Scripture Passage
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Sermon Script
For St. Paul, Jesus’ resurrection was everything. In his letters, he rarely refers to Jesus’ teachings. He speaks mainly about Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection was everything for Paul because it changed him. It became the foundation of his faith – and of our Christian faith.
Paul met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. He mentions it in his letter to the Corinthian church.
…and last of all he [Jesus] appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:8
Paul was on his way to put Jesus’ followers in prison. He was fiercely driven by his convictions. He wanted to defend the tradition of his faith. He firmly believed what he was doing was right. Yet, with a blinding flash everything changed. He heard the gentle voice of the risen Jesus.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Acts 9:4
Paul was crushed. He saw how ignorant he had been all this time. He wasn’t helping God. He was persecuting God’s people. Just when he thought it was all over, he heard Jesus say—
Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.
Acts 9:6
In meeting the risen Jesus, Paul experienced grace. He thought he deserved God’s condemnation. But to his surprise, he received just the opposite. For the first time in his life, he realized nothing can separate him from God’s love for him – not even his worst sins. He felt the power of grace through the risen Jesus. That was what changed him.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
1 Corinthians 15:10
Resurrection is more than the phenomenon of a dead body being raised to life. It is not a concept that we can grasp with our mind. Resurrection is an event that we experience. Resurrection is God’s power that brings change where we saw no possibility of change. By raising Jesus to life, God showed us that the power of sin and death can never have the last word.
Isn’t this a wonderful news? This is what we celebrate on Easter. The eternal victory of LIFE over death. The eternal promise of HOPE over despair.
In fact, we don’t just proclaim this good news on Easter. Resurrection is the good news we proclaim all the time! It is the cornerstone of the word we preach every week. Without the resurrection, we are nothing. We live each and every day by the power of resurrection.
Reflecting on today’s passage, I realized how much of what we do in life amounts to an effort to prove our worth. To others, and even to God. We do everything we can to hide our flaws and weaknesses. We want to look good to others and to ourselves. We want to be seen as blameless and perfect. We try to change ourselves with our own power.
In a sense, that was what St. Paul did before he met the risen Jesus. He followed every letter of the Law so that he can prove that he was worthy of others’ respect and God’s love. He worked very hard for that reason.
My friends, trying to change and prove ourselves by our own willpower always leads to a dead end. That is not real change. It is like flailing desperately in the deep end to avoid sinking. Your strength will eventually give out. You will experience your own limitations. You will see how small you are. You will drown in your own hopelessness.
Experience real change by believing in the power of resurrection. Trust in God’s saving power for you. You don’t need to try to save yourself anymore. In Jesus, God has already done it for you. Let go, and let yourself be held up by God’s hand as you float. Let the power of resurrection change you for good.
When we live by the power of resurrection, we live differently. Rather than out of fear, we live out of JOY and FREEDOM. Rather than getting easily discouraged by our failures and our struggles, we remain HOPEFUL in all circumstances.
After meeting the risen Jesus, St. Paul still worked hard. He said he worked harder than anyone.
But something within him changed this time. He was no longer afraid of being the worst. He was now empowered to be the best he can be. He found his true confidence in God’s love for him. He lived with this confidence until the end.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38, 39
Because of the resurrection, I believe that I can be the best I can be. Because of the resurrection, I believe that you can be the best you can be. Because of the resurrection, I believe that our life can be the best it can be. If God is for us, who can be against us?
May the good news of the resurrection be the unshakeable foundation of your life. We may not be able to see the risen Jesus with our eyes. But neither did St. Paul. That is not the kind of ‘evidence’ we need in order to believe in the resurrection.
The greatest evidence of the resurrection is its power. That is, the power to change us. The power to turn our lives around for the better. The power of resurrection is still at work, even today.
HAPPY EASTER!
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