“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”    1 Corinthians 15:19-20

          “Are you out of your mind?”  Has anyone ever asked you this or told you that you were crazy (out of your mind).  I predict that Benjamin and Paul will say something like this when I sigh in pleasure after taking the first bite of homegrown asparagus later this month.  (They just don’t appreciate my refined and sophisticated palate!)

            In our Thursday morning Bible class, we have been studying the book of Acts for quite a while now—we are almost done.  In the later chapters of the book of Acts, Paul goes through a series of trials from Jerusalem through Caesarea and all the way to Rome.  There is a common refrain that Paul keeps coming back to at these trials—the Resurrection (Christ’s and ours!).  After hearing him several times, the Roman governor of Judea, Porcius Festus, exclaims with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”  To this Roman governor of Judea, Paul’s disputes with his fellow Jews about Jesus and His resurrection are insignificant and ridiculous—they are matters “of their own religion,” which he does not share.    

            But to Paul, these are not merely disputes about “their own religion.”  The resurrection of Jesus is the monumental event that has turned this world and everything in it upside down.  He can’t stop talking about it.  It has changed his life forever.  He went from persecuting and helping to arrest and execute these followers of Jesus from Nazareth who had been crucified, to now talking about Him and proclaiming Him and faith in Him to everyone everywhere.  What caused such a change?  The resurrection!  The resurrected Jesus appeared to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus, and this has made all the difference in Paul’s life.  He can’t view life and the world in the same way anymore—the resurrection of Jesus has changed everything!  So, Paul speaks about it to Jews and to Gentiles, to rich and to poor, to Pharisees and to Sadducees, to fellow prisoners and jailers, to governors and to kings and to Caesars.  More than a few of these responded like Festus—“Paul, you are out of your mind!”  

            As we prepare to remember and celebrate once again the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and all that means for us (including our own resurrection!), let me ask you again:  Has anyone asked you this question, “Are you out of your mind?”  If not, then we might ask ourselves if we are taking the resurrection of Jesus seriously.  The resurrection of Jesus has changed everything for us.  It certainly takes us out of our minds—out of living simply based on what these eyes see and these bodies experience.  It is because of the resurrection of Jesus that Steve King could text these words to me this morning, “Whatever tomorrow brings, Jesus brings you through it.”  Without the resurrection, these words would not be true.  They would be a lie—a false hope. “But Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  This truth takes us “out of our minds” to “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col. 3:2).  People will think you’re crazy.  They will wonder why your priorities are different and why your perspective about things happening is different.  But this is our chance to tell them why, this is our time to witness to the resurrection—to be out of our minds for/through our resurrected Lord Jesus.