Scripture Text (NRSV)
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
15:35 But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind
of body do they come?"
15:36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
15:37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be,
but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
15:38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of
seed its own body.
15:42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is
perishable, what is raised is imperishable.
15:43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in
weakness, it is raised in power.
15:44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If
there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
15:45 Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living
being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
15:46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and
then the spiritual.
15:47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man
is from heaven.
15:48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as
is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.
15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also
bear the image of the man of heaven.
15:50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable.
Comments:
It is wonderful that this reading strengthens the "resurrection" story
in Genesis!
tom in ga
I am preaching on this text this week because on Sunday we are
dedicating our new Columbarium. We have alot of people who have been
hesitant about cremation. This text makes it quite clear that we do
not need our physical body to get into heaven at the resurrection of
the dead. God has all new plans for our new body in a new mode of
existence. Yes indeed God gave us the bodies our souls need for this
earth and He has something else in mind for the new heaven and earth.
FB in AZ
I will also be giving my message on this scripture but in each
bullitin there will be taped a seed. So that my people will have a
visual to see and feel. LP in PA
Neat idea, LP, who says "object lessons" are only for the children.
Jesus used them with adults all the time. You could also sing "Hymn of
Promise". It's in the UM Hymnal, probably some others too. The first
line begins,"In the bulb, there is a flower; in the seed, an apple
tree;" I am always tickled and inspired when I see and touch and hum a
sermon, as well as hear it. You go, tom in TN(USA)
it is good to see some other preachers out there taking on this text
for this Sunday. I want to preach on this text, but I am also aware
that next Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. The past couple of weeks,
I have preached on God's power: the transformation of the water to the
wine; the call of Jeremiah being found in words only; the blessings
and woes as a creation of the kingdom (not just wishful thinking).
Anyone have any thoughts about this line of thinking: The resurrection
requires every ounce of belief that we have for it goes against
everything we can understand. It is hard to believe in this power of
God. But maybe we could understand it just a little bit more if we
looked for small signs of resurrection in our everyday lives--if we
trust God in the small places, we will find faith to trust God in the
large things...the resurrection of the body.
that's my thought...any thoughts on illustrations?
km, preaching in texas
This text is not simply about resurrection, it is about redemption.
God will take the brokenness and perishability of the creation and
will redeem it into a new creation, seed to plant, earth to heaven.
The first part is required for the second part - God does not make a
new creation ex-nihilo, but redeems the current creation from its
beginnings and its temporality into a new eternal creation. The
concept of recapitulation is what is being done here, and again in the
Joseph story - by Joseph's brothers came the death of the father's
favourite, by God, through Joseph, came the redemption of the whole
family.
The other thing that Paul's writing to the Corinthians does is put pay
to the idea of the immortality of the soul, a popular heresy among the
churches. We believe in the resurrection of the body. It is not that
we have some eternal aspect which is preserved from death, rather the
whole of us, body and all, will be redeemed, resurrected, transformed,
by the power of the living God. If we hope only for our souls, why do
we bother trying to stay healthy, or avoid pain? Immortality of the
soul is for Stoics, resurrection is for Christians.
Hope the polemic isn't too strong
James in Melbourne (Oz)
LP in PA - the seed thing is a nice idea. I'm trying to figure how to
offer this to children - flower bulbs might work for them, too.
reverend KJ
Like the Potter who reshapes clay, God reshapes the new creation into
something new.
Resurrection of the body is one of the hardest concepts to deal with.
We confess we believe in the resurrection of the body, and I accept it
happened to Jesus. If it didn't, then we Christians really are
delusional. But.... resurrection for the rest of us? My New Age
Friends talk about the "Astral Body" .. "Obewon has taught you well,
Luke Skywalker" I keep seeing visions of Yoda, Obewon, and Anakan in
the final scenes of the Empire Strikes Back. Oh, this will be a fun
week to preach!
Redemption - resurrection - transformation - to be cont'd.
reverend KJ
All of nature cries out that there is a resurrection The Catipillar
becomes a butterfly. The water beatel becomes a dragon fly. Nothing is
more evident than the sight of a fig or a peach orchad. Throughout the
winter you would surely say they are dead and floron looking but come
spring they take on new and vibrant life. Some seeds were found in a
toumb in egypt. they had been there for thousands of years and had
never sprouted. they took some of them and planted them in the ground
and they sprouted and grew.Nothing ever really dies some things only
change composition. Harold in AL
I confess I am not an ordained minister, but I read your ideas for
teaching my Sunday School lesson. Can you help me?
Question: What is the gospel of reconciliation? Does this passage line
up with watching God bring humans together from the other passages?
Just wondering.
There is a terrible truth - when preaching on life affirming passages
in the Scriptures, someone will always say, "I wish you hadn't
preached that scripture, it reminded me of my husband's (wife,
daughter, father, mother, whoever's) funeral."
This happened in a different way just last week, when I thought that
I'd pick hymns that were old favorites - just so everyone could be
comfortable - so I picked "How Great Thou Art", "Just a Closer Walk
With Thee", and "The Old Rugged Cross". Need I go on? Obviously,
people were crying, telling me to stay away from "death" songs, etc.
These are favorites that have been rendered fairly usless because they
have been such favorites everyone wanted them at their funerals.
This Scripture is the same way. I've read it so often at funerals, I
almost don't want to preach on it.
All that aside, I'm putting the three scriptures together under the
general theme "life" - and will talk about the mystery of life itself
and the greater mystery of life to come...
DN in LV
I modified the reading to include vs. 58. It seems to me that "be
steadfast, immovable" is the practical motivation behind this whole
argument for Paul. It forms a sort of inclusio with vss. 1 & 2 where
Paul writes "the proclamation . . . in which you stand . . . if you
hold firmly to the message that I have proclaimed to you--unless you
have come to believe in vain."
todd--west chicago
to DN in LV; Just a thought, why not make it a funeral service? Use
those hymns, preach that text, so full of Hope, and tell them,"O.K.
now, you've had your funeral, death is now behind you so start to live
as the Resurrected!" Too bold? tom in TN(USA)
