"Yes - I believe in the resurrection!" - 1 Cor. 15:1-20

Grace to you and peace from God our Father And from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Epistle from 1 Cor. 15 read a few moments ago.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall laugh,” St. Luke wrote. Last Saturday, I didn’t feel much like laughing. The extended Meyer family was gathered at Desert Foothills Lutheran Church in Scottsadale, AZ. We were there to lay the remains of my Uncle Bill to rest. Uncle Bill was the oldest of Dad’s brothers. At the age of 78 years, nine months, and fifteen days, Uncle Bill joined my dad, Uncle Fred, and Aunt Loraine, resting from their labors and asleep in Jesus. Of the remaining family, one of dad’s brothers was there with his wife and two adult children; one of dad’s sisters was there with her husband; another sister was there without her husband; one of my cousins was also there. My mom and I rounded out the immediate family. Two sisters and a brother and his wife were unable to make it. We had all arrived in Arizona to join my aunt and her three daughters with husbands and children to place Uncle Bill’s ashes in the crematorium located in the church memorial garden.

As we stood there in the courtyard, my Uncle Tom, one of the brothers-in-law, led the private service of commendation for the Reverend Doctor William F. Meyer. We prayed, we sang “Beautiful Savior,” and we listened to the Scriptures read. Uncle Tom gave a brief devotion. We sang “Abide With Me.” Then Uncle Tom said these words: “We now commend Bill’s remains to this resting place. May God the Father who created Bill’s body; may God the Son who redeemed Bill’s body with His own precious blood; may God the Holy Spirit, who sanctified Bill’s body in the waters of Holy Baptism, keep these remains until the day of the resurrection of all flesh.” And, with a final sign of the cross and the benediction spoken over the family, we left the sacred ground behind.

There are many things I do not understand. I don’t understand how airplanes fly. If you ask a physicist, they would tell you curved wing plus thrust equals lift, but to me, it remains magic how those big birds fly. Yet, I trusted Southwest to get me from Austin to Phoenix and back because physics says it will work. I don’t understand math that is higher than middle-school pre-algebra. I joke that the reason I became a pastor is so I could never be elected a church treasurer. Our daughter in college does math problems with more letters than the Post Office. I don’t understand how one dog can make such a mess in the back yard. But, truly, I don’t understand how a person can live through the death of a loved one without the promise and the certainty of the resurrection of the body because of Christ.

But, what if…what if there was no resurrection? What if there was no resurrection? If that were true, then the last breath and the final heartbeat would be it; the grave would be the final destination, and the closing of the casket would be the terrible “THE END” of life. And, if there was no resurrection, then there would be no resurrection for Jesus, either. The Easter victory would be an erstwhile joke. Without Christ’s resurrection, there is no resurrection for those who believe in Jesus, either. The church would be filled with fools and, of all people, Christians would be the most miserable, pitied chumps ever seen. If there was no resurrection, everything the church taught, everything preached by Paul, and Peter, and Luther, and all of the pastors who have stood in Zion’s pulpits over the years, everything that Christians have died for, what has been confessed by all of you and your parents and my Uncle Bill, and everything I have preached and taught, would all be, at best, a sad punchline; at worst, an out-and-out lie. And, an even greater folly would be that God Himself would be a liar for it would be His promise that His people believed, from Old Testament thru New Testament to today, that would be exposed as the terrible untruth. And, if there was no resurrection, if there was no resurrection of Christ, then there would be no reason to believe in forgiveness of sins, or eternity with God, or peace being restored. No…if there was no resurrection, then, as Paul said, there would be only death. The curse of Eden would have blossomed from the tree of knowledge of good and evil into the blackest flower of death.

And, if that were true, what would we be left with? A quasi-hope, a pseudo-hope, a faux hope of the life we have this side of the grave…well, that’s not much hope, is it? Hope without certainty, hope without joy, hope without “Amen!” is no hope at all. If that were true, what a hope-less way to live. If that were true, what a hope-less way to die. It’s pitiful.

If Christ had not been raised from death, our faith would be in vain
Our preaching but a waste of breath, our sin and guilt remain.
But now the Lord is ris’n indeed; He rules in hearth and heaven:
His Gospel meets a world of need – in Christ, we are forgiven. (LSB 486.1)

Did you hear that little word Paul, and the hymnwriter, included? But! Paul has  been making an argument from the negative to prove the positive. If this were true, then that would be true. Then, he shifts: He’s moving from the realm of “what if” to the world of certainty. “But, in fact…”  It’s as if he’s using a rhetorical statement, “If all of that were true, that there was no resurrection, then it would be bad news. But it’s not true, is it? In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead!”

God’s promises are, in fact, fulfilled with resurrection. From the “he will crush your head” of Genesis 3 to Jesus declaration, “Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days,” to “He is not here – He is risen as He said,” the resurrection is not a “what if” moment. It’s a “this is most certainly true!” moment. There is Easter; there is resurrection; there is eternal life. 

Need evidence? Want to be sure this is not another “what if?” Don’t just take my word for it. Look to Jesus. He’s the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Firstfruits: firstfruits are the initial crop; it implies that more will follow. It’s the beginning with a promise of more to come. It’s the initial harvest; more will be brought into the larder. Because of Christ’s resurrection, those who believe in Him will likewise be raised. Because of Christ’s resurrection, those who have been baptized into Him will be raised. Because of Christ’s resurrection, those who have fallen asleep in Him will be raised. Because of Christ’s resurrection, because He has conquered sin, death and hell in His resurrection, because of Christ, the faithful will be resurrected as well.

Because of Christ. What a difference those three words make when facing the harsh reality of death, the ridged coldness of the casket, and the dark depth of the grave. Because of Christ, death of the body is now a rest, a peaceful “soul-sleep” if you will. Because of Christ, the casket is the place where the body waits. The grave is temporary. Remember: Christ is the firstfruit. He’s gone through death and the grave first. And, in His resurrection He has conquered death and has blown open the grave.

If Christ still lay within the tomb, then death would be the end,
And we would face our final doom with neither guide nor friend.
But now the Savior is raised up, so when a Christian dies
We mourn, yet look to God in hope – in Christ, the saints arise. (LSB 486.2)

Last Saturday, when we left the church, we went to my cousin’s house where we gathered for several hours of visiting, enjoying each other’s company, and swapping stories. And we did laugh. But that laughter was just a foreshadowing, a foretaste, of the laughter that will take place on the great day of resurrection when Christ returns. You’ll meet my Uncle Bill and I’ll meet your Aunt Myrtle; our fathers and mothers will stand side by side and, if there are recipes in the resurrection, they’ll be swapping ‘em. Can you begin to imagine the joyous laughter that will ring through each and every cemetery and crematorium and church yard, a great harvest of the faithful who follow after Christ, the firstfuits? Oh, blessed will be those who have mourned, for they will be laughing and laughing and laughing with eternal joy.

If Christ had not been truly raised, His Church would live a lie;
His name should nevermore be praised, His words deserve to die.
But now our great Redeemer lives; through Him we are restored;
His Word endures, His Church revives, in Christ, our risen Lord. (LSB 486.3)