Sermon Excerpt
“JESUS GOT UP, SO CAN YOU!” Luke 18: 31-34
Dr. Betty Holley, Contributing Writer
There are times, on life’s journey, we feel we have been thrown too many wicked punches. Have you ever felt yourself going down for the count? How did you respond? Did you get up, or did you stay down? Sometimes forces are working against us that we cannot see, sending us to fall on the ropes of the boxing ring more times than we would like. When life hits, it seldom slaps or throws baby punches. It hits hard! When life hits, it seems that everything happens at the same time. Those are the times that we agree with Job that “man born of a woman is full of trouble.” Job would know, especially since he experienced the full range–the death of his family, personal sickness, and financial failure, all at the same time.
One Sunday morning over 2,000 years ago, we saw our Jesus; beaten, ridiculed, nailed to a cross, and speared in the side. We saw him die on an old rugged cross, buried in a grave, but he got up from the grave on that third day morning. If the resurrection of Christ means anything to believers, it is that Christ, as a man, took the same punches that life throws at us: disappointment, betrayal, physical abuse, persecution, and every other problem we face. He went down but gained the strength to rise again.
In this text exist three keys necessary to unlock the truth of the resurrection’s power in our lives, which will enable us to get up when we have been knocked down. First, we must stick to our principles. The very first way to go down and stay down is to compromise our principles. A godly man or woman is guided by a set of beliefs about God. Even when a believer is knocked down, his/her principles do not change. Christ gave us a glaring example when he was persecuted and tormented. Even after being spit upon, tortured, and crucified by the Roman soldiers, Jesus remained true to the principle of love, even for his enemies.
Second, we must never lose our passion if we want to get up from whatever situation in which we find ourselves. Our passion is the energy, enthusiasm, and excitement we bring to life’s work. The religious leaders had difficulty dealing with Christ because he never lost his passion, even hanging on the cross. On the cross, Christ never lost that passion, bringing people to God. In one breath, he invited a thief to join him in paradise. He asked God to forgive them in another breath, for they did not know what they were doing. When the devil wants to keep a good man or good woman down, he goes after his/her principles, then works on his/her life’s passion. If you want to get up, stick to your principles and never lose your passion.
Third, we must always keep our sense of purpose in focus. When we keep our sense of purpose in focus, we keep getting up when we are knocked down because there is something within that demands us to get up. When we are driven by a godly sense of purpose, there is no end to what we can do. As Christians, we celebrate the resurrection because it brings us hope. We are overjoyed because Christ overcame every obstacle and arose triumphantly over death, the devil, and the grave. We are happy because Jesus proved beyond the shadow of all doubt that “you can’t keep a good man or a good woman down.”
Anybody that knows Jesus and has an established relationship with him will always be able to get up, so long as you stick to your principles, hold on to your passion, and keep your sense of purpose in focus. In times of struggle, remember the events of calvary and say to yourself, “Jesus got up, and so can I!”
