Do you know what the 10 greatest fears are:
1. FEAR OF FLYING
2. FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
3. FEAR OF HEIGHTS
4. FEAR OF THE DARK
5. FEAR OF INTIMACY
6. FEAR OF DEATH
7. FEAR OF FAILURE
8. FEAR OF REJECTION
9. FEAR OF SPIDERS
10. FEAR OF COMMITMENT
I was rather surprised to see that fear of spiders
was so low down the list at number 9.
But I was even more surprised to see that death is
actually number 6 in the list of fears.
To think that people are more afraid to fly, or
speak in public than dying is really interesting.
Perhaps we need to make a distinction between
death and dying.
As a living human being I am afraid of dying.
I don’t do things that are risky to my life.
I don’t run across the street with busy traffic.
I take care when I’m driving so as not to have an
accident.
I avoid things that could put my life in danger.
I try to live a healthy life.
But as a Christian I’m not afraid of death.
As a Christian, because of Jesus rising from the
dead on the first Easter morning I know that I too, when I die, will rise to
eternal life.
And that’s what the Christian faith is all about.
The Christian faith is not an organisation created
to maintain moral behaviour.
It’s not an organisation created to provide
welfare and charity to the poor and needy.
It’s not an institution created to perform baptisms,
marriages and funerals.
While the church may perform some of these
functions, the church has one mission and one mission only.
To proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection
from the dead that assures people that death is not the end of life but
beginning of new life in heaven with God.
And that assurance can only come because Jesus
died on Good Friday to pay for our sins that caused our death but then rose
from the grave to defeat death and live in heaven.
And that’s why I don’t fear death because I know
with certainty that I will rise from the dead to new life.
And not just any life – eternal life – living
forever.
Easter Sunday achieves what nothing else in the
world can.
Medicine has increased its knowledge amazingly
that it is finding cures for things that used to be incurable giving hope where
there was no hope at all.
Health consciousness and advances in hygiene has
seen the average age reach much larger numbers.
Aged Care has seen people cared for enabling them
to live longer.
Palliative care has enabled people to live longer
and in more comfort.
But despite all these advances, death is still the
inevitable end for all people.
But Jesus too makes a distinction between earthly
death and Christian death.
When Mary and Martha grieve the death of their
brother Lazarus he brings them comfort by his resurrection from death, even
though it hasn’t happened yet.
He says: “I am the resurrection and the life. The
one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by
believing in me will never die.
Likewise in John 3:16 Jesus doesn’t say that we
will not die but he says that death is not the end but the beginning of new
life – eternal life.
He says: whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.
Jesus makes a distinction between death, which we
all will face, and perishing, where there is nothing after death.
Likewise in the Book of Hebrews it makes that same
claim:
It says: people are destined to die once, and
after that to face judgment. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the
sins of many; and he will appear a second time to bring salvation to those who
are waiting for him.
Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday is the reason
we call ourselves Christian.
The word “Christian” has so much baggage that
doesn’t belong.
When you say that you are a Christian to someone,
all sorts of thoughts go through a person’s head.
But what makes us Christian is that we believe
that Jesus died for our sins and he was raised to give us assurance that when
we die we too will rise to live in heaven.
That is the Good News we have been sent to
proclaim – that is the only News we have been sent to proclaim.
And Jesus says: this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end
will come.
So Jesus is not going to return until everyone has
had an opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
In a world that is inundated with bad news
wherever we look – in sport, in politics, in world events – how refreshing to
be reminded again of the Good News of Jesus resurrection to give us eternal
life in heaven.
In a world that is so divided by anger, crime, war,
terrorism, racism and sexism – and whatever other ISM you can think of, how
glorious to hear again the love of God that rejects all division as Jesus
declared that God loved the world so much that he sent his one and only Son so
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but receive eternal life.
We live in a world where fear strikes so often.
We fear when the next war will break out.
We fear when the next terrorist attack will
happen.
We fear if our house will be the next home
invasion.
But the one fear that we do not have, because of
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, is the fear of death.
Because just as God raised Jesus from the dead so
too he will raise you from the dead to live a new life in heaven.
May God bless you as you celebrate again today the
Good News of our Saviours resurrection and take the Gospel message to the world
that Christ is Risen – he has risen indeed.