Easter Talk 4/16/06 Hope in Christ

Easter Talk 4/16/06

Hope in Christ

Easter comes in the Spring, the season that symbolizes Hope.  In the middle of the long winter, those of us who live in cold, dark climates hope for warmth and more daylight to come soon. We eagerly await the blooming of flowers and the budding of the trees.  We hope for these things, and we know from experience that they will come.  But what are our deepest, most heartfelt hopes?  I hope for many things.  I hope for a better world, where there is forgiveness and healing.  I hope for good to triumph over evil, for love to conquer hate, for peace to take the place of war.  I hope for joy to triumph over sorrow, comfort over pain, and life over death.  Is it unrealistic and naïve to hope for such things?  For thousands of years, good men have tried and failed to bring these things about in any permanent sort of way.  Yet many truly believe it will happen someday. What is the source of such hope?  In a letter to the scattered saints, the Apostle Peter wrote: “…be always ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…” (I Peter 3:15).

 I am ready to give an answer to anyone who asks me:  the reason for my hope is Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice.  By his atonement, Christ brings an end to sorrow, pain, and death.   “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain…” (Revelation 21:4).  By his atonement, Christ is victorious over hate and war.  “…and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Rev. 2:4).  By his atonement, Christ has the power to triumph over evil, for he subdues all things unto himself, “even to the destroying of Satan and his works at the end of the world…” (D&C 19:2-3).   By his atonement, we can be forgiven and healed.  “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).  By his atonement, he promises us a better world, a better life in His presence and in the presence of the Father.  “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you…that where I am, there ye may be also.”  (John 14:2-3).

 How do we know that Jesus can deliver on such promises?  What evidence do we have that He has the power to triumph over evil and death?   Our evidence is the witness of his disciples, those closest to him in life, who testified that he took our sins upon himself, that he was crucified and rose the third day from the tomb.  They saw the empty tomb.  They saw his resurrected body.  They walked and talked with him.  They ate with him.  We have further evidence in our own witness of the Holy Ghost that their testimony is true.  Jesus showed us by the resurrection that he has power over death.  What more do we need to believe that he has the power to deliver on his promises?   He told his disciples, “because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19), and he meant it!            

The other day, as I was reading the newspaper, my attention was grabbed by a headline that read “Most don’t expect resurrection.”  The article begins, “Most Americans don’t believe they will experience a resurrection of their bodies when they die, putting them at odds with a core teaching of Christianity.”  [I might add that the resurrection is also a part of the Jewish tradition—there are many references to it in the Hebrew Bible].  The article explains that “only 36 percent of the 1,007 adults interviewed a month ago by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University said ‘yes’ to the question:  ‘Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?’  Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided.”  The article stated that 90% said they believe in God or a Supreme Being and 72% said they believe in an afterlife in which they will have “some sort of consciousness.”  Again, only 36% believe they will be resurrected.   Considering the fact that about 80% of Americans profess to be Christians, it is disheartening to realize how few actually believe they will be resurrected.

 The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:19-22).  Paul seemed to feel pretty strongly about the importance of the resurrection when he said, “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (I Cor. 15:13-14).  He goes on to say, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished” (vs. 17-18).  According to Paul, our faith and hope in Christ centers on the resurrection.  Without it we are yet in our sins, we perish, our faith is in vain, and we are “most miserable.”

In my family I have personally witnessed the peace of those who believe in the resurrection as well as the heartbreaking misery of one who was without hope of any kind of life after death.  My closest sister, Heather, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 29.  After 6 years of treatments, she was finally near death.  She slipped in and out of consciousness, and when she was conscious, she was usually incoherent.  One day, she suddenly sat up, fully conscious and coherent, and told those in the room that she had had a dream of Jesus.  She spoke of how wonderful He was and how she couldn’t wait to die and be with Him.  She was completely at peace, with no fear of death at all.  She died a few weeks later.  Most of us in the family took great comfort in her faith in Christ.  Our own faith was strengthened by it, and our grieving was eased.  We saw the fulfillment of the scripture:  “And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them” (D&C 42:46).  Sadly, one of my sisters was unable to take such comfort.  She was a kind-hearted, wonderful person, but she had lost her faith in God years earlier and had no belief in an afterlife or a resurrection. At Heather’s funeral, when it came time to close the casket, Wendy couldn’t bear it.  She sobbed her heart out, not wanting us to shut the lid.  She thought she would never see her beloved sister again.  Seven years later, when she herself was dying of the same disease, she ferociously fought her death, never coming to any peace, believing her entire existence was coming to an end.   We didn’t know what to say to comfort her—we felt helpless and sad to see her suffer so.  For her, death was a bitter cup that she did not want to drink.  I pray that she has found peace on the other side.

 I know I shall see both of my sisters again, as well as my brother and my parents, my grandparents, and all of those who have gone before me.  We will all be resurrected and brought before the Lord, and we will acknowledge him as our Savior and Redeemer.  “O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (Psalm 107:1). 

       

             

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