Sermon from April 15, 2001
"Humanity stands at a solemn parting of the ways. Towards some unknown goal it presses through the ages, impelled by an overmastering desire of happiness. To-day it hesitates, light-heartedly enough, but every serious thinker knows how momentous the decision may be. It is, apparently, deserting the path of religion and entering upon the path of secularism. Will it lose itself in quagmires of sensuality down this new path, and pant and toil through years of civic and industrial anarchy, only to learn it had lost the road, and must return to religion? Or will it find that at last it is leaving the mists and the quagmires behind it; that it is ascending the slope of the hill so long dimly discerned ahead, and making straight for the long-sought Utopia? This is the drama of our time, and every man and every woman should understand it," (GKC, Orthodoxy, 218-219).

Joseph McCabe, a British atheist, wrote that assessment of Western Civilization a hundred years ago. Looking back over ten decades at Hiroshima, Auschwitz, the Gulag, the Khmer Rouge, and Rwanda, we might be forgiven if we profess a certain skepticism about Utopia. Other cautious souls suggest that we have found the quagmires of sensuality and do not quite know how to extract ourselves from them. There are even those who would say the human race is much more overtly religious than it was a hundred years ago.

The Secular Century has proved to be a human disaster and never more so than by its resolute attack on human freedom and dignity. It is easy to see that attack in the political forms taken by 20th century totalitarian governments and in this country by the not-too-distant denial of basic civil rights to minorities, especially blacks. It is not as easy to see that attack in the doctrine of freedom that has become the secular orthodoxy of the great democracies of Western Europe and North America.

Except for a few gross deeds like murders, theft and threats to national security, secular orthodoxy insists that freedom means indulging our wishes and passions in any way you can get away with, and we have a right to expect that law, medicine and religion must help us recover from any unwanted consequences of our indulgence so that we can continue to indulge our passions in any way we can get away with.

We defend this secular orthodoxy by saying that such freedom is necessary for psychological health. We defend it by saying that one person's idea of right and wrong is just as valid as the next person's idea of right and wrong. We defend it by saying we are not like totalitarian regimes with their mind control and social conformity.

Against this doctrine of indulgence and whatever defense the world offers for it, the Church of Jesus Christ stands as a "sign of contradiction," in order to protect humanity's true freedom and dignity. On this Easter Sunday I would like to consider with you how the resurrection of Jesus Christ establishes that freedom and dignity, and how we might engage and challenge our secular culture. Consider with me the foundation for doing this in the following three implications of the resurrection of Jesus.

First of all, the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an indestructible life establishes the priority of the spiritual over the material in human experience. Death is nature's silver bullet that dispatches every living organism. The power to overcome death does not come from within the material world, the world of nature. It comes outside nature; it comes from the world of the Spirit, from the world of God. The Bible puts it this way: Through the Spirit Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). If the power to overcome death comes from God, then we can say that the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an indestructible life established the priority of the spiritual over the material in human experience.

That in turn restores their proper dignity to powerful expressions of the human spirit such as reason and conscience "informed by moral truths," (Witness to Hope, 62) and great movements of the human spirit such as love, hope and fear. These have almost always determined a person's true character and how that person experienced life. The resurrection of Jesus says they cannot be ignored. It says they cannot be sacrificed to material purposes. It says they must have the place of honor in any discussion about the freedom and dignity of humanity.

If anyone thinks the priority of the spiritual over the material means that we should ignore the material, that person would be making a serious mistake. The real danger of our time is that the material seeks ruthlessly to ignore the spiritual. On a Christian view it is always an issue of priorities. The resurrection teaches that the spiritual must have priority over the material, but the material world has its own dignity, a dignity secured also by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

His resurrection from the dead to indestructible life in a body also affirms the dignity of the human body and the world of matter. The New Testament goes to great lengths to report the bodily reality of the resurrected Jesus. He eats fish (Luke 24:41-43). He shows His disciples the scars in his hands, feet (Luke 24:39) and side (John 20:27). He invites them to touch Him (Luke 24:39). He appeared one time to more than 500 followers (1 Cor. 15:6), a reasonable precaution against hallucination. For forty days He carried on life with them as He had before His death. It was a short step from those memorable forty days to the declaration of 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

To those who think the body is the evil prison house of the unsullied human spirit, the faith the Church says simply, "It is not so." Even in our fallen state, the human body receives from the resurrection of Jesus a new dignity – a dignity never greater than when the body submits itself and its desires to the priority of the spiritual.

This brings us to a third implication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His resurrection to an indestructible life constitutes an act of human liberation. Again, in the language of the Bible Jesus shared in our humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death ... and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15).

The resurrection of Jesus, which demonstrates the priority of the spiritual over the material, liberates the human spirit from the fear of death. The resurrection of the human spirit from the fear of death. The resurrection of Jesus, which results also in the proper dignity of the body, liberates the body from the finality of death. Building on this foundation will bring us into direct conflict with our culture and with our own hearts.

The secular doctrine of freedom that characterizes modern, democratic culture threatens to betray human freedom and dignity in a number of ways. We must defy the threat by understanding its nature and by opposing it with a distinctively Christian philosophy of life. In what follows I would like to identify some ways in which secular culture, informed by its doctrine of freedom, makes its resolute attack on the human spirit. In each case I will oppose the threat with the great summons to sanctity that Jesus issued to all humanity. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:35).

First, modern, democratic culture increasingly defines human beings as consumers and freedom as the freedom to buy. At street level this philosophy of human nature expresses itself in the slogans, "Shop 'til you drop," and "He who has the most toys in the end wins." Millions of people find it virtually impossible to live by this philosophy without incurring debt – debt that is sometimes crushing, always present and stubbornly difficult to get rid of.

Advertising, brilliantly researched and memorably presented, is the major evangelist for this philosophy. Recently, a CNN news show broke for commercials at 14 minutes before the hour. Advertising occupied ten of those 14 minutes. You will have noticed that advertising spots increase in intensity as TV shows near their climax. Malls of every kind stand ready to satisfy the yearnings fed by the ads. Creatively and insistently, the subliminal message goes out: the material takes priority over the spiritual.

That is an insult and a danger to your freedom and dignity as a human being created in the image of God. You are far more than a consumer to "be organized, commercialized and manipulated," (ibid., 683) to satisfy the demands of a free market economy.

Above this chorus of consumerism the voice of Christ calls us back to our true selves: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." I am not a Marxist, and I am not an anti-capitalist, and I am not living in a dream world. Christ in my person holds before us a different vision of what it means to be human and a different vision of what it means to be free. He calls us to challenge this consumer culture by giving priority to the spiritual over the material.

That means, as the Bible says (1 Cor. 7:30-31), that with renewed minds we buy something, as if it were not ours to keep, and that we use the things of this world, as if not engrossed in them. More deeply, it means that we are free to give ourselves and our resources away to serve Christ and our neighbor matters rather than to enrich ourselves.

Second, modern, democratic culture increasingly defines human beings as a bundle of desires and freedom as the freedom to indulge those desires when and as we will. At street level this philosophy of human nature expresses itself in the slogans, "If it feels good, do it!" and "No rules, just right." Millions of people find it virtually impossible to live by this philosophy without incurring consequences, some of which are highly distasteful, like a police record, and others profoundly dangerous such as AIDS.

We have all noticed this year television's increased catering to prurient interests. Most of us have concluded that drug producers, pushers and users are winning the war on drugs. Whether it is using pornography or drugs or stealing or lying, this philosophy of human nature and human freedom teaches people to be takers. What I want takes precedence over what you need. Creatively and insistently, the subliminal message goes out: the material takes prioritiy over the spiritual.

That is an insult and a danger to your freedom and dignity as a human being created in the image of God. You are far more than a bundle of desires whose happiness depends on an undisciplined, unprincipled indulgence of those desires.

Above this chorus of indulgence the voice of Christ calls us back to our true selves: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" I am not a prude, and I am not an enemy of human desires, and I am not living in a dream world. Christ in my person holds before me a different vision of what it means to be human and a different vision of what it means to be free. He calls us to challenge this indulgent culture by giving priority to the spiritual over the material.

That means, as the Bible says (Matt. 6:33), that with renewed minds we use our freedom to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (all our legitimate desires) will be given to us as well. More deeply, it means postponing and even sacrificing personal gratification and giving ourselves and our resources away to serve Christ and our neighbor.

Third, modern, democratic culture increasingly defines human beings as healthy and useful and freedom as freedom from suffering. At street level this philosophy of human nature expresses itself in the slogans, "If you have your health, you have everything," and "I have the right to choose." Millions of people find it virtually impossible to live by this philosophy without incurring consequences such as abortion, the marginalizing of the elderly, and managed health care.

What I fear most at this point is to be thought of as insensitive to human suffering. Christ Himself and His followers down through the ages have sought to relieve human suffering. What concerns me is that we are coming to a point that we have no place in our culture for the value of human suffering for the fullness of human life in this world. Once again, creatively and insistently, the subliminal message goes out: the material takes priority over the spiritual.

That is an insult and a danger to your freedom and dignity as a human being created in the image of God. You are far more than a picture of perfect health and utility for whom suffering is an unfair interruption of your well-being. We all suffer and die, and if human life teaches us anything clearly, it is that suffering serves humanity by saving humanity from many evils, not least of which is our self-indulgence.

Above this chorus of health and beauty the voice of Christ calls us back to our true selves: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" I am not a masochist, and I want to see human suffering relieved wherever possible, and I am not living in a dream world. Christ in my person holds before us a different vision of what it means to be human and a different vision of what it means to be free. He calls us to challenge a culture that is obsessed with health and beauty and youth and utility by giving priority to the spiritual over the material.

That means, as the Bible says (Romans 5:3-4; Col. 1:24), that with renewed minds we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope. It means that our sufferings fill up ... what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

In a lovely expression (Rom. 6:4) the Apostle Paul gives the meaning of what I have tried to say. Just as Christ was raised from the dead ... we too may live a new life. Giving the spiritual priority over the material, while maintaining the dignity of the body, is to live a new life. Everywhere that perspective enters human experience, a breath of fresh air blows across our culture. Deferring our wishes and for Christ's sake sacrificing ourselves for Him and for the gospel allow the power by which Christ was raised from the dead to enter our common life. True humanity lies that way. Real freedom lies that way. The renewal of the Church and the renewal of culture lie that way.

Atheism and secularism took their best shot at humanity in the 20th century, and the results proved destructive. The early signs indicate that religion will play a more powerful, public role in the world in the 21st century. The pursuit of sanctity that I have sketched today will give substance to the emerging religious consciousness of mankind and hope to a world in crisis.

To participate fully in the freedom and dignity that Christ has given humanity requires personal commitment to Him, who has risen from the dead to an indestructible life. Christ Himself in my person beseeches you: Believe in Him. Give Him forever your affection and loyalty. He would also say that personal faith and affection are not enough, if we are to challenge our secular culture with a different vision of what it means to be human and what it means to be free.

By myself I am powerless before the godless view of human freedom and dignity that characterizes our culture. That view has at its disposal the editorial policy and high-tech resources of the mass media, the omnipresent offerings of the entertainment industry, and the academic culture of American higher education. Behind its multitudinous offerings lies a unified philosophy of life that views man as a consumer to be manipulated, a bundle of desires to be gratified, and a creature for whom sacrifice and suffering violate his rights.

Millions of us have a different view of the meaning of man, becaues we believe Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and will come again to earth. We have, though we sometimes struggle to hold on to, a God-centered view of reality, but we have not yet found our public voice to articulate it.

In order to do that we need a place to stand outside our culture. That is difficult for people who everyday immerse themselves in our culture. The Church, which is very much a part of our culture, nevertheless offers us a vantagepoint outside the culture, precisely because the Church is united to Jesus Christ, who has a vantagepoint outside and above our culture. But we, His followers, have to come together around that unique vantagepoint to discover its power.

Coming together like that requires all the risks of learning to live as part of a community of terribly flawed, wonderfully faithful followers of Christ. Whether individualistic American Christians are willing to do that "is the drama of our time, and every man and every woman should understand it." BVBC is one such community. If you already consider BVBC your church home, be faithful to participate in its life. If you are new to the Christian faith, or if you walked away from the Church a long time ago, come live with us for a year. See what life here is like. We do not twist arms. Persuasion not coercion marks our life together. Heaven and earth meet here in this very room each week. Won't you be part of that?