1 Corinthians 15:1–11 - Intro
In Paul’s
time, the city of Corinth was the largest and most influential city in southern
Greece.
Its key
geographical position on the east-west sea route between Italy and Asia Minor
made it not just a thriving commercial center but also a hub of missionary
activity.
While
the church in Corinth struggled to contend with the influences of multiple
religious and cultural traditions and beliefs,
it
was also experiencing infighting amongst competing factions of Christians,
each
of which promoted different beliefs and practices within the church.
The letters we have from Paul give us only one side
of a conversation.
But
given Paul’s words to the church in Corinth we can deduce that the people there were having a serious issue
with competing beliefs about the resurrection.
In
fact, Paul spends more time on this topic than any other topic in the letter.
The
people in Corinth were wrestling with some of the same questions that we
have.
Is it possible for a human
being to return from the dead?
Why
would God choose to raise one person over all others?
Couldn’t
we just follow Jesus’ teaching without talking about resurrection?
Belief
in God’s ability to raise people from the dead was a core belief for some Jewish sects
in Paul’s time, but they believed God would raise everyone, at the same time,
on the Day of Judgment, at the coming of the Messiah.
Why
raise just Jesus?
And why at that time, when clearly the last days had not
arrived?
For
Paul, there is no Christian faith unless God has raised Jesus from the dead.
You
can almost hear the pleading in his voice in this letter as he makes his case
for belief.
We
are a people of the resurrection. An Easter People.
If
God has not raised Jesus, if God has not claimed victory over death,
writes
Paul, then why believe in the gospel at all?
What
is the Good News if Jesus does not live?
The Rev. Maureen R. Frescott
Congregational Church of
Amherst, UCC
February 10, 2019 – Fifth
Sunday after Epiphany
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
“Easter
People”
What
does it mean to be a people of the Resurrection?
What
does it mean to believe in restoration and renewal?
What
does it mean to believe in redemption – to have faith in second chances – or
even third, fourth and fifth chances at new life?
Those
of us who live in New England know a thing or two about restoration, renewal,
and redemption.
We
live in a climate where every year the trees and plants and flowers die off,
shed their leaves, or go dormant, plunging us into a frozen and bleak landscape
colored only in shades of white, black, grey, and brown for six months at a time.
Our
Puritan and Pilgrim forbearers had no choice but to learn how to survive under
these conditions – as they strived to make food, supplies, and resources
stretch through the cold dark days of winter –
and
waited for the world to restore itself with the coming of spring.
A
few years back, the editors of Yankee Magazine devoted an entire issue to
"Yankee frugality"- the
strong cultural drive handed down by our forbearers that compels us to hold
onto resources, recycling and repurposing them as needed, in
an effort to eek out every last bit of usefulness.
The
magazine asked its readers to send in tips, stories, and anecdotes about personal
or family thriftiness or prudence and offered a free subscription to whoever
had the best tale to tell.
The
editors received hundreds of responses – many of which were written on the back
of envelopes, on brown paper bags, or on recycled computer paper.
People
sent in tips on what to do with worn-out socks and panty hose,
how
to continuously reuse tea bags,
and
creative ways to repurpose dryer lint and the little balls of cotton that come
in pill bottles.
We New
Englanders are experts in making things last.
One
woman wrote, “I’m so frugal I’ve even kept the same husband for 48 years!”
One
reader said before going to bed each night he stopped every clock in his house
and then restarted them in the morning, to make the internal workings last
longer.
Another
wrote about the shoeshine rag he bought for 15¢ the day he joined the army — October
12, 1948.
He
used the rag every morning for 15,638 consecutive days.
He
wrote: “According to my calculations, my cost is approximately $.0000095 cents per
day — a fair return on my investment.”
But
the winner of the Yankee Magazine frugality contest was a man who shared a
story told by his wife’s grandmother.
While
attending a church supper near her home in Massachusetts, she saw an older
woman seated near her slap her knee with both hands, and then firmly squeeze
her hands together.
After
a few moments the woman reached discreetly under her dress and pulled out a
dead mouse.
She
looked at it thoughtfully for a moment,
then
retrieved a used napkin and wrapped the mouse in it saying,
“I’ll
take that home for my cat.”
It
may be a sign of Yankee frugality to show a reluctance to throw away or let go
of something that we feel still has value, purpose, or life left in it.
Might
we then say it’s a sign of spiritual frugality to be reluctant to throw away or
let go of a belief, a dream, a relationship, or a human life that still has
value, purpose, and vitality left in it?
Tales
of spiritual frugality are all around us.
Take
Jermaine Wilson, the Mayor of Leavenworth, Kansas.
Before
he became Mayor, Wilson started a free legal program for those who’ve served
time in prison for petty crimes and drug offenses,
to
help them have their records expunged,
to
make it easier for them to get jobs, rent apartments, and get a fresh start in
life.
Jermaine
Wilson knows what it means to be given a new life.
As
a young man, he had spent 3 years in prison himself for a drug conviction.
After
turning his life around he found there weren’t many doors open for young black
men who have criminal records.
While
it is possible to have minor offenses expunged it can cost thousands of dollars
in legal fees to do so,
which
means once again, those who have the least amongst us are denied the
opportunities that those with money and means are given –
even
when what is being offered is restoration and redemption.
I
suspect that the reason why Paul was so insistent that his fellow Christians
believe in the possibility of resurrection was because he had experienced it
himself.
Not
only because he claimed to have witnessed
it,
in
the vision he had of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus,
but
also because Paul himself was living proof that restoration and NEW LIFE in
Christ was possible, for those who believed it to be true.
When
we read these ancient letters that were sent to the early churches it helps to
know something about the community Paul was writing to,
but
it also helps to know something about Paul.
Paul
was not one of the early adopters of the Christian message.
He
was not there at the beginning walking side-by-side with Jesus’ disciples
putting in the sweat equity to get the fledgling faith off the ground by recruiting
followers and building churches.
For
the first few years after Jesus’ death he did the exact opposite.
Paul
was a Pharisee, and he loathed the followers of Jesus and everything they stood
for.
He
thought they were unnecessarily dividing the Jewish community by promoting a
false messiah.
And
he went out of his way to spread misinformation and propaganda,
painting
this new sect of fellow Jews as backwards and barbaric.
We might imagine him whispering in the ears of those he knew could be counted upon to spread doubt and fear:
Did
you hear that the followers of Jesus believe they are EATING the body of their
messiah, and DRINKING his blood?
Do
you see the way they gather in insular communities, pooling their resources,
and ignoring the social and religious customs and structures that we all hold
dear?
Do
you hear how they talk about their messiah being raised from the dead,
as
if that were actually possible and as if they expect educated and devout people
of the true faith to actually believe it?
But
Paul went beyond spreading distrust and misinformation about the Christian
communities forming in his midst.
He
openly persecuted them.
He
sent spies into the catacombs and backroom gatherings of those who claimed to
be following The Way of Jesus.
He intercepted
personal letters and gathered names, making lists of those who belonged to this
cultish community or professed its beliefs.
He
had them dragged out of their homes, beaten, and thrown in jail.
The
Book of Acts tells us that Paul was not only present at the stoning of Stephen,
the first follower of Jesus to be killed for his beliefs,
but
Paul was the one who ordered it.
To
go from stoning Jesus’ followers to building churches in Jesus’ name was a huge
shift in Paul’s life trajectory.
To
go from devoting one’s life to perpetuating fear and discord to devoting one’s
life to spreading a message of love and peace is a true example of restoration
and redemption.
One
might even say it’s a true example of resurrection.
Paul
DID believe that Jesus rose from the dead and he based his entire system of
faith upon it. How could he not?
Given
what he had seen, and what he had experienced with his own change of heart.
Nothing
short of a miraculous resurrection could have done that.
Paul
counters the disbelief of the people of Corinth by reciting a lengthy list of
witnesses, including
the disciples themselves and 500 additional people
(many
of whom were still alive by the way if anyone wanted to go ask them themselves)
– but Paul recites this list with a sense of frustration in his voice.
As
if he’d grown tired of having to do it,
as
he’d likely done many times before.
If
the people of Corinth, and the other early Christian communities,
had
trouble accepting the resurrection as truth, when they lived amongst those who claimed
to have seen it with their own eyes,
what
hope do we have?
We
have no choice but to take it on faith – that 2000+ years ago, a man named
Jesus walked the earth, took a lot of risks in the name of love,
ended
up being killed for his efforts, and then rose from the dead –
as
living proof that love cannot be conquered by fear –
that
life is stronger than death…
And
that every life – no matter how broken, misused, or abused –
brings
with it the possibility of renewal, restoration, and redemption.
Presbyterian
minister, the Rev. Lewis Galloway writes:
Whenever Christ turns a life around, heals a relationship,
transforms a bitter heart, forgives a wrongdoing,
teaches a fearful person to love, or shows a self-centered person how to
give, there is a witness ready to take the stand to tell the good news of God’s
grace.
Paul
was just such a witness, as are we.
Think
about a transformation you’ve experienced
or
witnessed in your own life.
How
has the GOOD NEWS of the possibility of such a resurrection changed you?
And
how does it continue to change you?
We
are witnesses of the power of restoration, renewal, and redemption.
We
are an Easter People.
Thanks be to God, and Amen.
