1 Corinthians 15:51-58
February 23
David A. Davis
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“Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” I have read these verses from the end of I Corinthians 15 more times than I could ever count. I have read them a few times from here at this pulpit. Mostly, I read them down there at Princeton Cemetery next to an open grave. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed.” I had been here at Nassau Church for more than fifteen years before I learned an interesting fact about our cemetery. When a visit to the cemetery includes a casket burial, the pastor leads the procession. I was taught in seminary that when standing at the grave, the appropriate and respectful place for the pastor to stand is at the head of the casket rather than the foot. In Princeton Cemetery, all the caskets are interred in the same direction. The head of the casket, the head of the person in the casket, is closest to Witherspoon Street. That means all those buried in Princeton Cemetery for hundreds of years are facing east. Those who have been to an Easter morning sunrise service at the cemetery know that the congregation stands with backs to Witherspoon Street, facing east to the rising sun.
The tradition of burying the dead goes all the way back to the ancient church and the practices of the earliest Christians. When the trumpet sounds, on that day of resurrection, when Christ comes again, on that “great getting up morning”, at the dawn of that day, at the first sight of the rising sun, the dead will be raised. The dead are buried facing east so they can be ready. For that day “when this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.”
I have told you before about a conversation I had a long time ago when Zorba’s restaurant was still across the street. It was a conversation with Duke Divinity School New Testament professor Richard Hayes. You may have seen his obituary last month in the NYT. Dr. Hayes spent a full year on sabbatical here in Princeton shortly after he published his commentary in the Interpretation series on I Corinthians. Most Sundays he worshipped with us. That day at lunch in Zorbas, I was looking to offer a pastoral welcome to a well-known visiting scholar. What I didn’t expect was a conversation that year that changed how I thought about preaching resurrection hope. One of our casual conversations turned challenging and intriguing for me as I listened to the scholar’s stinging critique of the church’s proclamation on Easter and at most, funerals. The gist of Richard’s argument was that preaching resurrection should not sound like the content of a Hallmark card. Examples he gave ranged from preaching that denies the reality of death to sermons full of kitschy illustrations that promote the concept of the immortality of the soul. Something along the lines of “he is not dead; he’s just gone to the other side of the lake to fish” is what comes to mind.
Professor Hayes was leaning into I Corinthians 15 and arguing that the resurrection doesn’t happen until that trumpet sounds. I said to him, “So if I am standing next to a hospital bed, and a loved one says that ‘at least now their family member is in a better place’ I should say ‘well, not yet.’? The New Testament scholar looked at me across the table and said, “yes”. “Richard,” I responded, “that’s why you are a professor, and I am a pastor. I also quoted Jesus’ words to the thief next to him on the cross. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Despite our disagreement about the mysteries of the resurrection, when I sit in my study typing a sermon for a memorial service or for an Easter sermon, the professor’s concluding remark in that conversation both inspires and haunts me a bit. Richard Hayes said to me, “Well, resurrection hope has to be about more than whether you and I get to heaven.” His reference was to a resurrection hope for the here and now.
A funeral service in witness to the resurrection, or an Easter morning service for that matter, is not dependent upon our ability to figure it all out or to work out the timeline or to even understand what earth “resurrection of the body” is referring to in the Apostles’ Creed. For when the followers of Jesus are confronted by everything that death has to offer, the Church rises to proclaim the power of God to bring life out of death, the power of God to transform the dark shadows of despair into the rising light of a bright morning star, the power of God to anoint the sufferings of this life with a hope-filled balm of the kingdom yet to come. To read the Apostle Paul standing around an open grace is a bold and courageous affirmation of God’s resurrection power when death has the loudest voice. These verses from Paul offer a shout of resurrection promise and hope not just for the eternal life to come but for life here and now. It’s more than just Paul, it is all of creation standing to sing and to stomp. “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Some years, some months, some weeks, some days, it becomes glaringly obvious that the psalmist’s reference to “the valley of the shadow of death” isn’t only about cemeteries. It is not death that has the loudest voice, but the voices of this world. When the followers of Jesus find themselves trying to shout and sing and stomp resurrection hope while “wrestling” as the Apostle Paul writes in the Book of Ephesians “not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age” Living into resurrection hope when our experience is like that of Mary Magdalene that first Easter morning described by John. She headed to the empty tomb when it was still dark. On a morning filled with brilliant sunshine under a cloudless sky, we gather to live into resurrection hope while it is still dark. To cling to a daring, defiant word of resurrection hope unleashed on a world that seems increasingly to look like anything but “thy kingdom come on earth as it is heaven.” Maybe an even bolder and more courageous affirmation of resurrection is required today as compared to when you and I gathered around an open grave. “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When the darkness in the day-to-day of life all around us is so magnified, the Easter acclamation comes with a louder shout. Remember, our tradition affirms that every Sunday is an Easter Sunday. Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
One ought not to miss, should not miss, cannot miss, that at the conclusion of the Apostle Paul’s resurrection argument that runs the entire 15th chapter of I First Corinthians, after the soaring, ethereal rhetoric of the verses we read this morning, after all the words about the mystery of the resurrection, don’t miss maybe the most important part of the chapter. “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Back in the cemetery, as I read these verses, after I focus on not slipping up on all “the immortality and imperishability” words, when I get to Paul’s “therefore”, I have done it enough that I can lower my pastor’s book. “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” For me, it is the most meaningful, powerful, and moving moment is at the cemetery committal service. To look directly in the faces of those who grieve, leaning into the resurrection promise of God and say, “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” It is what the people of the resurrection do. In the face of the harsh reality of death and the world’s ever-present darkness, we speak of life, we live life, we yearn to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ in life. Still.
Years ago I sat in my office with a person whose spouse had died about a year prior. They were still struggling and struggling to understand why they were still struggling. The person said to me “if you tell me to just take it a day at a time, I will punch you right in the face.” So I didn’t say that. I wouldn’t have said that. I don’t remember what I said. But I could have said, “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” When death’s voice rage, when the world’s voices of darkness rage, Paul offers us a refrain that has to stand right up there with Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
You can take this tip from Dave for no charge. When reading the Apostle Paul, there are a lot of “therefore’s”. Sometimes what comes next is really important. “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”(Rom 5). “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8). “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Rom 15) “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom 12) Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, (Phi 2:9 NRS) “Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.” (Eph 6:14) And yes, Paul’s exclamation point on resurrection hope. “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
Paul’s exhortation to the faithful is that in the face of death, the people of God dare to sing and speak about life. It is who we are as resurrection people. Paul’s encouragement when grief and lament are real. “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” The people of God know that here in the world it is “still so dark”. Yet, we keep marching in the light of God. The one whose goodness shines on us. The one whose grace has pardoned us. The one whose love has set us free. Paul and his “therefore” when the fear and anxiety are real. “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
When the world’s challenges seem so vast and you and I feel so small. When the strategic press of change and disruption in the land isn’t just dizzying, it’s intentionally paralyzing. God is still calling us to live each day to God’s glory and to never forget one of the Apostle’s other exhortations. Never forget to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3) Pressing on while the empires rage and compassion is lost, all the while remembering, repeating, living the exclamation point of resurrection hope for the here and now. “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”