+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This morning Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is making its Easter debut, so please turn to it.
"Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand. . . ." Paul begins by describing the good news as something proclaimed― spoken― and something received― heard. But then Paul describes the good news as something somehow physical, as something in which we can somehow stand. So please stand. I don't know how each of you might envision this, but I want you to see yourself standing in the good news― or, if you're sitting, then see yourself sitting in the good news. But whether you are standing or sitting in the good news, is the good news up to your shoes? your knees? your waist? your shoulders? . . . are any of you in over your head?!
As you know, it is the custom of the Church to stand for the reading of the Gospel, which is the Old English word for good news. The next time you stand for the Gospel, remember you are standing in the Gospel as well as for the Gospel. Please be seated again.
"Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, [. . . and] through which also you are being saved."
The good news is not just something spoken, or something heard, or something in which we stand― the good news is also the power of God through which we are being saved. In fact, in another letter, Paul tells us that this power of God through which we are being saved is the very same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20). And the very fact that you are here this morning is proof that God's resurrection power is at work in you to save you.
But what is this good news in which we stand, this good news through which we are being saved by God's resurrection power? Paul tells us:
"For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. . . ." Paul is thinking, among others, of the prophet Isaiah who said about God's Suffering Servant:
". . . he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole; and by his wounds we have been healed" (53:5).
The good news in which we stand, and the good news through which we are being saved, is the good news that our sins are forgiven and that we are a forgiven people.
". . . and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. . . ." Here Paul is remembering, among others, the prophet Hosea who said: "on the third day he will raise us up" (6:2).
The good news in which we stand, and the good news through which we are being saved is also the good news that we have eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The good news continues: "and that he appeared to Cephas"― who's Cephas? {{Congregational Response}} [Cephas (or KAY-fahss) is the Aramaic word for "rock" which becomes "Peter" in English, so Cephas is Simon Peter, who denied Jesus three times.]
". . . then to the twelve"― that is, the twelve disciples who deserted Jesus when he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
"Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died."
"Then he appeared to James. . . ." James was one of Jesus' blood brothers and sisters. Talk about sibling rivalry! And we know from the Gospels of Mark and John that James and Jesus' other brothers thought that Jesus was out of his mind, and yet Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles that James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem! So
how did the unbelieving James ever become the leader of the Jerusalem church? Paul tells us: because Jesus appeared to his brother James.
". . . then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."
Now the fact that Jesus died for our sins and that we are forgiven is obviously good news. And the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and that we have eternal life is obviously good news. But why is it good news that he appeared to all these people?
Well, let's do a quick recap of the people to whom Jesus appeared: Peter, who denied him three times; the twelve disciples, who deserted him; a brother who rejected him; and a man who persecuted Christians!
Paul knew why this list of people to whom Jesus appeared was good news: "by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain."
The good news is that if God's grace could transform Paul, and James, and the disciples, and Peter, then there's no one here this morning who is beyond God's grace, and indeed there is no one in the whole world who is beyond God's grace.
Whenever we feed the hungry at Christ Church, Waukegan, we are standing in the good news, and God's grace toward us is not in vain. And whenever we join Lake County United to bring health care to the elderly poor, we are standing in the good news, and God's grace toward us is not in vain. And whenever we make care packages for the troops, we are standing in the good news, and God's grace towards us is not in vain. And whenever we weep with those who weep, and forgive from the heart, and visit the sick, we are standing in the good news, and God's grace toward us is not in vain. In short, whenever we work for justice, whenever we work for peace, and whenever we work to make the world a more caring place, we are standing in the good news, and God's grace toward us is not in vain.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
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