Resurrection - Free from Sin and Death

1 Corinthians 15:19-28

Easter Sunday

March 31, 2013

Life is hard and then you die.

That could have been what the women were thinking as they made their way in the dim light of early dawn to the tomb where Jesus had been placed Friday evening. Jesus’ life had certainly been hard.  Born in a barn to poor parents, became a refugee in Egypt when he was a young child because a crazy king felt so threatened that he killed all the children around Bethlehem under two.  When he started his ministry Jesus was immediately challenged, first by Satan, then by religious authorities offended by his sermons and teachings. Jesus was criticized for hanging out with sinners and tax collectors and he was verbally attacked by demons. 

There were some bright spots, of course. Some of what Jesus said about the kingdom of God seemed so hopeful, some people were healed by his great love. 

But in recent days things had gone from bad to worse.  Jesus was arrested while praying.  One disciple betrayed him, ten ran away, and even Peter denied him three times while Jesus was standing before the authorities.  Though Pilot could find no adequate reason to condemn him, and offered to release him, an angry mob had formed demanding that Jesus be crucified like a common criminal.  On the way to the cross Jesus was beaten and mocked, even by one of the other criminals hanging beside him. And when he died there wasn’t even enough time for a proper funeral or burial.  They had to hurry and put him in a tomb and then wait until the Sabbath was over.

Life is hard and then you die. It’s a common sentiment.  You often see it on bumper stickers. If you google “then you die” you’ll find several crass blogs, and some rock and rap groups; one explains “this is why we get high – cause you never know when you’re gonna go.”  The feeling was also summed up by Oscar Hammerstein in the 1920s for the Broadway song Old Man River sung by an old tired dockworker who mournfully confesses, “I get weary and sick of trying, I’m tired of livin’ and scared of dyin…” The sentiment is a double negative.  I hate life here and now and but the only escape is to death which is worse.   It leads one to begin to believe he or she is a helpless victim.   “It is what it is.”  Life is hard and then you die.

The Real End of the Story

When I read through Saint Paul’s words to the church in Corinth and started thinking about this sermon one sentence really struck me. ¹⁹If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. In this sentence Saint Paul is critiquing the hopeless victim belief that death is the end of the story.  A belief that even if we meet Christ, listen to his teachings, witness a few miracles, and get our hopes up enough to shout Hosanna as Jesus rides into Jerusalem the story still ends with death.  Since we are all really helpless victims there really isn’t much we can do in this life to make a difference.  We’ll just try our best to find fulfillment in this life, to enjoy whatever success we can in this life, to numb the pain of this life as much as possible as we wait for death.

            But Saint Paul makes us stop and question the belief that death, our deaths, are the end of the story. ¹⁹If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James may have been thinking life is hard but then you die as they got up that first day of the week to tend to Jesus’ body.  But when they got to the tomb, discovered that Jesus’ body was not there and were greeted by angels who asked them why they were looking for the living among the dead, everything changed.  The angels helped them to remember that Jesus had been teaching them that the story would continue after his crucifixion – that on the third day he would rise again.  It seemed impossible then.  But now looking at the empty tomb it started to become clear.  Death was not the end of the story.  The women ran to tell the apostles and all the rest.  They became the first ones to proclaim the Lord’s resurrection.

            It took a while for Jesus’ disciples to figure things out, and to explain it well. This news of resurrection is so different from how most people think that we still don’t have easy words to talk about it.  But this is what Saint Paul was trying to tell the Corinthians.  There is more to the story than hard life followed by death.  We know because Christ was raised from the dead and he is the first fruits of those who have died.  First fruits – the seeds of a zucchini seem dead when you plant them in the ground, but then they grow and produce new fruits and when the very first zucchini becomes ripe, you can be pretty sure that lots of other zucchinis will do the same.  All humans like Adam die – even Christ.  But Christ rose and promises that in him all will be made alive.  Saint Paul assures us that we can believe in resurrection – not just that Christ rose, but that we will too.

Going to Heaven vs. Resurrection

So from the point of view of Christian faith death is not the end of the story.  Resurrection follows death. But what exactly is resurrection? Some people try to feel better about death by thinking of it simply as an escape.  For them the bumper sticker should read: “Life is hard but, good news, then you die – call 1-800-Kavorkian. We might laugh, but Christians have been accused of taking this line of thinking. We just soften death more with a pretty picture of heaven. One woman explained heaven to her son like this. “It’s as if everyone were on tranquilizers. It’s beautiful. Everything is soft and white. There are clouds, like dry ice everywhere. Nobody does anything.”[1]  Don’t we often think of heaven this way - maybe without the tranquilizers and dry ice – but comforting, peaceful, a place where our spirits go to relax and enjoy ourselves after our bodies die?  So life is hard, but just wait it out, you’ll go to heaven when you die.  It’s a belief that secular critics call “pie in the sky by and by.”

But even though a lot of Christians believe in this kind of heaven, this is not what Saint Paul means by resurrection.  This is not the biblical story of what happens after death.  The soft white cloud picture of heaven where nobody does anything comes from Greek philosophers like Socrates. They believed that humans are good souls trapped into evil prison bodies and thus death of the body becomes freedom for the soul.  Belief that we go immediately to this sort of heaven immediately when we die makes us miss the point of Christian salvation.  It turns God into a kind of kiosk operator handing out tickets to “the greatest show not on earth.”[2]

Often when this view of heaven is presented it is used like a reward to try to influence behavior.  If you are good you can earn a ticket to heaven.  And sometimes views of hell are used as a deterrent – if you are bad you’ll go there instead.  Which is like saying life is hard, and if you are bad, you’ll have to keep suffering eternally.  But neither the carrot of a fluffy cloud heaven, nor the threat of eternal suffering seem to do very much to really change people.  At best people with this belief that life is hard but if you’re good enough you’ll get to go to heaven when you die – sometimes try to do the minimum of what they think is good enough to get in.  Even worse are those people who think we are already saved, because we believe in Jesus, so we just keep sliding through life not really living any differently than any other “good” person out there in the world.  Or worst of all we can become arrogant, thinking that we are the chosen ones, and looking down at all the nonbelievers. Our arrogance can easily become a stumbling block preventing others from even wanting to know Jesus.

            In contrast Saint Paul’s view, the biblical view of life beyond this life is something that has not yet taken place.  In the biblical view the dead who belong to Christ rest in peace, waiting for Christ to return to experience resurrection.  Saint Paul describes this second coming of Christ as the “grand consummation, when after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father.  He won’t let up until the last enemy is down – and the very last enemy is death!”[3]

            So the message of Easter, of resurrection refutes the second part of the popular saying.  Life is hard and then you die, comma but then comes resurrection.  Not just Jesus’ resurrection that happened 2000 years ago – but our own resurrection that those who belong to Christ can look forward to – not a spiritual life of ease in fluffy clouds – but a full bodily resurrection at the end of time when Christ comes again and the cosmos reaches the happily-ever-after-ending that God always intended.

Sin is Why Life is so Hard

            But the message of Easter also addresses the first half of the saying.  Life is hard – but the good news is that it was never meant to suck. Life is a gift from God and when human beings even begin to truly live their lives according to God’s will, life remains hard but also becomes enjoyable and exciting.  Have you ever watched a butterfly leave its cocoon?  As it emerges into a new life it struggles with animating force that is inspiring.  There is work involved when we accept Jesus’ call to new life, life lived the way God always meant it to be.  We have to give up a lot of bad habits like greed, pride and cynicism.  And we have to practice and grow into the virtues of this life like humility, love and self-control.  But when we see the goal beyond the hard things in this life and beyond death – the goal of eternal life as one of the holy people of God, we can start fighting like a butterfly shedding its cocoon.

The Bible has a name for the force that makes life so disagreeable: sin.  And according to the good news of Jesus sin is actually tied to death and not life at all. Sin is a power, it is crafty, maneuvering, always enticing us away from God, and from seeking to do God’s will. Jesus often pointed out how sin will use good things to take control of our lives laws can keep those who want to stay pure from offering emergency care to one who is dying. Our relationships to parents might lead us refuse Jesus’ invitation to the wedding feast.

            Sin is responsible for the vast majority of suffering in this world.  Yet the good news of Easter is that in his death, Christ destroyed sin.  And when truly put our faith in Christ he sets us free from sin and death.  When we let him become the master, and we live to serve him, to let him teach us how to truly live, then life may still be hard, but it also becomes full of joy and goodness and light. 

Christ has been raised – his is the first fruits – so his followers, who through baptism become members of the body of Christ will be raised at his coming – in this process, on this long journey Christ will  destroy the power of sin over our lives, and when he comes again Saint Paul says, he will even destroy death.

            The Christian affirmation is this: Life is hard, but when we let Jesus rule our lives and we face death like he faced death, refusing to become a victim of sin and death, then we will enter into new life like Christ – a life fueled by the fire and wind of the Holy Spirit – a life of imagination – a life where we can laugh, sing, dance and fly

We’re On Our Way.

            Sounds nice – but how do we get there?  What practical steps can you and I take today, later this week, in the weeks to come that will actually move us from the victim mentality about life – to actually living the good news of Easter?

Start by meditating on these things.  Reflect on your life as a journey to Easter. If you’ve saved the bulletins from Lent, or go to our church Facebook Page and look at the artwork Sarah Chandler gave to us.  Think of yourself on that path moving toward Easter.  When have you been walking with hope toward a promise?  When have you been in the valley of the shadow of death? When were you moving toward freedom from sin and death, and when did you turn the other way, controlled by sin, making life harder for those around us and for ourselves?

Where are you now?  If you are being controlled by your sin all you need to do is simply repent – turn back toward Christ and the goal of resurrection.  If you need help come talk to me, your pastor. Jesus is calling you. Let the forgiveness and love of God wash over you and remind you who you really are in this life. Don’t let the fear of death and pain keep you from pressing on. 

Where are you now? If you are walking toward Christ stop to notice if you’re trying to go it alone, or if you are walking with others who belong to Christ, brothers and sisters who will support you along the way through prayer, and encouragement. Find one or two people you can be really honest with, who will respectfully listen to where you are on this journey and will stick with you through the hard parts.  Small groups like the Bible study, the prayer group even the crafty ladies can be places where we become real with each other if we try.

If you are moving toward Christ on the journey how are you moving?  Are you plodding along, looking down at the ground, hardly making progress?  Do you feel weighed down with heavy burdens of guilt or shame, resentment or fear in your backpack? Easter Day is a day to set those down and look toward the bright light, noticing all the beauty God puts on the path. How much more pleasant the journey is when we can playfully walk and leap and praise God as we go?  Sing as you move along.  We’re on our way to freedom land. Let your voice join the unending hymn of all the company of heaven – Holy, holy, holy Lord, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Are you free enough from any fear so that you are moving out of the shadows into his marvelous light?  Are you free enough to really let your light shine, declaring the wonderful deeds of God in Christ to all the world?  Are you free enough to proclaim the mystery of faith beyond these walls – Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!  Pray for the Spirit to let you know this week when it is time to speak up and tell someone about the love of God you know through Jesus. As you travel toward the freedom of resurrection are you working as part of the body of Christ in ministry to all the world?  Are you living so that you are part of God’s answer to the prayer for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven? We have another opportunity to serve at Breaking Bread coming up.  There are lots of other ways we as a church can work together to spread the love of God out into our community.  It’s time to imagine, and dream and prepare for this church to move upward and outward

Wherever we are on the journey Christ is calling to us to keep moving forward.  And today we are invited to share in the meal that will give us strength to keep moving on our way to a life of freedom in Christ.  So prepare yourself to come and receive.  There is enough grace here at this table to teach us all to fly to Easter.

Soar we now where Christ has led Alleluia! following our exalted head Alleluia!

Made like him, like him we rise our the cross the grave the skies Alleluia!

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[1] Steve Chandler 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself.

[2] Alan Brehm

[3] The Message – Eugene Peterson

Free to Proclaim the Lord's Death

1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2013

I suspect you remember the story of the woman who was preparing her first Easter dinner for her extended family.  She was very excited and wanted it to be just perfect.  Her mom was in the kitchen helping when the woman took the ham out of the oven and carefully cut off about 4 inches from the ends before putting it in to bake.  Her mother was puzzled, and carefully asked, “Honey, why did you cut off so much of the ham just now?”  The daughter, equally perplexed said, “why mom, I remember you always cut the ends off the ham when you made Easter dinner.  I figured that’s just what you need to do.”  Her mother laughed and said, “I only cut off what didn’t fit into my baking pan.  Your that ham would have fit perfectly well in the pan you have.” 

            It can be like that in the church.  There are certain things we do every year, or every month, or every week.  But just because we do them doesn’t mean we know why we do them.  And if we don’t know why we do things we are likely to do them in the wrong way or for the wrong reasons.  Part of Paul’s words today are a warning about that.  He warns that it is possible to share this meal, this holy communion the wrong way, with the wrong thinking.  And in so doing we are quite likely to enter into judgment when we were hoping to find grace.

            So here’s a question.  What does Maundy Thursday actually mean?  Maundy comes from the same Latin word as mandate.   Jesus mandated that his followers eat this bread and drink this cup, sharing a meal that has come to be known as Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper.

            Here’s another question.  Why do most churches reserve the job of presiding over the communion to an ordained clergy person?  Think about that for a moment.  Back in the days before the Reformation, when the Mass was conducted in a Latin that the people didn’t understand, they came to believe all manner of untrue things about the Lord’s Supper.  They new something very special and holy was taking place, especially when the priest said “Hoc es corpus” and the bell rang and he lifted up the bread for all to see.  But without understanding it all seemed like magic.  Hocus pocus.  Some of them had learned a little bit more – like the doctrine that the bread and wine they offered from home somehow became the actual body and blood of Jesus, and must be revered as if Jesus were fully present in the room. Because the priest knew the words to make this transformation take place he was  like a magician, and the consecrated host seemed so magic that folks would often try to put it in their pockets, save to use later like medicine.

            The Reformers, and since Vatican II the Catholic church also have sought to remedy this problem, by allowing the people to worship in the language they best understand, and seeking to teach people better about communion.  The real reason priests have been singled out as the presiders of Holy Communion is that it takes some training to help the people of God remember rightly what this meal is all about.  The number one job of a clergy person during Eurcharist, and perhaps all week long, is to help people remember Jesus Christ, and our relationship to him rightly.

            Remembering is so important that Jesus said it twice.  Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread and said This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.  In the same way he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

            When Paul reminded the Corinthians this story he was concerned because it seems they were forgetting what being a Christian community was all about.   There were many things that they were fighting over in their congregation.  One was that they weren’t sharing food. In their day in Corinth the church was gathering for a meal, bringing food from home each time they shared communion.   The trouble was it was expected in their culture that wealthy people would have plenty of rich, delicious food in their baskets, but there were poorer people who had no food.  They had to sit around waiting for those with food to dine, and then worship together, and usually the poor ones left the service hungry.  In retelling the story of Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper Paul is reminding them that Jesus meant the community to eat and drink together, thinking of Jesus, sharing as Jesus shared, forgiving as Jesus forgave. Paul reminds them that the Last Supper took place on the night he was betrayed.  Even Judas was given the bread and the cup.  The cup of Jesus’ sacrifice was the cup of the new covenant – forging a new relationship with all the followers of Christ as brothers and sisters.  Paul hoped that the act of sharing communion would help the church in Corinth remember who they were, and what Jesus intended them to be and do.  He hoped that they would proclaim the Lord’s death by the way they lived, as much as by what they said.  He wanted it to be completely true that the people of Corinth would know the Christians by their love for one another and for the stranger.

            The proclamation of Jesus Christ is what sets us free.  The word in the bible for proclamation combines the word for out with the word for message.  And the Greek word for message is  – angelon – the same word for angel.  Paul is telling the church that every time we take communion rightly, every time our behavior matches the true memory of what Jesus came to do, we are like angels, proclaiming Jesus’ good news to the world.  But on the other hand, every time we fail to remember rightly, and live in discord with the Message of Jesus we block and bind up the good news, preventing it from spreading.  If we live in faith in a way that forgets Jesus’ purpose we can block people from knowing the true Christ.

            This isn’t just with communion.  One example is the second half of our worship this evening, the Reproaches.  This service was developed in Ancient France and was meant to help Christians feel the gravity of the sins of the world for which Christ died.  It was meant to help us remember all the many ways we can get bound up, even after receiving the saving grace of God in our lives. Even when like the Israelites and Moses we are freed from slavery, freed from sin by the waters of baptism, we would turn on our savior and make a cross for him.  Even when God has faithfully given us our daily bread, day after day, year after year; even when God leads us through the hard times, we would turn on our savior and make a cross for him.  Even when he made us the branches of his vineyard and gave us the water of salvation, we would give Jesus vinegar and gall.  Even though God led us through the wilderness to a land of freedom and prosperity we have felt free to judge, mock and even beat him.  The Reproaches are meant to help us, as a church, take ownership for the sins of the world and turn back to God our merciful to save us again and help us change.  Yet as the ancient service was used year after year, the people and priests forgot to see themselves as the ones Jesus was reproaching.  In many of their villages there was a neighborhood of Jews.  How convenient to begin to think that Jesus was reproaching the Jews.  It didn’t take long before the Good Friday service of Reproaches incited the Christian worshippers to anger against their Jewish neighbors – an anger that boiled so hot they left the sanctuary like Patriot’s fans after the Superbowl – but instead of turning cars upside down they pummeled any unfortunate Jew they could find.  The Reproaches was disbanded, even by the Catholic church, because it had deteriorated from an act of worship to a catalyst for evil once the people forgot what it meant.

            But the Methodists revived the service. After all Paul tells us we are to proclaim Christ’s death until he comes.  But the words have been changed to help us remember and proclaim rightly.  The reproaches tonight will help us to remember the ways in which we are bound up.  Each one of us comes to [worship] bound up in ourselves, in our own sins. But the prayer of the liturgy inserts each of us into a story that is older and deeper than ourselves, giving us language for ourselves that we would not have discovered looking at ourselves in the mirror.  For yes we are sinners.  We are the ones who betray Jesus.  But his mercy is so great that he still gives us his body and blood for our salvation.  And that salvation comes not only through his death, but in the good news of his resurrection, and the hope that he will grab each one of us by the hand and lift us up with him to eternal life.

            Clergy are given the duty of presiding over communion so that we will all remember rightly, and we won’t do anything for the wrong reasons.  We are given the challenging of helping the congregation remember in a way that we eat and drink this meal rightly – in right relationship to God, to one another and to the world – so that in sharing this meal, and living together as brothers and sisters in Christ our lives and our words will freely proclaim the Lord’s death and resurrection until he comes again.