Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
1 Corinthians 15: 12-20
Luke 6:17-26
"Do You Believe in the Resurrection?"
12* Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13* But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;
14* if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
15* 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.
16* For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
17* If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
18* Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19* If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.
20* But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Grace and Peace to your from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
Our gospel lesson for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany is Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Mount. Except it is called the Sermon on the Plain. It speaks about discipleship and living for Christ.
But this morning since we are in the Epiphany season, which is the season of the revealing of Jesus, I have chosen to preach on the second lesson.
Paul is speaking to the Corinthians about the resurrection of Jesus. It seems that some believers are not believing in the resurrection. Paul is questioning how can they believe in Jesus and not the resurrection?
Indeed, how can one believe in Jesus and not the resurrection?
Paul says " if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain."
Paul is saying that if Christ had not risen, then anything we preach about Christ is not true. If Christ had not risen, our faith is worthless. all that Christ was and is, is fulfilled in the resurrection.
Without the resurrection there is no Christmas.
Without the resurrection there is no heaven.
Without the resurrection Jesus is just some guy in history who taught and walked and really meant nothing.
Without the resurrection we would be like the three people in the following:
We would be like the three buddies who were discussing death, and one of them asked the others:
“What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?” He said, “I would like them to say about me, ‘He was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community.’”
The second one said, “I want them to say, ‘He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow.’”
The third guy said, “I want them to say, ‘Look, he’s moving!’” With no hope of heaven that is what all of us would want them to say. 1
Without the resurrection there is no hope, nothing beyond the grave. Without the resurrection, our lives would end in the grave, a cold and dark existence.
Paul goes on the say that without the resurrection our sins would not be forgiven. He says:" If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
Through the resurrection of Jesus we have gain the forgiveness of sin. Through the resurrection of Jesus our guilt is forgiven. Through the resurrection of Jesus we live as forgiven people. Forgiven people who are free to experience all of life.
Through the resurrection of Jesus we live as changed people. People who are no longer chained to sin, but free to live in and through Christ. We are people who are free, free to live in Christ.
We are like th butterfly in the following:
Two butterflies - colorful and majestic monarchs - sat side by side on a tree limb. Beside them was the ruptured cocoon from which they’d just emerged.
"Come fly with me," said the one.
"Caterpillars can’t fly,"said the other.
"But we’re not caterpillars anymore," said the first, flexing his new wings, stretching then their full span till they looked like magnificently crafted stained glass windows.
"Those caterpillar days are gone forever."
"Don’t be silly," said the other. "We were born caterpillars and we’ll always be caterpillars. That’s the way it is."
"Well, then, why did the Maker see fit to give us there wings?" said the one.
The other butterfly thought for a moment and then replied,"I don’t know. Some sort of cruel joke, I suppose. He did the same thing to the ostrich, you know."
"Nonsense!" said the first. "Look at all the other butterflies. They’re flying. What do you say to that?"
The second butterfly looked out over the meadow and said, "They’re not flying. they’re just being blown about by the wind. Stupid of them, too. Can’t they see it’s dangerous? Easy prey for hungry birds and, when they land, mischievous children as well. I’ll stick to crawling and climbing, thank you very much. It may be slow, but it’s safe and sure."
"it may be slow and safe and sure but it’s.....well, it’s unnatural. Butterflies fly!!!
That’s the way the maker made us. That’s our role, our function, our fit: to dance on the wings of the air; to play tag with dandelions seeds; to soar; to dart; to float; to light on a single blade of grass to the delight of all who see; to inspire awe and wonder; to fascinate; to add a note of grace to this world’s dreary song." 2
Can you feel the new and vibrant life of Christ? Our vibrant life in Christ is like the butterfly to add a not of grace to his world’s dreary song. Because of the resurrection, you and I are allowed to bring the light of Christ into this dark world. Because of the resurrection, you and I are the light of Christ to those around us.
Paul concludes his questions about the resurrection with this statement, "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep"
"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead."
For Paul there is no question about the resurrection of Christ. Christ has risen. For Paul there is a resurrection, for Paul there is an Easter.
For you is there a resurrection? For you is there an Easter?
What do we do with the fact of the resurrection?
In a sermon by Dr. Schmalenberger preached at Easter of 1985 he says:
"you and I put Christ it seems to me in there three different places.......1. We leave him in the grave and gather every so often to pay our respects to a dead and buried Christ who died for a great cause........2. We remove him from the grave and locate his body in some pearly-gated heaven. We then return to the empty grave to marvel at his power to do that back then. We "ooh" and "ahh" at how he ever worked such a thing as to come back from death and out of the grave......3. We can take the body out of the grave, with all its power and glory---move it up 2,000 years and place it here and now in this church. Then on this day and every day he is with us out in the world......The hallelujah of today’s story--the thrill of the Easter resurrection, is the fact the body ends up here! It is in our church and in us as we gather to witness and worship and serve to be his alive presence in the world........... We may see this communion as a table of the living Lord who is its host and take very seriously: "This is my body" and"This is my blood." It is when we gather for the alive Christ to join with us and in us that Easter has its full significance........It is here in St. Johns, Des Moines for those who would receive it the good news of Easter is that Christ is alive here and now...."
Where is Christ for you? Is he in the grave, or is he only in heaven and you come to worship Him as someone out there?
Or do you see the risen and resurrected Christ as someone who is present here and now. Here in the church. Here through the body and blood. Here through the preaching of the word. Here through the loving kindness of those in the body of Christ. Is Christ present here and now in and through the body of Christ?
Do you believe in the resurrection of Christ here and now?
In this Epiphany season Jesus is manifested. He is revealed to us. We see his ministry begin. We see his first miracles. We see the call of the disciples. And Paul reminds us today to look past all of that to the risen Christ. For the most important manifestation of Christ is the risen Christ.
There is a a story about a family that tragically lost three of their four children within just two weeks to a deadly, virulent disease. One child was left – a four year old boy. The family had buried the third child just two weeks before Easter. On Easter morning the parents and the remaining child went to church. The mother taught her Sunday School class about the resurrection of Jesus and the father read the Easter story as he led the opening Sunday School devotion.
People who knew about their great loss wondered how they could do it.
One family of the church were in the car on their way home after church when their 16 year old asked his father, "Dad, that couple must believe everything about the Easter Story, don’t they?"
"Of course they believe it," said the father, "all Christians do!"
The young man then said, "But not like they do!" 3
But not like they do!
How do you believe in the Resurrection story? With your whole heart and mind?
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale Monday, February 5, 2007
1 by Rodney Buchanan from a sermon found at SermonCentral
2 Mark Radecke in "In Christ: A New Creation"
3 Contributed by: Klaus Mehrl from SermonCentral
