(…continued) Tim Keller was a little younger than Arnold, and when he started college, he was, like Schwarzenegger would say, not much of an expert on “the soul and all that spiritual stuff.” But Tim Keller did realize the importance of knowing whatever there was to know about ‘all that spiritual stuff,’ because even as a young man, he knew this life was brief and uncertain, and he did want to know what comes next. Keller took all the college classes he could on religion and philosophy, read piles of books, studied all the religions of the world, and talked to anyone and everyone he thought he might learn from about this. In time, after a long search, he became convinced of the truth of the Christian faith, because he came to believe that Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead– on a specific Sunday morning, in a specific place on the other side of the world, not quite 2,000 years ago. And for the rest of his life, that conviction grew in Tim Keller, and his faith deepened into a trust and a hope that could not be shaken. He became a pastor, and in 1989 he started a church in the center of New York city; which is not an easy place to start a church. But his church grew into the thousands. Tim Keller is considered by many to have been the best Christian pastor, preacher, and author of his generation. His gift was being able to communicate to skeptics, atheists, the hostile, and the uninterested. His style was characterized by gentleness, respect, and intellectual brilliance.
For the last three years of his life, Tim Keller’s earthly body was ravaged by pancreatic cancer. He died on May 19, 2023 in his New York apartment at the age of 72. A friend visited him one time when he was in the midst of another miserable round of chemotherapy. The friend asked Keller how he was doing. Keller wanted to talk instead about a book he was reading, but he did say, “Look, I’m in my 70’s. I have a wife I love and who loves me. I have children who are all Christians and who I love and who love me. And, above all, I have the Gospel. What do I have to complain about?” His long-term prognosis was never good, but for the entire time, his outlook was characterized by that kind of courage and faith and gratitude. He summed up the reason for that attitude in one sentence. He said, “There is nothing at this point in my life that could convince me that Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead.” And along with that, was his firm belief that Jesus would one day raise him from the dead. In his last sermon in the church he founded, Keller concluded by saying, “If you believe in Jesus, fear not; hold on to the Gospel, and look up.” Tim Keller’s last words were, “There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest.” No downside to leaving!
Again, as Paul said in I Timothy 4:8: “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Jesus said, “God is not a God of the dead, but of the living,” and Jesus also said, “Because I live, you shall also live.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger says when you die you go six feet under and that’s it. He is like the Sadducees, who in verse 17 say there is no resurrection. And Jesus said to them in verse 27, “You are badly mistaken.” I said to myself many years ago, “I don’t want to be badly mistaken about this; I don’t want to be wrong, and not believe in Jesus, and miss out on an opportunity for eternal life.” So, in my first year of college, I went on a similar search as Tim Keller, at about the same time in the early 1970’s, reading many of the same books, and after two years, coming to the same conclusion. So now, like Paul, I believe that whether I live or die, I belong to the Lord.
One more thing from the very first verse of this morning’s text where it says the religious leaders were sent to “trap Jesus in his talk.” The whole conversation begins with hostility. There was always so much hostility toward Jesus, then, and there still is. Why is that? Sure, Jesus opposed many of the traditions of the old-time religion, and that shook things up a bit and made some people mad; but he came offering eternal life. And even after he proved it could be done, by rising from the dead himself, he and his followers still faced opposition. Why would anyone want to oppose that?
Now, in our poisoned political discourse today, there is hostility on all sides, and many folks will demonize anyone who disagrees with them on anything. But I am puzzled about why so much hostility is directed at the church and its Lord. Jesus is offering precisely what Arnold Schwarzenegger and so many others want most of all—an opportunity to live again. Why be angry about that? There are no other credible offers on the table.
Some of this anger I do understand, as I am embarrassed and saddened by the words and actions of many people who also believe in Jesus. I know I also have not always been a good witness to my Lord, and I have regrets about that. I understand there are many reasons why people have turned away from the church. But what if it’s not about the church and all its faults, or about politics, or about personalities, or about the time your minister made you mad, or about that annoying Christian lady at work with her self-righteous nose in the air? What if it is not about the nuns who hit you with a stick when you were in the second grade, or about the TV pastor you admired who turned out to be a sex offender, or about the fact that you were born into a different religion, or no religion at all, or had too much religion forced on you when you were a kid?
Let’s say it is not about any of that, but simply about the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rose from the dead; and about God’s offer and promise to you, that you can be saved. Saved from what? Saved from that sin in our hearts that disturbs and divides us; saved from that sin that makes you mad at others and disgusted with yourself; and also, saved from that ticking clock, moving you faster and faster toward you know what.
Jesus really did rise from the dead, and he really has gone on ahead to prepare a place for you, as he said he would. Believe in Jesus, and you will be forgiven, and you will be saved; and then, when your time does run out, – perhaps in sixty years from now, or maybe later on today—when your time does run out, you will be able to say like Tim Keller: “There really is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest.” Amen.
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“All death can now do to Christians is to make their lives infinitely better.” –Timothy Keller
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Let us pray: Our Father, you are our hope and our strength. We pray that you grant to each of us the vision of that life in which all tears are wiped away, and disease and death shall be no more. Raise us up now in your Spirit to follow you in hope and trust; and give us your loving power to protect us, your wisdom to nurture us, your beauty to inspire us, and your peace to fulfill us; lifting up our hearts in the light and love of your presence. One day, everything in this life will be taken away from us, except one thing, God’s love, which can go into death with us, and take us through it and into his arms. For that, we give you thanks and praise. We pray in the name of the one who is the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. –Tim Keller
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