Who Will Rise? (Feb. 13, 2022) 1 Cor 15.12-20

I need to tell you all that this was a difficult week in which to write a sermon. Not from anything personal or professional, mind you. But the texts that were in the lectionary for this week were tough. The text from Jeremiah and Luke are both pretty clear cut and give no wiggle room for how to make the text more…. palatable. The same can be said for the text for the sermon.

I have spoken several times from 1 Corinthians. It is a letter that, I believe, shows that the Church of the past and the Church of the present are pretty much the same. The times change, people do not. Paul writes at least two letters, and probably more, to this church in answer to questions and comments about the life in Christ that he has proclaimed there. And the text for today puts all of his logical and rhetorical skills on display.

For the past few weeks, we have explored Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts. This discussion begins in chapter 12 continues through to the end of chapter 14. Now, Paul takes a breath and begins a new argument that begins with his telling the Corinthians about Jesus and his death, burial and resurrection. He tells them of Christ appearing to his disciples after his being raised and that he even appeared to him, Paul. This section ends with Paul stating that this has been preached by all those who saw Christ and that “Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.” (1Co 15:11) A fairly easy and straightforward beginning. No controversy there.

But now Paul is ready to take the plunge and bring a new argument to the church at Corinth. He asks why if there is a proclamation of the resurrection of Christ (which appears to be believed) that some deny that the dead will also be raised. Now this is a serious question. If these people believe in the resurrection of Christ, why do they have trouble with the resurrection of the body? They appear to believe that Christ has been raised that was the teaching of Paul and the other missionaries to the city. The seem to have faith that this is a message that has some merit and therefore worthy of belief. And it was not like they had never heard of resurrection. Resurrection was not a novel concept to these people. There were plenty of heroes in Greek and Roman mythology who were raised from the dead. However, these were gods and demigods, sort of a one- time only deal that would not have occurred with other people. What they seem to have issues with is the resurrection of the body or the dead. See, the word dead here is better translated as corpse. This might have been a stumbling block for those who claimed there is no resurrection. Imagine something akin to the show The Walking Dead and you might get an idea of what these people are thinking. Who would want a walking corpse going around? Plus, this was something that would have abhorred the Corinthians. In Greek philosophy, the body was just a vessel for the soul. It was the soul that was immortal and the soul that needed release from the body. Therefore, for someone to say that the body would be resurrected would go against the thought processes of the good people of Corinth. N. T. Wright gives this story as an example of what was happening: Robert had longed to play in the school football (soccer)team. He had watched every game since he had come to the school. He had idolized the players and thought about the different styles of play, the different skills that were needed, and (of course) the excitement of running out on to the pitch himself to do his best for the school. He worked hard at his game, made sure he was fit, and played in one of the junior teams. Then one day a friend came running up to him. ‘You’ve made it!’ he said. ‘You’re in the team! I’ve seen it on the notice-board! Congratulations!’ Robert was on his way to a lesson at the time and couldn’t check the notice-board for himself, but instead spent the following hour in a haze of excitement. It had happened. His dream had come true. Life was going to be different from now on. As he came out of class, he whispered to another friend, ‘I’m on the team! Sam saw it on the notice-board!’ The friend looked puzzled. ‘But they never put up the team list this early in the week,’ he said. ‘Sam must have made a mistake. They wouldn’t do that. It doesn’t happen that way!’[1]

It does not happen that way. That is what the Corinthians are saying to Paul. These things are not possible. Especially in our thought world. But Paul is arguing from a Jewish perspective. In that perspective, the body is something good. After all, did not God create the body and call it good? It is interesting that today we have the same issue: the soul is good, what happens to the body is of no concern. Or there are those who argue that the early Christians were just imagining things, that they were so upset that they hallucinated the risen Christ. Or that the teachings of Jesus are more ethical and that the resurrection is something that only occurs in myths, that the message of Jesus’ teachings are what the foundation of faith is. To all of this Paul would say, “Balderdash!”

He then sets up an argument against those who claim that there is not resurrection like a line of dominoes. If you have ever seen a video of someone knocking over dominoes you will get the picture of what Paul is saying here.

Paul begins with an if argument in stating that if the dead are not raised then Christ is not raised. Now that would have a been a shock to them. They believed that Jesus had been raised. This was what made them believers in the Christian faith. Paul tells them bluntly that if there is no resurrection of the dead of those that they knew and loved, then there is no resurrection of the one in whom they believe. One domino down.

Next is another if. “…if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.[2]” If the proclamation has been in vain, then the faith that the Corinthians have is also in vain. What can all this mean? For many of us, to believe is an intellectual exercise. It may be that “we believe” in something but are never really called on to do anything about it. To Paul and the Corinthians, to believe, to have faith, meant something different. To say that their proclamation and faith were “in vain” was to say that it was “empty, without content, without any basis, without power, without effect or result or to not have reached the goal”. Faith was not static or just something intellectual. It was something that had oomph to it, something that was shown to be believed, something that was powerful. If it is in vain then there are dire consequences. Another domino falls.

Paul goes on to tell the consequences. If proclamation and faith are futile, or in vain, and Christ is not raised, then Paul and the others have been misrepresenting God. They have been telling that God did something that God did not do, that is raise Christ from the dead. And can you think of anything that would be more damaging than to misrepresent God?

Another if argument comes to bear in verse 16. “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.”[3] Christ being raised is the guarantee that others will be raised. If the dead are not raised, if there is no bodily resurrection then it is only logical that Christ has not been raised. Another domino falls.

Finally in verses 17-18 we come to the last domino. For the Corinthians, and all others including us, is the fact that if there is no resurrection, then they are still in their sins. And that those who have already died were still in their sins as well. This would be devastating because now those who have died have perished, there is no hope for them. The ones who are still living are in sin as well and the things that they have been lording over others have no impact, nada, zilch. This present life means nothing as will the life to come, or the life that will not come now that they say that there is no resurrection.

It is here that Paul gives his concluding remark in this logical argument. He says that if this present life is all that we have hoped for in Christ, then we are indeed to be pitied. What is said here is that if we live in the present life and not look for the resurrection, the coming completion of the work of God’s redemption, then there is not much to hope for is there? This is not to mean that Christians live hard lives and can look forward to the future or that we can forget all that is here in the present because we have a “mansion in the sky”. We are called to be stewards here and to care for the creation that we have while looking forward to redemption promised by God through Christ. But if we only focus on this life, if we only look to what Jesus can bring us here and now, if we only look to see “what I can get out of God while I’m here on earth”, if we take the outlook of “the one who dies with the most toys wins”, then we are indeed to be pitied. We are to be pitied because we have given up the hope that looks forward, that looks to the culmination of the grace of God that comes in the resurrection.

One commentator says that verse 20 begins with the sweetest phrase in the bible, “But in fact…” Christ has been raised and so there is hope for us all. Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus being raised from the dead is the “first fruits” of those who have gone before. Jesus, in other words, is the down payment toward the coming resurrection. He is the guarantee. Because he has been raised, so shall all who have believed in him.

It is sometimes difficult to hear a familiar text with new ears. This text has always been a hopeful text for me because I used it to shore up my faith in God and that this life was not all that there was. I, and others along the way, have made the mistake of looking forward and forgetting what was around me in this life. There are those who are so busy looking to the future that they have forgotten that their faith calls them to live in the present and be disciples of Christ here and now.

There are others for whom this world is the place they want to be. They are like the Corinthians with the fact that they believe that they are forgiven of their sins and so can live life as they see fit. They forget that this life has not yet been fully redeemed, that we still struggle with sin and with many of the same things with which the Corinthians dealt.

And then there are those who, like some in Corinth, deny the resurrection. They know science, they know the natural order of things. How can the dead live again? And if they are corpses, who wants to live again? But the resurrection is not the natural order. It is a supernatural order. It is beyond our comprehension. Even Paul would have admitted that. But Paul also was telling those in Corinth and us that we have one who has gone before us. One, who through his death and resurrection makes the guarantee that the same will occur for those who have faith in him.

There is also the fact that we can claim that death has no sting and grave has no victory, but when the time comes and one is standing beside an open grave and hearing the words, you sometimes times have to wonder, “Is it really true?” And it is at those times when we stare into the dark valley, that we have to have the faith, the power, to believe that the one whom we claim rose from the dead is the same one who is standing beside us and telling us that the walk through this valley is one we will make together. Though believers still die and this is hard to take, when resurrection occurs, death will be shown to have been defeated. The final enemy who has been defeated will be crushed and all will realize the rule of God that has always been a part of our lives. And at that time, we will no longer see “see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.” We will no longer know in part but will know fully. (1Co 13:12) Thanks be to God. Amen.

[1]Wright, Tom. Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.