A sermon preached by the Revd Dr Trevor Jamison at
Saint Columba’s United Reformed Church, March 2nd 2025
Watch the whole service on YouTube
What do you think about resurrection? Maybe you don’t think much about it at all. If that’s the case you can be glad it’s me preaching to you today, not Saint Paul. As we have heard in today’s reading from his first letter to the Christian congregation in Corinth, resurrection is close to Paul’s heart; resurrection, as far as he is concerned, is central to what it means to be a Christian; resurrection is central to what it means to believe in and follow in the way of Jesus Christ.
When I say you can be glad it’s me preaching to you about resurrection rather than Saint Paul, that doesn’t mean I disagree with him about the importance of resurrection; I’m at one with him in that. It’s more that I am liable to put it to you a little more gently than he would; that if he’s a roaring lion of faith, I’m just a pussycat. Though, of course, I might just be telling you that in order to lull you into a false sense of security …
Over the last few Sundays I have been preaching a series of sermons, based upon Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian Christians. I’ve proceeded more or less in tandem with a series of Bible study discussions on those same chapters from 1 Corinthians.
First, we heard how God showers a whole variety of spiritual gifts upon members of the church; gifts given to individuals, but used for the benefit of all. We heard that “church members” are “members” like arms, legs, eyes, ears, and so on, are “members” of a living body: the Church. That’s 1 Corinthians chapter twelve. Then followed the well-known 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen, with its talk of faith, hope and love, and Paul’s strong contention that you can have all the spiritual gifts you like in this body of Christ, which is the Church, but if you don’t practise or apply them lovingly they become distorted and discordant; no use at all.
We skipped over chapter fourteen, where Paul applies in detail what he has said in chapters twelve and thirteen to the worship life of the Corinthian Christians. Today, it’s chapter fifteen, where Paul’s attention turns to resurrection, and so let’s begin by hearing from the owner of a highly successful Californian vineyard. When he was asked what his role was in its success. He answered that his “main thing” was to always make sure that “the main thing” remained “the main thing”. In other words the primary focus had to be on making good wine. Forget that main thing, and all the careful workforce organisation, smooth transport of goods, clever advertising, and the rest, would go for nothing.
Paul, in the first part of our two-part reading focuses on the Christian “main thing”: ‘Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news [the gospel] that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,’ (15:1)
Then he goes on to write, ‘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, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.’ (15:3-5)
Paul handed on as of the first importance that …
- Christ died for our sins
- He was dead and buried
- He was raised on the third day
- All in accordance with scripture
- And he appeared to Cephas [Peter] and to the twelve
And as far as Paul is concerned that is the main thing: Christ died for our sins, was truly dead and buried, but was raised [through the power of God]. These events are part of the story of God’s relationship with the world, which is set out in the Jewish scriptures; and all this was witnessed and attested to by they who knew Jesus from the first, and who were there when it all happened.
This is what was carefully handed on to Paul; this he handed on to those in Corinth; this, they were to testify to in their lives, carefully handing it on to others. And all this in the days before our four biblical Gospels were written. We’re getting a peek at how the good news story about Jesus was carefully transmitted in the earliest days of the Church.
Now you might think that there’s more to the gospel than the death of Jesus ‘for our sins’ [with all that means], and his resurrection. If that’s what you think, you would be right. There’s also the matter of his birth, his life, and his ministry; his actions and teachings that were so at odds with the sinful ways of this world that those who held power consigned Jesus to the cross, in the mistaken belief that God’s love, which Jesus proclaimed, could be overcome by death.
Jesus’s life is of one piece with his death and resurrection; we can’t understand the significance of the cross if we ignore the life that led up to it. But also – and this is Paul’s point as he writes to those in Corinth – you can’t detach the resurrection from what went before it, and still expect the life, ministry and death of Jesus to have the same significance, the same impact.
It would seem, though, that there were some Christians in Corinth who were downplaying, or attempting to discard resurrection as an essential for Christian faith: ‘Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?’ writes Paul. (15:12)
Really, it’s not surprising to hear that some were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead. After all, that’s the default position of most people in today. No one today, or back then in the congregation in Corinth, ever met anyone who had been resurrected from the dead after all. Paul, however, wants to set out for them the consequences, as he sees it, of saying that there is no resurrection of the dead; consequences which are highly significant for a church.
So Paul states their position, then the consequences:
- If (as they say) there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ cannot have been raised (which is part of the “main thing” message they had previously signed up to)
- And if Christ hasn’t been raised
- Preaching or proclaiming this message is in vain
- And the resurrection faith they signed up to is in vain
- In fact, if there is no resurrection of the dead, you misrepresent God if suggest that God has raised Jesus
- Also, those Christians who have already died then have done just that – perished, without hope of future resurrection, if there is no resurrection of the dead
- and we’re still caught up in our sins, because if Christ just died, there’s no evidence that the cross has any effect on our sins
- So if we put our faith in a Christ who has actually been destroyed by sin and death, rather than overcoming sin and death, then, says Paul we’re to be pitied
You might think that all sounds a bit gloomy, and that’s because Paul intends it to sound gloomy. He’s reflecting back to the Corinthian Christians the implications of their lack of belief in resurrection, not agreeing with them. In fact, Paul believes the very opposite, and expects them (and us) to do so: ‘In fact,’ he writes, ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.’ (15:20)
So all those negative implications that Paul set out in in the hypothetical situation where there is no resurrection of the dead need to be turned on their head. Then we can better appreciate why the resurrection of Jesus is such good news:
- Since Christ has been raised, then there is the possibility and prospect that others will be also: his resurrection the ‘first fruits’ of those who die
- Since Christ has been raised
- Christian preaching or proclaiming actually has purpose and truth
- As has the basic Christian faith for which they (and we) signed up
- Rather than misrepresenting God then, we now glorify God by proclaiming Christ’s resurrection
- And as for Christians who die, and also for God-alone-knows who else among those who die, death is not the end
- Because, by Christ’s death for our sins, as attested to by his resurrection, we’re no longer heading for destruction
- And so, in fact, our situation is not pitiful, but enviable
As I’ve said, there is even more to the gospel – even more good news – than the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross cannot be appreciated without reference to what Jesus did and what Jesus taught during his life here on earth. Jesus’s life alone has capacity to inspire both admiration and emulation through the ways in which people live their lives. Saint Paul, however, would be deeply sceptical that relying solely upon the example of Jesus’s life here on earth will be sufficient to inspire, energise and to sustain the faith of a church, or an individual in the long run.
To rely solely upon the example of Jesus’s life as the inspiration for how I live my life is not sufficient for me. In fact, it places quite a burden upon me, because I’ll be always trying yet failing to live up to his example. So I’m as liable to lose hope as have it. Also, it seems to me, that for all of the examples of living well in this world, they are unable to overcome the capacity of humankind for everything from ongoing minor moral failings, all the way through to instances of horrendous evil behaviour. My efforts to be good, to be like Jesus, will never rise so high as to save from my sins.
Now I’m aware that there are those in church whose faith places more emphasis upon the life-example of Jesus than upon the events around the cross – upon his death and resurrection. I suspect I differ from Paul here as I’m fairly relaxed about that. Every church contains a varied range of people, with a varied range of views and beliefs. What I am saying, though, is that without a significant element within a church’s life of speaking, of testimony to the death and resurrection of Jesus, and its effect upon our lives, and the life of the world, then that church is liable to struggle; and personally I would say the same for myself.
But let’s not worry too much about that whilst there are those of us who are happy to affirm that, yes, Christ died for us, including in relation to our sins; that, yes, he was dead and buried but raised to life by God; that this fits with God’s ultimate good plans for the world, concerning which ancient scripture speaks; that death is not the end, for us and others; that we are in the enviable position of being the recipients of God’s love, made known to us in the birth and the life, the teaching and the actions, and in the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia! Amen