1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Late for Easter. In the days and weeks following Easter, it seems we talk a lot about Doubting Thomas.

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1 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Late for Easter In the days and weeks following Easter, it seems we talk a lot about Doubting Thomas. This is because, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus appeared to the disciples when Thomas was not with them. And when they shared the news with him, Thomas said, Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won t believe it. (John 20:25) But I think poor Thomas gets a bad rap. After all, who in their right mind would not ask to see the risen Christ with their own eyes? As if the others didn t have doubts too. Peter the rock on which Jesus founded his Church even denied Jesus three times. There must have been some other doubts going on there. I imagine that each of the disciples was confused as they entered Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. Even in the midst of the Hosannas!, they must have had emotions ranging from a sense of celebration to some trepidation. For example, I don t think the disciples could possibly have fully grasped what Jesus was doing in the Upper Room at that moment when he instituted the Last Supper. Even as the meal seemed to be a holy and momentous occasion, all of the scheming going on by the Chief Priests and the Roman officials must have cast some pall of doubt on things. Surely all of the disciples doubted at some time when they first saw the Risen Christ and just did not verbalize their misgivings. So I would say that Thomas reaction was more understandable than those who claimed to immediately believe. Minster Ellsworth Kalas agrees. He points out that Thomas does not actually doubt that God had the ability to raise Jesus from the dead as much as he questions the

2 perceptive abilities of his colleagues and their capacity to judge between dreams and realities. So he prefers to think of Thomas as simply late, rather than doubting. (1) And I like that idea, too! But the truth is that some of the most affirming, complete and powerful descriptions of the resurrection and what it means to everyone here came from someone else who was also late for Easter. That is the Apostle Paul. In fact, even though he was late for the event, there is probably no one more thoroughly convinced of the reality of the resurrection than Saul of Tarsus, as he was known as when he met the risen Christ. Tarsus was one of the major cities of its time. Saul came from a family of means and possessed a prized Roman citizenship. He also had a deep sense of his Jewish heritage after having had studied under the scholar Gamaliel. In today s world, he might be compared to the son of an Ivy league family who had graduated from Harvard. And he set goals high hoping to become a member of the Pharisees the most respected group of scholars in his day. Saul was known by many as a vocal persecutor of the new church when it started to spread after the Pentecost event. He had even condoned the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Talk about a doubter! But God had a plan for Paul s life and so he met the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus and his life would never be the same. His name was even changed to Paul. That is why he writes to the Corinthians about his unworthiness to receive the gospel. He describes himself as the least of the apostles and one untimely born because he never encountered Jesus in his time on earth. He, too, was late for Easter. However, the reason that I chose this passage for today s sermon is that it reminds us that Easter is not just a one Sunday event. It is more than just Easter baskets, new dresses, high church attendance and eating ham with your family. Easter is a way of life. We are Easter

3 people. Our responsibility is to live and preach and teach Christ risen every day. You see, even though Thomas and Paul came late for Easter they were STILL called to live a new way of life once they arrived, and so are we. Paul had started the church at Corinth some 20 to 30 years after his conversion. And even though he spent a year and a half with them, their church seemed to always struggle with controversial issues. One of the main reasons that Paul was writing to the Corinthians was because false teachers had convinced many of them that the resurrection was just a fable and not a real event. Understandably, this was very troubling to Paul because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith. In the verses we just heard. Paul lays out a very straightforward reminder of what we believe. That Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. That he was buried. That on the third day he was raised and that he appeared to Peter, to the twelve, to over 500 people and even to Paul himself. But why would Paul need to spell things out so explicitly? Well one of the problems in Corinth was that people were afraid to stand up for what they REALLY believed because they were always measuring their worth against society's preoccupation with performance. And friends, we haven't come very far have we? We still seem to find ourselves trying to live up to the expectations of the world. And of course, these expectations are merit based. I will never forget one of my first preaching experiences. It was at Providence Presbyterian, where I had completed my internship for Seminary. When I served there, they were still a New Church Development, worshiping in Powdersville Middle School. A few months after I finished, their pastor, Mike Fitze called to say he was taking the youth to Montreat for the week. He planned to be back on Sunday but didn t think he would have time to prepare a sermon

4 while he was there. So, he asked me to preach and said he would lead the rest of the service. I had only preached a handful of times and thought I would be comfortable trying it there, so I agreed. By this time, the congregation had moved into their newly constructed church. My husband Danny, who is a builder, decided to go with me that morning to check out the new building. Mike was giving us a tour of the facility after worship and, as we walked along, he asked if I had been paid for preaching. I told him no and he then asked if it would be okay to mail me a check, to which I said sure. Right at that moment, one of their Elders came in with a large basket of tomatoes and asked if we would like some. Being a big tomato eater, Danny dug right in. But all of the sudden Danny paused and said, Hey, if she does the whole service next time, does she get a chicken? I thought his response was clever but also very telling on American society. Because truth be told, we all live with the expectation that we should get what we deserve. Raises for merit, fair prices for everything from babysitting to new cars, allowance for chores completed. I suppose all this is what makes our economic system tick. But I will have to say THANK GOD that he doesn t give me what I deserve! In fact, Paul is reminding us that, because God loved us enough to send his son to die for our sins, none of us get what we deserve. As Easter people, we do not have to try to measure up to the conventional wisdom of the world. We are free to live for and in God's wisdom, which is based on grace, not merit. You see, while the wisdom of the world tries to force us to measure up, God's grace KNOWS we CANNOT measure up. God knows our hearts and minds. God realizes that we do

5 not honor Him but seek our own ways. That we are unjust, evil, bitter and cursed and completely unable to choose to do anything right, left to our own devices. And yet God saved us through the resurrection of His son. That is what Paul is saying in these words to the Corinthians and to you and me. Paul is reminding us all that the conventional wisdom of the world punished Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and befriending the outcasts and speaking to women in public and choosing love over legalism. And the way that they punished him was by execution on a cross. But God's grace reversed the wisdom of society and turned their judgment into our resurrection. So because of the way that Christ died, we are allowed to live as Easter people who defy the beliefs of society and live instead by God's grace. And because grace is free, we can never be too late for Easter. This is what allows us to preach with our lives, even as unworthy as we are. And Paul goes on to tell us how. Because Paul's world and ours is so much alike, this passage is basically a model on how to write the sermon that we will live for others. Today, as in Paul's day, we all walk the tightrope between the expectations of the world and the grace of God. Paul's advice for surviving this delicate dance is to "hold firmly" to the message of the Gospel. He opens this passage by saying, "I remind you all of the good news that I proclaimed, in which you stand, through which you are being saved if you hold firmly to the message that I have proclaimed". Now I don t know if you are really paying attention, but earlier in the sermon I asked the question, Who in their right mind would not ask to see the risen Christ with their own eyes? When I made that statement, I wonder how many of you thought, Well I believe, and I have not seen. And technically we have not. But neither did Paul.

6 In the book of Acts we read that, as Paul travelled with some companions on the road to Damascus, a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? He asked, Who are you, Lord? The reply came, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:4,5) In that flash of light, Saul lost his sight. And in that defining moment, Paul must have seen Christ in his mind. Afterwards, he was led to Damascus where he remained without sight for three days. We can only imagine that the time that he spent in fear or awe, in utter darkness, must have been a time of complete soul-searching. And in those three days, like the three days that Jesus spent in the tomb, Paul must have seen the truth of the resurrection. God invited him to Easter late, as the light dawned bright once more and his eyes were opened. And friends, that is our Good News today! We can never be late for Easter. God is always reaching out to us, beckoning us to come into his fold. God is always using each of us, whether we realize it or not, to share Easter with others. And by the power of the same Holy Spirit that enabled Paul to see Christ, we are able to see God at work through our triumphs and tragedies, through our loves and losses, through our work and worries and we too are given a glimpse of resurrection. In another of Paul s letters this time to the church at Rome he also shares a powerful reminder that God s grace is always available. In a discussion about the fate of the Jews, the chosen people of God, Paul addresses the questions about what will happen to those who were the faithful to Yahweh and yet did not accept Christ as their savior. Listen to his words, as they are some of the most hopeful in all of Scripture.

7 So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved... (Romans 11:25-26a) The word Gentiles in both Greek and Hebrew simply means foreigners. In other words, all who were not Israelites. These verses are God s promise that God wants ALL of the world to truly be Easter people. And he is waiting to open the eyes of the Jews until the full number a number known only to God himself have come to believe in the resurrected Christ, What a promise! These words remind us all of Paul s conviction that no one can be too late for Easter. Not Thomas, not Paul, not our loved ones who may not have accepted Christ, not those in the world who have never even HEARD of Christ. God s timing is perfect. Easter is always available. And by God s grace, the invitation to believe in the resurrection is always open, even to those who are late. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Rev. Julie Schaaf Nazareth Presbyterian, April 22, 2018 (1) Easter from the Back Side, Ellsworth Kalas, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2008, p.62.