1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50; Luke 6:27-38
The people in Corinth want an absolute, what will the resurrection of the dead look like? What kind of body should I have? They get caught up in the concrete. The assurance of what cannot be assured.
Its when we face death we want things all figured out. We want to know what is unknown for any of us. Yet we are a people of resurrection hope, we should not fear death and yet we fear it all the time, every single day of our lives. We are met with death through change all our lives. We stand at the precipice and decide whether to fall or whether to hold back and resist. Still change happens whether we are ready for our old ideas to die or not.
The church stands at this precipice right now. For many conventions our Bishop has talked about, preached, and brought in teachers about the end of Christendom. I don't know how much your parish has heard about this, for my part I bring it back and talk about it every time we have had attended. This is s hard thing for people to accept. We want to know the shape of the body. What will it look like, will there still be a spirit, an identity in our denomination. Like the Corinthians we get caught up in the question about what things will look like and unfortunately we won't find that assurance.
For awhile the church tried to do this. What worked for one church was touted far and wide as the thing to do. What we have found is they failed because what will work is as organic to the community it is from. We write our own story. Just as these first Christians wrote these stories for a particular community at a particular time, so must we. And we must be willing to face death.
The death of the dreams we have of a church of the past. Where people come to our doors just because we are here. The death that things will be easier if we just get the right person for the job. The death that some miracle will come in and save us from the hard work of finding the solutions ourselves.
We are a resurrection people. A people of hope. A people of good news and we have seen how others have changed that good news to relate to their community at hand. Matthew gives us a story on a mount for a reason. Jesus was relatable to a Jewish community exiled from the synagogue. Jesus in Matthew represents the best rabbi and that community patterned their lives to this. In Luke we have the sermon on the plain, amongst all the people. In Luke Jesus is baptized with a multitude. Jesus was for everyone and everyone was his disciple. The community patterned their lives on this.
Today we have people who have no idea who Jesus is. Today we have people who are told they are on the outside of our group and not welcome. What is the good news we can give? We have it to give and we have the means to give it in more ways then we ever have before.
Not only giving good news is our walk though. There is the walk of discipleship. What is it that we can do to show others this way of life means something. Means something worthwhile and deep. If we live as the rest of the world, what is that to our credit? It means we stop throwing money at the problems in our town and start working side by side with those who need us and need to see Christ in us. It means we need to listen to one another instead of take a side and still be friends and family.
The church has a bright future if we stop asking what it will look like and start risking in what it can be. We can face these deaths because we know in death there is new life. We are the vine in need of pruning. Do we dare look and cast off and become ready to graft in the new.
The people in Corinth want an absolute, what will the resurrection of the dead look like? What kind of body should I have? They get caught up in the concrete. The assurance of what cannot be assured.
Its when we face death we want things all figured out. We want to know what is unknown for any of us. Yet we are a people of resurrection hope, we should not fear death and yet we fear it all the time, every single day of our lives. We are met with death through change all our lives. We stand at the precipice and decide whether to fall or whether to hold back and resist. Still change happens whether we are ready for our old ideas to die or not.
The church stands at this precipice right now. For many conventions our Bishop has talked about, preached, and brought in teachers about the end of Christendom. I don't know how much your parish has heard about this, for my part I bring it back and talk about it every time we have had attended. This is s hard thing for people to accept. We want to know the shape of the body. What will it look like, will there still be a spirit, an identity in our denomination. Like the Corinthians we get caught up in the question about what things will look like and unfortunately we won't find that assurance.
For awhile the church tried to do this. What worked for one church was touted far and wide as the thing to do. What we have found is they failed because what will work is as organic to the community it is from. We write our own story. Just as these first Christians wrote these stories for a particular community at a particular time, so must we. And we must be willing to face death.
The death of the dreams we have of a church of the past. Where people come to our doors just because we are here. The death that things will be easier if we just get the right person for the job. The death that some miracle will come in and save us from the hard work of finding the solutions ourselves.
We are a resurrection people. A people of hope. A people of good news and we have seen how others have changed that good news to relate to their community at hand. Matthew gives us a story on a mount for a reason. Jesus was relatable to a Jewish community exiled from the synagogue. Jesus in Matthew represents the best rabbi and that community patterned their lives to this. In Luke we have the sermon on the plain, amongst all the people. In Luke Jesus is baptized with a multitude. Jesus was for everyone and everyone was his disciple. The community patterned their lives on this.
Today we have people who have no idea who Jesus is. Today we have people who are told they are on the outside of our group and not welcome. What is the good news we can give? We have it to give and we have the means to give it in more ways then we ever have before.
Not only giving good news is our walk though. There is the walk of discipleship. What is it that we can do to show others this way of life means something. Means something worthwhile and deep. If we live as the rest of the world, what is that to our credit? It means we stop throwing money at the problems in our town and start working side by side with those who need us and need to see Christ in us. It means we need to listen to one another instead of take a side and still be friends and family.
The church has a bright future if we stop asking what it will look like and start risking in what it can be. We can face these deaths because we know in death there is new life. We are the vine in need of pruning. Do we dare look and cast off and become ready to graft in the new.
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