THE Story, OUR Story: A Significant Raise

1 Corinthians 15:1-58

   Angela and I aren’t really movie theater people, but that doesn’t mean we don’t watch television. Both Angela and I have always enjoyed analyzing the stories that we watch on the screen. The few times we go to the movie theater, we have gone to see what I would call “epic” films. You see, the Marvel Cinematic Universe fascinates Angela’s sister Renee. She has seen each of the major movies multiple times, owns most of them, if not all, and talks about them frequently. Also, she has shared her passion for these movies with the family. Back when the movies were happening and the last movie, Endgame, was being promoted, she gave the family a challenge to watch all the Marvel movies that had preceded it up to that point. And so, over the course of a couple of months, the Buckwalter family would gather and we would watch these movies.

I have to admit that at first that I thought this was going to be a silly, silly thing. I was never a comic book lover, and I must admit I thought that people who were into comic books were trying to extend their childhood a bit. People not wanting to settle down and read a work of what I consider more mature fiction was a sign of immaturity. While some of my friends were reading Iron Man and Thor, I thought I was a bit more sophisticated reading Charles Dickens or some other literary classic.

And I must admit, when I first heard about Harry Potter, I thought, well, here we go again. This kind of movie appeals to the masses because it is a high fantasy world in which people can escape their everyday reality. I could have said the same thing about J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series, and many fantasy series that have been popular, like Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time, and others, too many to mention.

Ironically, it was going to Bible college that helped me appreciate these things. Now, that must sound odd to some of you, because when you think Bible college, you think criticism of popular culture, perhaps. And there were plenty of kids at Lancaster Bible College that were, in their childhood, banned from reading Harry Potter because it “promoted witchcraft” or even prompted by the devil. Now, I never thought like that. I just thought it was silly childhood stuff. And the same for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I thought it was just folks trying to escape reality.

However, when I looked at the pages of the New Testament and read some of the Psalms, I must admit that there is an affinity, a connection, between the language of God working in and through the universe to these tales that our culture tells. In the pages of the Old Testament, the people of Israel cry out for a world that is better than the world in which they are living. They cry out for God to interact in history, to perform miracles and mighty acts of salvation on their behalf, to defeat their enemies, to help them, to make something new that did not exist any longer, the peace and shalom that existed at the first.

Then, in the New Testament, this theme continues, but becomes transformed. The story no longer focuses on a nation of people. Instead, it focuses on one person, Jesus Christ. As we have seen so many times, Jesus stands in for the people of Israel. Jesus reenacts in his life and ministry many of the trials and tribulations that Israel experienced. The difference, of course, between Israel’s fate and that of Jesus, was that Jesus succeeded at every turn, where Israel stumbled repeatedly.

It was here that I made some connections with pop culture. You see, if we take a little time and analyze the stories that we sometimes want to poke fun at, we see they are not our enemies, that they are not somehow anti-Christian, or even worse, diabolic. Instead, these stories, like those found in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and so many other series too many to name, represent a desire that is, I believe, foundational to humanity.

This desire is something which theologians call “transcendence.” It is the desire to escape the limitations that this physical reality places upon us. It is a way to move from outside of ourselves and our limited perspective to something bigger, something greater. Transcendence is the search for something more that is beyond what we can see and feel and touch. It is a yearning, a longing of the soul for something more. For me, personally, I feel this as a deep sense of dissatisfaction with the way things are going in the world. Now, when I say that, please don’t hear that I’m thinking about something like politics, or economics, or the “cultural downturn” of our society. Many pastors talk about things like that, but I tend not to be one of them.

When I sense a sense of dissatisfaction about the way the universe is working, I’m not quite thinking in such isolated terms. I’m not thinking locally, if you will, on the earth as it is. I’m speaking more cosmically, almost. About the cold, hard facts of physical reality. If science is correct, and I think it is on this point, the universe is quite old. And, along with that, one day, will pass away. Things are slowing down cosmically, as astrophysics tells us. Eventually, the sun will go supernova, all stars will explode, and the universe will fade, the slow passing away of heat death as, literally, the universe just stops. You see, it is motion that keeps the universe alive in some ways. As molecules and atoms slow down, they quit producing heat, and as they do so, the universe gets colder and colder and colder, and slower and slower and slower. And then, at some point, everything stops.

And then, back with us, many times, we don’t have time to think about such abstract things, things that will never occur in our lifetime, and not in billions of lifetimes to come. Because we have enough of our own problems to deal with at home, or at work, or what we see on the news. We have enough trouble dealing with human life, that we rarely think about what is going to happen to everything else in the future. Above all, I think if I’m honest at least, I will tell you that the thing that bothers me most about life is not life, but the end of life. Of course, I’m talking about death. There is something that just sticks in my craw about death. Of course, if you know my story, you know I’ve faced enough death in my family, being the sole surviving member of a family of five. There is, to me, something cold about death as well. It’s almost like someone has brought forward the impending death of the universe into our own time. And we, as individuals, face what is in store for all of us one day, and for everything.

The struggle against death is a universal concern among all the world’s religions. But I must say, of all the world’s faiths, it is Christianity that talks about death the most. In fact, I would almost say that Christianity, by creed and confession, is obsessed with death. Our foundational story, the story found in Genesis, of course, deals with the creation of the world. But in three chapters, we get the beginning of death, as Adam and Eve somehow, not really explained explicitly, introduce death into the world. But theirs is not the first death found in the Bible. When God discovers Adam and Eve, and they admit to feeling shame for being naked, God makes them garments of skin. In order to get the skin of an animal, don’t we have to kill it? Hence, many theologians argue that death was already a component of that creation, even prior to the banishment of Adam and Eve from the garden. That there was some sort of cycle of life, of seedtime and harvest, life and biological aging, etc. before. I don’t have a firm conviction about that, and I don’t think that’s a necessary belief. But there is a sense, in which, at least from a biological standpoint, this idea of growth, change, and passing away, seems to be baked into the fabric of natural reality.

And that’s why we call this world “fallen,” or “under the power of sin,” or some other term, depending on the flavor of the theology you subscribe to. I simply like the phrase, “This is not the way it’s supposed to be.” I don’t hold many convictions in absolute terms. I will hear evidence for and against a belief, to evaluate it critically, and yes, even to change my mind if the evidence and the argument lead me there. But I’m not sure that anything could change my mind about the fact that sickness and death were inevitable for humans and animals in the world. Throughout Scripture, God clarifies God is not only concerned with humans, but with animals. Case in point is the book of Jonah and its ending, where God scolds Jonah for his utter lack of regard for those that aren’t like him. And yes, even the animals of the city of Nineveh come in for God’s concern. God says, “Are there not so many people in Nineveh that don’t know their right hand from their left?” And it continues, “Much cattle” in the Hebrew. And that word is talking about all the animal life in the area.

Yet when I talk to people sometimes, and even among my Christian friends, I have to admit that I sense a hardness, a callousness, with the topic of death. Many folks, even if they don’t admit it explicitly, hold to the philosophy that is best summarized by the bumper sticker “Life’s you-know-what, and then you die.” Or perhaps the aphorism, “There are no certain things in life except death and taxes.”

If Jesus would have remained dead, stayed in that tomb, I would have to admit that these folks are right. If Jesus went the way of all flesh until that point, of ceasing to function biologically, of succumbing to natural causes, the natural causes being other humans beating him, scourging him, and crucifying him, to where his biological makeup could no longer function, then sure, death wins in the end, and death becomes the most powerful force universe in the universe. We could use a shorthand and basically say, “Death becomes God,” in that understanding. Life is short, death wins. While we are yet alive, let us eat, drink, and be merry. You can’t take it with you, enjoy it now. These phrases would be true, and I would do you harm by preaching something different.

There is just one problem with this. Jesus didn’t stay dead. He is risen. He is risen indeed. I cannot overstate the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for understanding the story of the Bible. Indeed, the climax of the entire biblical story happened on that third day, away from human sight, sealed in stone, as something new emerged from that tomb.

But my scripture today is not John 20 or Luke 24 with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Or maybe John 21 with the reinstatement of Peter after the resurrection. I think most of us are comfortable with those stories. We’ve heard it. And I think most folks, at least in an abstract sense, understand what that means. Jesus is dead. Jesus is risen. Jesus is going to come again. But in the meantime, you and I can go to heaven, right?

Indeed, we sing about it. “One glad morning when this life is over, I’ll fly away,” goes the opening line of a very popular hymn. Here’s an ironic thing. I love to sing that song. It’s so peppy and has beautiful harmonies. But I hate the words. Another song I hate the words to is “This World Is Not My Home.” That one opens, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.”

These songs represent an attitude towards this world that ironically is the same as those of non-believers, even of militant atheists. Now, I know I’m stepping on toes when I criticize favorite hymns. I do it rarely. But I assure you I do it in love. Now please don’t misunderstand. I am not saying that these songs are absolutely wrong and we should not sing them. I have used them occasionally. When I sang in my men’s quintet, we sang both songs and I did so wholeheartedly. But I think there should be an asterisk after their names in the hymnal with a brief paragraph of explanation. And today I’d like to give you that paragraph, which is basically this sermon.

Just because this world is passing away does not mean that God does not care for it. In the same way, just because our bodies are passing away doesn’t mean that they’re not important. Physical bodies and the physical universe matter to God. God loves them. God loves you, your neighbor, and all your stuff, too. The things that don’t walk or talk or have souls.

And here we come to the fundamental misunderstanding of resurrection and the place of heaven in Christian theology. I believe firmly that when we die; we go to heaven to be with God. That’s a non-negotiable. Scripture says it clearly. But here’s the rub. Heaven is not a permanent residence. We will not live in eternity in heaven. That’s not what the Bible teaches. And if somebody tells you that, they either are misunderstanding or intentionally misleading you.

You might feel anger or confusion or something else. And wonder where in the world I am going and why I’m not talking about the scripture passage that you had read this morning, Jason. Why in the world are you not talking about 1 Corinthians chapter 15? You’ve not mentioned it once.

Well, here’s the deal. For a good 200 years, the theology that has emerged out of the United States has focused on the otherworldly nature of heaven to where even mentioning something different requires a lot of explanation. To quote another pop culture reference, as Desi used to say to Lucy, “You got some ‘splaining to do.”

And so did I. I had to set the stage in order to understand what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 15. Here is where we’ve been so far. Our culture is obsessed with death. Humans are obsessed with death. For most people, it is the only certain thing in the world. But enter Jesus Christ into the story, and we find an anomaly. Jesus defeated death. And you might say, “Oh, well, what about Lazarus or some of the other people in the Bible?” Well, yes, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but Lazarus died again. Not so with Jesus, though. Jesus remains alive even to this day. That is the strange additional fact that we find in the New Testament that leads some to wonder and awe and worship, and others towards mock and disdain. I don’t believe that there are many doctrines that one must believe in order to understand Christian theology. I’m fairly open in that way. But I believe that if we somehow mitigate the resurrection of Jesus, try to explain it away in cultural terms, or even spiritualize it, that we do harm to what the Bible is actually trying to say. I would say that on this point, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the entire story of the Bible stands or falls.

If Jesus did not enter that tomb and then leave it three days later, then you might as well throw away the rest of the story. If Jesus has not raised from the dead, then you don’t need to believe the Bible. Then you don’t need to live an ethical life, a moral life. Because in the end, there is going to be no accountability, just death. Nihilism is justified. Life’s a-you-know-what and then you die? Eat, drink, and be merry. Do what you find fulfilling and go on and fade away when your time comes.

And it’s just this sort of attitude, and the confusion about the resurrection, that causes Paul to write in 1 Corinthians 15. The Corinthians, it seems, were of mixed opinions about the resurrection. I would imagine that some held to what we would today hold to, that Jesus physically rose from the dead. That’s fine. But there were those in Corinth that said, “No, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.” Or if he did, it was some sort of spiritual resurrection that didn’t involve his physical body. Some folks believe that today. That Jesus’ resurrection was some sort of spiritual phenomenon. That the resurrection happened in the hearts of the believers. They were strangely warmed. And something new entered the world.

That sounds beautiful and heartwarming. That’s the perfect sentiment for a greeting card when someone passes away. They’ll live forever in your hearts. In parentheses, just like Jesus. It may be beautiful, but I hate to break it to you. It’s not biblical. I know, I know, I’m stepping on so many toes, so many cherished beliefs. But the Bible has to guide me, and it’s simply not what the Bible teaches.

The Bible does not teach the fact that we will escape this world somehow. What the Bible does not teach is that flesh is bad, and that the desires that you and I feel for things are inherently sinful and therefore bad. The Bible doesn’t teach the doctrine, “if you’re happy and you know it, it’s a sin.” As a matter of fact, quite the opposite. Just look at the ministry of Jesus. Jesus was called many things in his ministry, a false teacher, an evil person. But he was also called a drunkard and a glutton. Why? And perhaps crassly put, Jesus knew how to party. Jesus enjoyed life. Jesus ate and drink and was merry. But Jesus did so in the proper perspective. Jesus enjoyed life because that’s what we’re supposed to do, have life and have it abundantly. Jesus was not somehow escaping a future death that was permanent, and so he has to live it up while he’s here now.

Let’s start the landing procedure for this plane by focusing on the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. I’ll give you another bumper sticker to replace life so you-know-what and then you die. And here it is. “If Jesus has been raised from the dead, then everything else is gravy.” If the Bible is right on this point, then it’s right on everything. And here’s what the Bible says. The Bible says that when you and I die, if Jesus has not returned, then we go to be with God in a place called heaven. But there will come a day, as the end chapters of the book of Revelation clearly state, that heaven and earth will become united again. Remember that God and Adam and Eve walked closely in the Garden of Eden. In some sense, you could say that heaven and earth were one. But when sin entered the world through disobedience, those worlds became separate. They became discontinuous. We can’t get to heaven on our own. But notice the pattern that happens in Revelation. It’s not the case that the believers or Jesus go to heaven and stay there. As a matter of fact, Jesus, in the pages of Revelation at the end, comes back to earth along with the crowd of faithful that has already gone to heaven. And it is on the earth that the new Jerusalem will become established. The earth will not face destruction, but it will receive its destiny, which is a renewal and restoration by God’s own hand.

And just as Jesus came back in a body that was recognizable as Jesus, so too you and I will be recognizable. But Jesus wasn’t always quite recognizable, right? The disciples on the Emmaus road had difficulty discerning that it was Jesus. And Mary at the tomb thought Jesus was the gardener, because there was something else added to Jesus. Jesus was the same, but different. And here we also say that yes, we are coming back to life. We are being raised to new life. But it will be a different life, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitatively, Jesus was quite different in his resurrected body. Jesus could pass through walls, but yet Jesus could eat. So there is something very similar to the earthly life, and yet something so utterly different that we will be unrecognizable to some. Remain human, we will, but even more so. We will be perfect as God intends us to be. We will live up to our destiny. And perhaps what Adam and Eve would have grown into had they been able to eat from the tree of life before they left Eden.

In short, the resurrection is a stamp of approval on all Jesus said and did. As Paul says in Romans chapter 1, Jesus has risen from the dead by the power and to the glory of God, and he has proven to be in the right. Those who crucified Jesus, who brought him to trial, who scourged him, who criticized him, were all proven to be in the wrong. They did not understand God’s truth and God’s ways. Jesus did. So with God, we could say to our culture, “This is the beloved Son. Listen to him.” Because God raised him from the dead, we can trust and must obey all that Jesus said. Even the stuff we don’t like. The stuff that makes us uncomfortable. Jesus’ words that make us give away OUR stuff. The words that make us have to be nice to those we despise. The teaching that compels us to accept people who look and think and act and vote and believe differently than we do.

I used to think these stories in our movies were silly. That they were a way to represent what our culture so clearly embraces. A sense of trying to escape the inevitability of death. But I didn’t look at the end of the stories. It was only when I read the books that J. K. Rowling wrote in the Harry Potter series that I realized how closely she follows the life of Jesus in the life of Harry Potter. Harry dies in the movie. Harry goes to heaven or some place in an afterlife. But Harry comes back to life to live another day. In the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf dies. And Gandalf comes back. But Gandalf is no longer Gandalf the Gray. But Gandalf the White. And is different. And those Marvel movies, those silly comic book heroes, there’s a resurrection there too. There’s a new life. There’s sacrifice.

Folks, we should not think harshly about these pop culture references. These stories are not somehow plagiarizing the story of the Bible and then trying to profit off of it. These stories represent the universal longing for something different. Something better. Something that does not yet exist except in heaven. And that is a new way of being human. A new and qualitatively different way of existing in the world where death will cease to plague us as an inevitability and face ultimate destruction. Until that day, we must live as Jesus taught us to live. We must love as Jesus taught us to love. And we must hope in the sure and certain hope that is resurrection. Without it, Christianity makes little sense. With it, everything else is gravy.