Resurrection (1 Co. 15:12–20)

When something is too good to be true, it usually is. A word of wisdom that is often said and heard around the place. When something is too good to be true, it usually is.

Did it really rain that much up north?
Is the limit of people I can have at home really going up to 50?
Did the Melbourne Demons really win a premiership?
Am I really getting assigned to a congregation with an office secretary?
Did England really win a cricket match this summer? That one is too good to be true...

Was Jesus really raised from the dead? Can anyone really be raised from the dead? That’s the test that the Corinthian Christians were facing, and I think it’s a good one for us to ponder as well.

When I had come out of high school and looking for something to study at uni (before I had felt the call to take up pastoral studies), I took up philosophy as one of my units. The subject for that particular semester was called, ‘Arguments and Critical Thinking.’ A useful one if you want to win every argument and criticise everyone around you.

One of the most basic forms of argumentative logic is this formula: if A, then B. We use this all of the time.

If I do my jobs, then I’ll get pocket money.
If I run with scissors in the classroom, then I might get in trouble.
If I want to get to know someone, then I should spend time with them.
If I don’t look after myself, then I might have health problems in the future. If I go to church every week, then I’ll be spiritually fed.

If it’s impossible for a dead person to be made alive again, then Christ wasn’t raised either. This is Paul’s main argument.

Ancient Greeks, including the Corinthians, really struggled with resurrection. They understood that when a person dies, their body is left behind and their soul or spirit ascends into some form of heaven. The body is no good, imperfect, even evil. The soul is what belongs in the spiritual realm.

I wonder what you believe. Ancient Greek culture is still a huge part of our Western culture today. I wonder if some of us might even agree with that thinking.

Resurrection is about the body. Dead bodies are made alive again. Paul was going around ancient Greece telling people that Jesus’ body was made alive again – not just his soul.

In the eyes of the people, he wasn’t just wrong – he was a heretic and a false teacher, a liar and a troublemaker. But Paul had seen the risen Christ with his own eyes, and he knew what the resurrection means.

Good Friday is probably the biggest day on the Christian calendar. Until recently, even the footy stopped for it. It’s the day when Jesus Christ went through immense pain and suffering for our sake. Our sin deserves death which Christ willingly suffered in our place.

If Good Friday was the end – if there was no Easter Sunday – we would be liars and troublemakers. The work of salvation wouldn’t be complete. Our sins would not be forgiven. We would have no hope for ourselves after this life. Our faith would be an empty pursuit. Jesus would be just another street preacher with a fake message.

But, of course, there was an Easter Sunday. His death was not the end. He was raised from the dead. There is resurrection.

The resurrection completes His work. It defeats death forever. It makes forgiveness of sins possible. It gives us hope and a future with God.

Paul says in chapter 12 that we are baptised into one body, that is, Christ’s. Our baptism ties us together with Him and we therefore share in His resurrection. We believe that baptism itself is a little resurrection, where our sinful self is drowned in the font and we are born anew. Resurrection doesn’t only apply to Jesus – it very much applies to us, too.

It’s easy to think that all of this is too good to be true. Surely death isn’t really defeated – people still die every day. Sin can’t really be dealt with because I still sin myself. Fair point.

Yet, even though we still live with the effects of sin and death, we live knowing that Christ came to save us from them forever. The end result has already been decided, but there is still a game to play out.

There will be times when we don’t feel too victorious. Even though we’ve heard the message of hope and forgiveness, it’s hard to get past the challenges we face every day. But that’s why we’re here. The Christian Church is the gathering of people who know they need forgiveness and hope, so they gather together to receive it.

We, St Martin’s/St Paul’s Lutheran Church, have a message that this town needs to hear. We receive the resurrected Jesus’ own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. We sing for joy and we speak to our God who hears our prayers. None of this is too good to be true – we do it every week.

Our lives can become busy, difficult, or simply spent in places other than here. We get distracted and forget that we live each day in light of the resurrection and looking forward to our own. Hear again today that because of the resurrection, we have hope, we have true joy, we have a purpose and we have a future.

I’ve only just started to get to know this community, but already I can see that there is action. There are people visiting, caring, and praying for each other. There is love. There is compassion. There is enthusiasm. There is energy. This church is very much alive – resurrected, if you like.

This community is a moving train, and Olivia and I are attempting to jump on. So please be patient with us, but please don’t stop the train for us, either.

This place is a place that knows the gospel very well, but God has called me to tell you again and again that you are forgiven, you are blessed, and you are called to share the message of the resurrection.

To use Paul’s logic: if Jesus was raised from the dead, then so will we be. That might sound too good to be true, but it’s real. And because it’s real, it matters. Because it matters, we need to be reminded of it again and again. That’s my call as a minister of the Word, but it’s also yours as the people of God. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we’ll be His disciples and His messengers.