sorcerer as part of his entourage, this was a bit much for John Mark. He headed back to Jerusalem at the first opportunity.

SAUL BECOMES PAUL

This significant moment—going straight to a Gentile as a pagan Gentile—is where Luke starts calling Saul Paul. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11), and as we accompany him discharging that office, we start going by his Gentile name. Paul goes by Paul for the remainder of Acts. The only time the name Saul is used after this is in a reference to the first king of Israel (Acts 13:21), and in Paul’s testimonies where the Lord calls him Saul (Acts 22:7; 26:14), and when Ananias does (Acts 22:13). Paul is the great apostle to the Gentiles.

ETHNIC CHALLENGES, THEIRS AND OURS

It is the easiest thing in the world to be suspicious of people who are different, and this includes suspicions created by trivial differences—clothing styles, how much spices flavor the food, and so on. But it is also the easiest thing in the world for liberals to pretend that this is the nature of all ethnic differences by definition, and consequently that ethnicity (and citizenship and borders and so on) shouldn’t matter to anybody at all, for any reason.

But ethnic differences can be adiaphora (as noted above), with some cultures using a lot more nutmeg than is proper. At the next level up, differences can be substantive, but not overtly moral (education, literacy, artistic, etc.). And there are also ethnic differences that are directly moral. When the Jerusalem Council made their determination, one of the things they required was that the Gentiles avoid fornication (Acts 15:29). And remember that the new members class at Corinth had to contain the reminder to stop visiting prostitutes (1 Cor. 6:15). But because people are the way they are, these three levels get all jumbled up together, such that some people start thinking that the nutmeg is a dog-whistle for fornication.

So keep your eye on the ball—

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).

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He Descended into Hades | Easter Sunday

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INTRODUCTION

Every Lord’s Day, in the Apostles’ Creed, we confess that Christ “descended into Hades,” although some of you may come from churches where you said, “descended into hell.” In Old English “hell” referred to the “underworld” or the place of the dead, which is what the original Latin and Greek words in the Creed referred to. However, over time “hell” has come to refer in common parlance to the place of eternal punishment of the damned, what Revelation calls the “lake of fire” or Gehenna, where the Devil and “death and Hades” are cast at the end of history (Rev. 20:10, 14).

This can create confusion: how could Jesus go to “hell?” The answer is that He didn’t. While it is true that He suffered the “hellish” torment due our sin on the Cross, when He cried “it is finished,” it really was, and as He told the dying thief next to Him, when He gave up the ghost, He went to “Paradise,” or what ancients would have understood as the place of the dead or Hades.

So as we celebrate the resurrection, it is fitting to ask, what does it mean that He “descended into Hades”? And the answer is: having fully suffered for the sins of all His people, Christ went down to that lowest place to release His people there and so prove that nothing can stop Him from bringing all His people to God in the highest place (1 Pet. 3:18).

The Text: “…When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?…” (Eph. 4:7-10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is in the process of summarizing our great unifying inheritance in Christ, and in order to do that, explains that when Christ ascended into Heaven, He led captivity itself captive and gave gifts to men (Eph. 4:7-8, cf. Ps. 68). But Paul pauses here and points out that before Christ ascended, He also descended, not merely to earth but even into the “lower regions” of the earth (Eph. 4:9). And Paul explains that Christ has descended that far and ascended above all heavens in order to fill all things (Eph. 4:10).

A BIBLICAL COSMOLOGY

In the Old Testament, the word for the grave and the place of the dead was “Sheol.” In Homer, the “underworld” was a literal place called “Hades” that Odysseus traveled to, but even in Scripture, God forbids necromancy (trying to communicate with the dead) and when the Witch of Endor summoned Samuel’s spirit, it came up out of the ground and Samuel foretold that Saul and his sons would be joining him shortly (1 Sam. 28:12-19). David prophesied, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Ps. 16:10). When the Apostle Peter quoted that verse at Pentecost, he translated “Sheol” as “Hades,” using the traditional Greek name for the place of the dead, and said it was talking about the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:27).

In the parable that Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus, He pictured Hades as a place of torment for the wicked but a place of rest for the righteous: “And in hell [Hades] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Lk. 16:23). The ancients also refer to this as “paradise,” which Jesus referred to on the Cross: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43).

A PROTESTANT “HARROWING OF HELL”

The Church Fathers sometimes allowed their imaginations to run away on this point (and some of this is probably the origin of the Roman Catholic notions of purgatory and praying for the dead, which we reject), but putting all of this together: before the death and resurrection of Jesus, all people went in spirit at death to the same place called “Sheol” in Hebrew and “Hades” in Greek, which was divided between a place of torment and a place of restful waiting (Abraham’s bosom/Paradise). But the saints of old could not enjoy the fullness of the presence of God until their sins were actually paid for, which is suggested in Hebrews: “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40).

Therefore, when Christ cried out, “It is finished!” and breathed His last, His Spirit left His body and descended into Hades, the place where all spirits were waiting. But He went there in order to “lead captivity captive.” He went there to proclaim His victory over sin, death, and the Devil to the damned (1 Pet. 3:19) and to release the Old Covenant saints out of Abraham’s Bosom/Paradise in Hades and usher them into the presence of God in Heaven. This is why Jesus tells John in Revelation, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [Hades] and of death” (Rev. 1:18). When Jesus rose from the dead, it proved that His soul did not remain in Hades, and if it could not remain there it is because He has the keys.

CONCLUSION

So this is the point: Christ went down to the lowest place to proclaim His victory and bring all of His own directly to God in the highest place. He did this to prove that nothing can stop Him from bringing His people to God. If nothing could stop Him from bringing Adam and Abraham and David to God, there is nowhere you can wander where He cannot reach you. There is no sin so dark that Christ cannot save you. There is no prison cell of sin so secure that He cannot release you.

Think of Jonah rebelling against the Lord fleeing to Tarshish into a great storm and swallowed by a great fish for three days and three nights, and Jonah prayed: “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice” (Jon. 2:1-2 ESV).

Have you run from God? Have you rebelled in your heart? In your mind? In your actions? Call out to the Lord. He will hear you from wherever you are.

The Bible is clear that after death, there are no second chances: we will all stand before God’s judgment seat (Rev. 20:12, 14-15, Heb. 9:27). If you trust your own deeds, your own righteousness, you will only sink down further, but if you place all your trust in Christ, there is no pit so deep that Christ will not find you there and bring you to God: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt. 12:40).

And so He was, and He is risen from the dead.

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The Unrivaled Story of Easter | Easter Sunday

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INTRODUCTION

The number of rival stories to the Gospel are legion. You are confronted with a host of competing salvation stories. All of these rival stories are powerless to save. Their allure is found in their escapist fantasy. Escape from responsibility. Escape from consequences. Escape from accountability. Christ’s Resurrection is the true story of restoration, true salvation, and life.

THE TEXT

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. Acts 20:6-12

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As Paul is making his way back to Jerusalem, after his 3rd missionary journey (circa AD57), we’re told of this weeklong visit to the city of Troas, about 10 miles south of legendary Troy. At the end of this week of ministry (v6), the saints gather, on the first day of the week, for a worship service and farewell to Paul and his companions. This is the first record of a Christian service held on a Sunday. It was an evening service, for the express purpose of partaking the Lord’s Supper and to hear Paul’s preaching. Paul was feeling a bit loquacious, and the sermon went long (v7). The room was well-lit with lamps (v8). A young man name Eutychus (fortunate/lucky) perched himself in the window. As the sermon went on, he sunk into a deep sleep, and fell out of the third story window. As you can imagine, the congregation hurried to check on him, but he “was taken up dead” (v9).

Having had his sermon interrupted, Paul himself went down to the site of the tragedy. Paul falls on the lad, and encourages the saints to not be troubled for the boy’s psyche (soul/life) is in him (v10). Luke retells this healing in in order to leave us in a momentary suspense, we are left with a bit of uncertainty about Eutchysus’ condition. We are told that Paul goes back upstairs, the Lord’s Supper (or perhaps the potluck) is held, Paul picks up his sermon where he left off, continuing until daybreak at which point Paul and his companions depart for their next destination (v11). Only after the dawning of the new day does Luke confirm that Eutychus had really been raised from death to life, to the great comfort of the Troas church (v12).

AN UNFORTUNATE STORY

At first blush, this might seem like a story that Luke includes to keep his retelling of Paul’s itinerary interesting. But there really is a lot more brewing here than just a story to keep the reader entertained. There are at least three striking reasons for the inclusion of this short resurrection story within the broader history of Acts.

The first reason for the inclusion of this story is that Luke presents to us a picture of early Christian worship, with its center of gravity being on the Lord’s Day. Not only do we see that this service took place on the first day of the week (Sunday), but it took place the Sunday after Easter. In this regard, the raising of Eutychus can be seen as God adding an exclamation mark to this Sunday service. The church revolves around the worship of the God who died and rose again and in Whom we too die and rise again. When we gather together to break bread we are putting the resurrection as the hinge upon which our whole life turns. Worship is central. Thus, it is fitting for Christian worship to plant its flag on the Lord’s Day.

The second reason for this story is that earlier in Acts Peter had raised Tabitha (Acts 9); now Paul raises a man from the dead. Looking at both resurrections, the language is quite reminiscent of the stories of Elijah & Elisha raising people to life (1 Kings 17:17–24, 2 Kings 4:18–37). Putting these two apostolic resurrection miracles together we see in them a continuity between the OT Prophets and these NT Apostles, between the church in her immaturity under the Law, and the church coming into maturity through the Gospel. The resurrection power of God is central to all history. The Prophets foreshadowed it. Christ procured it. The Apostles continued it. From the fall until Christ’s resurrection, God promised a new creation to His people (Is. 42:9). Therefore, in this account we see that the work of the church, the very life-blood of the church, is this doctrine of the resurrection we receive through our union with Christ’s resurrection.

The third reason is the least evident, but is like a lovely song you hear once and then can’t seem to stop humming. Luke is subverting Homer. Luke is hi-jacking pagan myths. Luke is saying, we’ve got a better hero than Odysseus. In Homer’s Odyssey there is an episode of one of Odysseus’ companions, the youngest in fact, a young man named Elpenor. He is repeatedly described as being unlucky. After a feast, in the darkened halls of Circe, a deep sleep falls upon Elpenor. The company is setting sail the next morning. In the morning, Elpenor in his haste falls from the roof, breaks his neck, dies and his psyche (soul) departs to Hades. His companions take him up dead. The first soul in Hades that Odysseus meets is Elpenor, the hero can do nothing to save his young companion. The only thing that can be done is offer him a ritual burial, which takes place at dawn. Sorrow is the end of Elpenor’s story, whereas comfort is the end of Eutychus’. In other words, Luke saw this episode with Eutychus as an opportunity to present the Christian story as the true myth. Homer’s hero was powerless to raise his companion to life. Jesus, by His servant Paul, resurrects the young man named Lucky. The heroes of Ancient Troy are impotent, the servants of Christ bear in them the power of an endless life.

LIFE RESTORED

All anti-Gospels bake down to a very simple error: escapism. In the pagan myths, the hope was that by various virtues and heroic exploits you might be deemed worthy to escape this material realm and dwell in a realm of hedonistic bliss and without accountability. Darwinism tells you that you are as meaningless as pond scum zapped by lightning, and so you must escape your meaninglessness by assisting in the next stage of human evolution. Climate change alarmists insist that this world is on the verge of a calamitous ending, and in order to escape you must end your bloodline, and consign yourself to as small a pile of dust when you die.

But there are other stories we tell ourselves. Stories that say, “Once a miserable sinner, always a miserable sinner.” There is a sad sort of impotent pseudo-Christianity that treats Christ’s death as our ticket to an ethereal world. It sees this world as not our home, we are only passing through. But the true Gospel is that this world will itself be resurrected, because it is the inheritance of Jesus the Risen Christ.

Therefore, by faith in Christ your story is like fortunate Eutychus. All other stories invite you to a daydream of escapism. The unrivaled story of Easter restores you to life. You are restored to responsibility. You are sanctified unto service. You are delivered to dominion. Your story doesn’t end in an unfortunate fall. It ends with a feast with the saints of God, in celebration of our Lord who died and rose again for our eternal salvation.

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