The readings
1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 51-57
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good
news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you
stand, through which also you are being
saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you
have come to believe in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn
had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance
with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then
he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of
whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to
all the apostles. Last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me.
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder
than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with
me. Whether then it was I or they, so we
proclaim and so you have come to believe.
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can
some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has
not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been
in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of
God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are
not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If
Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your
sins. Then those also who have died in
Christ have perished. If for this life
only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the
resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made
alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at
his coming those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,
after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must
reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but
we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability,
and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on
imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that
is written will be fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is
your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The message
Last week, we looked at 1
Corinthians 13 and I mentioned that the reading was frequently part of wedding
and funeral services. Our reading this
week is also frequently part of funeral services, I can remember standing by
many grave sides and sharing the verses ‘Death
has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of
death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
These words are shared at the end of one person’s life to bring
comfort to many others, to reassure all those who mourn of God’s promised
resurrection of the dead, that Christ is Risen and we will arise.
This hope is at the heart of our faith. For me, it’s how I understand why bad things happen, how there can be such inequality, unfairness, pain, violence, separation, sadness, greed and undeserved suffering. We are set free from the power of death but not from the pain of dying. We can pretend all we want but our world is temporary, our hope is for something better, our joy is to participate in this wonder, and our work is to show or create glimpses of God’s coming kingdom here and now. For Paul, the resurrection of the dead is also central to the faith that came to him through a blinding vision, healing and instructions about Jesus. Today’s reading is actually a long argument constructed to convince the people of Corinth that there is the resurrection of the dead. Some members of the churches in Corinth incorporated the teachings of Apollos, an Alexandrian Jew whose systems of beliefs taught that the soul was fully separable from the body. The body was temporary and replaceable but the soul was immortal, since it held wisdom. For Apollos, the resurrection of the body was a silly thought, the soul was what mattered and that did not die.
Paul was highly educated and trained in Greek rhetoric. His
proof of the resurrection of the dead follows an order and the traditional
pattern of argument. Paul leans on logic, scripture, authority and the
experience of God in the world to make his arguments for the resurrection of
the dead. He offers 5 or 6 unique arguments, hoping at least one or two will
convince the Corinthians to come back to the proper faith as revealed by
Christ. He starts off in verses 1-11
with the early creeds of the church, the message that originally brought the
Corinthians to faith: Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters,
of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which
also you stand, through which also you
are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you .
Paul goes on to recount the story of Easter, of Jesus death, resurrection and
appearances to his followers and their authority as witnesses. Paul moves on to a logical argument in vs
12-19, saying if there was no resurrection of the dead, Christ could not be
raised. Since we are saved from sin and death by Christ’s resurrection, there
could be no salvation and believer’s faith was in vain. In vs 20-26 Paul argues the events of
history and prophesy starting all the way back with Adam, all point to Jesus
resurrection and the resurrection of the dead.
The Sections we did
not read (vs 26 – 50) include Paul
telling the Corinthians they are foolish, ignorant and that those who say there
is no resurrection have no knowledge of God (this line of reasoning, “if you
don’t think like me, your stupid”, should sound familiar to us, we hear it a
lot in our political campaigns). In these verses, Paul also looks at other
proofs, including a metaphor about seeds: “what you sow does not come to life
without dying”. Our selected reading picks up again with
verses 51-58. There we have a moment of prophesy or vision. This starts with
the declaration “listen, I will tell you a mystery”. Here, mystery is a formal
or technical term used in Jewish revelation to describe God’s plan for the
fulfillment of history, something we might think of as the meaning or purpose
of life. As Paul ends his arugments for
the resurrection of the dead, his use of the mortal / immortal and perishable /
imperishable is a direct confrontation of Apollos and his followers. They were familiar words to Apollos’ followers
and indicated unbridgeable differences between body and soul. Paul redefines them, aguring that since Christ
lived, died and is risen, everything has changed. That distinction between
mortal and immortal is gone, the body takes on immortality, through God’s
grace, the perishable becomes imperishable. This is the close of Paul’s letter
to the Corinthians. Chapter 16 is
housekeeping stuff, greetings, acknowledgments, plans to visit and the
collection for the saints (asking for money to support the work of the church
and spread of the gospel).
Just like the teachings of Apollos drew people away from the
story of God’s love revealed through the death and resurrection of Christ in
ancient Corinth, today our faith is often infiltrated by other ideas. It has
taken on aspects of the society, culture and dominant world views around
it. Honestly and sadly they include greed,
racism, violence, sexism, exclusion of others and harm to the people God loves.
They include an embrace of the things we are hoping to be set free from. Even
Paul himself seems to fall victim to this. Although all 4 gospels report that women
(and only women) were the first witnesses of Jesus resurrection, telling all
future generations of their bold faith, love for Christ and bravery, Paul
leaves them out, implying that Cephas was the first witness to the
resurrection and only mentioning sisters as witnesses of later appearances.
This was probably done since the people he was writing to did not consider
women reliable witnesses. Leaving them out prevented Apollos’ followers from
attacking him on this point and just dismissing Paul’s entire argument. Regardless of the possible reason, it was
done.
We are invited to look seriously at our lives, church and
community. We are required to spot the
times and places when our world stops acting like Christ is risen from the
dead. There are times when we are under attack from outsiders who doubt, have
belief systems where God does not fit, cannot get over stories of the church
being bad, who do not think Christ is Risen from the dead, or dismiss us as
just another big, corporate business.
There are times when we are under attack from insiders, from priests,
pastors, treasurers and secretaries who steal, churches built on exclusion and
hatred, faith communities that replace hope with feeling good now, who hoarde
money and resources instead of serving others and spreading the gospel, who
hide, scared, hopeless and trying to hold on instead of boldly telling the
story. Against all this we are asked to do something difficult and
uncomfortable, to in the words of 1 Peter 3:15 In your hearts sanctify Christ
as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an
accounting for the hope that is in you.
This is not an “I’m smarter than you contest” or academic debate, this
is about trusting in God’s promises, being led by the Spirit, and telling the
others Christ is risen from the dead with joy and hope, through our relationships, joy, laughter, work, words and
actions.
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