you should know

you're my last hope

A sermon on St. Paul's perfect sermon on the resurrection:

Remember that old sermon introduction? “Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” I’m sure there are some of you here this morning who remember that. In fact, I’m sure there are some of you who wish I’d start using that greeting.

I have no problem with that greeting. However, it feels a little awkward. As far as I see it, I already greeted everyone at the beginning of the service. So, it feels a little odd to greet you all over again at the sermon. 

But hey, if you’ve got a bee in your bonnet and want to harass your pastor— and I know there are some of you out there who sit up at night just thinking how you can make my life harder! And for all you, by all means, gripe about the sermon introduction! I can’t imagine I’ll change. But it’s a pretty tolerable complaint, all in all. So I’ll take it.

I didn’t bring up that old introduction so we could take a stroll down memory lane, though. I brought it up because I want to do a little experiment with you all. Does that sound ok? Good!

Alright. Let’s enter a theological laboratory. And to get ready, let’s put on our lab coats. *Hey! Act it out! How will I know you’re participating if you’re not acting it out?!? Let’s try again. Shall we?

Ok. Let’s put on our lab coats. Ok. Now, let’s put on our goggles and gloves. Good. We’re nice and protected. Now, let’s get our beaker. Ok. We’re ready.

Now, what we’re going to do is add the ingredients of the traditional sermon introduction. By the way, and I think you all already know this, but it comes from the Bible itself. That was how St. Paul preferred to greet congregations in his correspondences. 

Another aside: that was his greeting in letters NOT sermons!

Anyway, let’s get back to our investigation. Let’s add our ingredients. First, we’ll get grace. Got it? Ok. Pour it into your beaker. 

Now, let’s get mercy and peace. Good. Ok. And let’s add them one by one. Good! You’re such excellent students! Now let’s add you. Very good! 

And now, let’s add another person, too: GOD, our Father. 

…Shall we stop and have a quick little sermonette here? Yes? Well, aren’t you all such agreeable students today?!? Ok. Well, check this out: in Jesus Christ, God is a person! In Jesus Christ, God is Father. 

It was Aristotle who conceived of God as the “First Cause” or “Unmoved Mover.” Ho ou kinoúmenon kineî, in Greek. Did you catch the “kineî,” as in kinesis? Get a load of you! You already know a little Greek! 

Alright. You follow, though. Right? For the philosopher, God is merely a concept, idea, or abstraction. And sure, the notion may be important, but that’s all it is! But for all of us who know a little more than a little of life, we all know an idea isn’t much help when you’re down and out. Is it?

We're all in agreement. Right? Ok. Good. Well, dig this: In Jesus Christ, God is a person! In Jesus Christ, God is Father! God is the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ! 

Not bad. Right? Well, guess what? There’s more! In your baptism, you died WITH Christ! And the life you now live is IN Christ! Now, God is to you WHO God is to Jesus Christ, Father! 

This is why Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father!” In prayer, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we become to God what Christ is: children of God! In Jesus Christ, God is no longer a distant concept! No, now God is a person for you! In Christ, God is personal with you! In Christ, God is Father, for you! 

Now, in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you, too, can call on God! In Christ, by the Spirit, the Holy Trinity Thyself is spacious! Christ has made room for you within the eternal fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! In Christ, there’s a place in God for you. 

…Pretty good. Right? Well, that was just a sermonette! Let’s get back to our experiment. Shall we?

Let’s review. We’re all suited up and we have our beaker of grace, mercy, peace, you, and God. And now we’re going to add that last ingredient. Finally, let’s add the one who makes it all work: Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Now, let’s take our little beaker spoon and mix it all up. *Stir. Viola! “Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” A perfect introduction. Wouldn’t you agree? Yeah, me, too. 

But we said we’re doing an experiment. Didn’t we? So, what I want you to do is add another ingredient. And not just any ingredient, either. I want you to add a conditional clause. 

Now, that’s the technical term. A conditional clause is a caveat, a stipulation, a limitation, or a condition. And while you might have trouble thinking of exactly what I’m describing, you know all about conditional clauses! Life is full of them.

They go like this: Your yard will look nice if you mow the lawn. People will think well of you if you’re polite. You can be anything you want if you put in the work. The Latin phrase for this, and you know it, too, is quid pro quo. And literally, it means “this for that.” I’ll do this for you if you do that for me. You know, transactional. The kind of thing life is full of. Isn’t it? 

Ok. That’s what a conditional clause is. And did anyone catch the word that turned up in all of our conditional clauses? Yes! That’s right! “If.” 

And that’s what I want to add to the concoction of the traditional Christian greeting. If. So, let’s get all our ingredients again: Grace, mercy, peace, you, God our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

Got ‘em? Good. Now, let’s add them all into our beaker again. Good. This time, though, let’s add our conditional clause. Let’s add if. Ok.

Well, let’s try it out. Shall we? Let’s mix them all together and observe what happens. Here we go: “Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ if…”

Ick! That didn’t work at all! Did it? That isn’t even a variation of the greeting! Is it? No, that’s something altogether different!

Ok. I hope that was fun. But what I really want is for you to grasp why we did that little experiment. And here’s why: conditions are not Christianity! In fact, conditions ruin Christianity! If you’re dealing with conditions, you’re not dealing with Christianity! There are no ifs, ands, or buts in the faith!

…I know that’s a radical statement. But it’s true. Luther said it’s the very thing the church stands or falls on. Any time, any time you add a condition to the faith, you’ve destroyed it.

I’m saying this as strongly as possible because you cannot overstate the case. But the thing is, people are always trying to add conditions to the Gospel. Aren’t they? And the conditions range from subtle to explicit. They vary from well-meaning to outright exploitative.

Real Christians vote Republican. Good Christians vote Democrat. You’ve heard it before. Haven’t you? 

And that’s just the start! The church itself plays this disastrous little game, too! For instance, the church needs to reach the youth. The church has to speak out on this or that issue. 

And on and on it goes. It never stops! And truly, that’s just the start! The conditions often sneak in through innocent enough exhortations. Christians are kind. You should go to church regularly. We need you to give to the collection. Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera! 

These may sound reasonable enough. And on this side of heaven, they may have their place, too. But you know what? Inside the church of Christ, all those conditions do is utterly undo the whole kit and caboodle! 

Conditions don’t just alter Christianity. No, they totally destroy it! For Christianity to be Christianity, it must come with no strings attached! There’s Jesus Christ, and then there’s everything else. There’s the grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, and after that, the rest of the chips can fall where they may!

…At this point, though, I hope you’re thinking, “Well and good, pastor. But WHAT does any of this have to do with today’s Scripture?!? That wasn’t in our reading! And you, dear pastor, didn’t even bother to begin the sermon with it, either!” 

Is there anyone here thinking this? I hope so. Now, I know your attention span is slipping away. I realize it’s late in the sermon to come to our Scripture for today. But the truth is, what we just considered has everything to do with today’s passage! Or, to put it more accurately, today’s passage is why all this matters.

Today’s passage is not the introduction of Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians. In fact, it’s the end. And like any good preacher, Paul’s saved his biggest point for last.

Did you notice that? I just gave myself a little compliment! I intentionally put myself in the company of St. Paul! I said how effective Paul was saving his main point for last. And just before that, I made all this todo about how I saved the connection for the end of the sermon, too! 

What a sneaky little pastor you’ve got. If I were you, I’d try to get rid of him. He’s got the big head if you ask me. But don’t do that! Just complain about how I don’t use the traditional greeting like we agreed.

Enough of that. Let’s get to it. Shall we? Here in this chapter, St. Paul builds to his crescendo. It’s all been building to this, the resurrection.

And there’s nothing all that surprising about that, either. Is there? The resurrection is the great culmination of Christianity. However! However, in the process, Paul makes a surprising point. 

Here’s what Paul says: “IF Christ weren’t raised.” You caught that conditional clause. Didn’t you? If. Good. “IF Christ weren’t raised, says Paul, “then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever.” 

IF Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. The way this reads in the NRSV is: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” And sure, that sounds good. But it’s got an unexpected twist. 

And to help you notice it, we’re going to play a game. Don’t worry. It’s an easy game. We’re going to do a fill-in-the-blank. Ok?

Alright. Here we go. Fill in the blank: Christ BLANK for our sins. This isn’t a trick question. You know the answer. Christ BLANK for our sins. What’s the answer? 

That’s right! Christ died for our sins. But that’s not what Paul says here. Is it? No, Paul says that Christ is raised for our sins. Or, more accurately, he says that unless Christ is raised, we’re still stuck in our sins.

…What gives? Well, perhaps you think I’m being overly pedantic. But remember, Christianity is a precise art. And in St. Paul, you have a master practitioner. 

Paul hasn’t slipped up. No, he’s making a point! Yes, Christ may have died for our sins. But, unless he’s raised, we’re still trapped in them. 

And let’s just cut to the chase. Here’s why: The resurrection isn’t just God’s victory! No, the resurrection is the power of God’s victory! In other words, the resurrection is eternity! The resurrection is God’s everlasting future itself realized in time! 

The resurrection isn’t just the end of Sin! No, the resurrection is the end of every condition! Notice that after entertaining all the gloomy conditions if Christ is not raised, St. Paul puts it all away with one resounding assertion! “But the truth is that Christ has been raised up!”

Christ’s resurrection knows no conditions, caveats, or qualifications! It has no beginning or end! It’s the unending love of God itself, world without end! And in Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, that eternity of God BURSTS into the present! 

The resurrection is how God is love! The resurrection is what God’s love is made of! The resurrection is why God’s love is unconditional! The resurrection is when God’s eternal love happens! And the present is where it all goes down every time!

Christ, by his resurrection, stands on the other side of the final contingency. And by his ascension, which we just observed on Thursday, Christ reigns from there, too! And now—NOW Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in union with God the Father, brings that everlasting power of that Holy Trinity to bear upon you and me!

…You understand what this means. Don’t you? It means you’re really free! It means freedom isn’t just another word for nothing left to lose. No, it means free is what you are! In Jesus Christ, you are really, actually, truly free! And you are free right now. Now!

In Christ, God’s Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you! And so, you are free from every last condition. In Christ, you are even free of those very last conditions, that dastardly duo themselves, Sin and death. You, dear sisters and brothers in Christ are, in him, FREE of it all! And now, I can truly say to you, “grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Our Hymn of the Day is just perfect. Our hymn committee really knocked it out of the park with this one. Hymn number 619. I Know that My Redeemer Lives! Verses 1-4. Hymn number 619. I Know that My Redeemer Lives! Let’s sing!