Resurrection and the Body

Message Summary: This week, we wrap up 1 Corinthians with a conversation on resurrection.

Creeds - In 1 Cor 15:3-8, Paul cites a creed to start with a common ground with his audience and establish his own authority among them. But it is a nature of a creed to have things left out. And we let those creeds be - they belong in the place and the time they were written, we do not need to police them, but we need to read them well and practice our narrative literacy by noticing what is included and what’s left out.

Futility and First Fruits - 1 Cor 15:17, 20-22. Corinthians did not question Jesus’ resurrection (they were aware of Roman heroes and divine figures rising from death), but they questioned their own resurrection. As a result of being steeped in their culture, they had a deeply planted disdain for the body. And Paul corrects them - Jesus’ resurrection happened in his body and was the first fruit of the resurrection of the bodies (individual and collective) that will follow when the time is right.

Being Bodies - Like any good parent or apostle, Paul wants the Corinthians to have what they need to grow and get after the fullness of life in Christ. 1 Cor 15: 35, 36-39, 49. Paul uses two Greek words for “body” - sarks (flesh) and soma (body as wholeness). Life is modelled after Christ, and in Christ we see the whole. Jesus is the pattern for life, and Jesus is the pattern for death. For Paul, our bodies exit for relationship, to be in constant communication with the created world around us and with each other. The relational body is a mysterious extension of the body of Christ.

We will be changed - Today, we have knowledge about the universe and our bodies which the apostle Paul did not have. It’s quite a task to know or articulate what we believe, given that knowledge and the ideas of the bible. 1 Cor 15:55. Paul starts with a creed that is common ground for his audience, but then he ends with new ideas about resurrection. “What is resurrection if not a total commitment to the fullness of life?” And when we follow Jesus to see everything in our life to the other side, we find new words for our changing beliefs and new life.

Connect: Start with the question that Bobbi’s started her sermon, “Do you ever have trouble telling people what you believe?” What is it that makes it difficult for you?

Share: In her message, Bobbi talked about the omission of women as the first witnesses of the resurrection in Paul's early Christian creed. How does this omission impact our reading of scripture and our understanding of the role of women in the early church? Bobbi’s suggestion was to read those ancient creeds with narrative literacy: recognizing that they existed in their particular times and for particular audiences, but also noticing what’s included and what’s omitted. What does that look like in your own engagement with ancient (or maybe modern) texts and concepts?

Reflect: Thinking about your body and the way it has changed over time or the way your relationship with your body has changed over time, what do you appreciate the most about your body today? Resurrection is an affirmation of the physical body. What place has the appreciation of the body had in your spiritual journey? How does holding our physical body as sacred influence the way we treat others and experience the relational body of community?

Engage: Read the quote from the sermon below. How does it resonate with you especially when you think about your theology of resurrection? “You and me, we have knowledge that the apostle Paul couldn’t dream of. We know that the universe is almost 14 billion years old. That evolution is how we got here. That all reality is head-spinning interdependence. Animals, trees, bodies are made of the same elements that flung into existence in the Big Bang. All of the earth’s 92 elements, save the primordial hydrogen and helium, were made in stars. Could resurrection – elements turned into life – be the most natural thing? It’s the challenge of a lifetime to take the bible’s ideas about transformation, forgiveness, and resurrection and live with them, with all that we now know about the cosmos and our own intricate, mysterious bodies.” How do you understand the phrase "resurrection of the dead" in 1 Corinthians 15? What significance does the resurrection have for your faith and the way you engage with or move through the world?

Take away: We are called to follow Christ in seeing things to the other side, and the new creeds or evolving perspective or new articulation of our beliefs emerge on the other side of things, often from the cycle of death and life. Where do you find balance between tradition and newness in your spiritual life today? And is there something from this conversation or this series that you want to take with you into Lent?

Pray: "Even When” Even when I am lonely, I affirm that God is all relationship. (I offer myself in love to others.) Even when I am tired, I affirm that God is my rest. (My prayer can be a nap.) Even when I’m impatient, I affirm God’s offer of much-needed grace. (I respond with kindness towards myself.) Even when I do not at all understand, I affirm God’s tender way of making all things new. (Listening to the world is my wisdom today.) Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 104

MUSIC: Curated by Kevin Borst
Brooke Ligertwood - Ancient Gates
Kristian Stanfill - In Christ Alone
Mission House - Whole Heart
Chris Tomlin - Holy Forever

PRAYER FOR BEGINNING OF LENT: Written by Scott Wall

LEADER: God who walks with all toward resurrection - Be guard and guide for us this Lent. As we trace the contours of hurried, daily life - As we take up new practices with fresh intention -

ALL: Let our memories let go of old grievance and mistake.

LEADER: Jesus, you know a better way for us. A way rooted in kindness, not obligation. A way marked by welcome, not perfection.

So as we pray and serve and share this Lent -

ALL: Let our hearts be filled with compassion for those we don’t understand.

LEADER: Spirit, you are as close as breath - Alive in every thought and word we share. As we wake to our desires - and the stories we tell ourselves -

ALL: Let our tongues speak life, and be accomplices of grace.

LEADER: Let silence and speech - Laugher and tears - Weakness and strength - Feasting and fasting - All be taken up as the holy, reverent, Lenten way that leads us back to life.

Amen.

Summary

Discussion

Prayer

Liturgy

Ash Wednesday

All About The Tongues

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