SERMONS

Mark 1: 40—45, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
The Reverend Angela Miksovsky
Bethany United Church of Christ
February 15, 2009

In a few days, kindergarteners will be celebrating their 100th day of school. They bring a bag—kind of like this one—full of 100 things. 100 cotton balls. 100 rubber bands. Toothpicks, Jolly Ranchers, paper clips…you get the idea. Earlier this year on NPR’s “This I believe,” I learned about a unique kindergartener. Because instead of bringing 100 things, Tarak McLain, then age 6, pulled out his bag, and inside, he had a 100…beliefs.

Now, it takes a rare person to sit down, think through, and write down his or her hundred beliefs. I know I haven’t. But sometimes, there comes a point in our lives together that we need to stop and revisit what we believe. Tarak did this as a kindergartener. And this is what Paul is doing in today’s text. Let’s look at it again.

Paul is introducing a new topic at this point in his letter. So far, he has addressed issues in worship, discipline, and spiritual gifts. He now turns his attention to a question about the resurrection that was posed to him, probably from an earlier letter. And before answering, Paul starts by pointing to shared experiences and beliefs. So, he starts:

Now, I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received:

Here, Paul is reminding the Corinthians that his Gospel isn’t Paul’s alone. Paul belongs to a tradition and stands with it, a tradition that proclaims:

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, this is the heart of our creed, and Pauline scholars believe that these words quote an ancient Christian belief statement, commonly used in worship. The Corinthians would have been very familiar with these words, using them themselves in worship each time they met.

Paul continues:

and that he appeared to Cephas (that is, Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

This litany of eye-witnesses carried the same weight that scientific proof holds for us today. So Paul is reminding these people that Christ has risen, without a doubt, a true bodily resurrection, not a ghostly mirage. Paul is saying, you KNOW this, and gives not one or two but multiple instances of eyewitness accounts, accounts of appearances not just to individuals (which can be easily dismissed) but to large groups who weren’t looking for a risen Jesus.

So. This is Paul’s creedal statement, one that the Corinthians themselves had agreed to and proclaimed. And, in coming up with his answer to why the resurrection is something we all can believe in, Paul reminds the Corinthians what they believe. And, while it’s rather obvious that Paul isn’t in Corinth—otherwise he wouldn’t have to write a letter—it’s not obvious why these misunderstandings have arisen. That’s because unlike the Corinthians, we aren’t as intimately acquainted with the milieu in which this particular church exists. Corinth, you see, was a Roman-grown city—despite its being in the middle of Greece. The older, Greek Corinth—the one so infamous for its sexual immorality that it had become a verb—that Corinth had been decimated and burned to the ground in one of the numerous cycles of conquest that occur in the Mediterranean.

So THIS Corinth was new. It, like Seattle, was about 100 years old when Paul came. Because it was a fairly new city, it had different social and economic realities than say, an Athens or a Rome, which had existed in perpetuity for hundreds of years. Because in an older city—think of London—there is an established class system, based on land and bloodlines. But in Corinth—like many cities in the US today—what separated the classes was money. Most Corinthian “pioneers” had started out in the same social class, and those who got rich faster became the new aristocrats. And so like many Americans, these Corinthian pioneers valued that which enabled them to cross social and economic class lines, values such as independence, freedom, and diversity.

Do these values sound familiar? Seattle also was founded by those with a pioneering spirit. We too value independence, freedom, and diversity.

We value independence—in some ways, even more so than on the East Coast, where I grew up. Because here, we value the independence of individuals, not just a particular group. After all, our economic foundations were based on “rugged individualism,” with its attendant values of independence, freedom, and self-sufficiency—think of Nordstrom’s and Eddie Bauer, which flourished by providing supplies to people rushing to Alaska for gold.

We value freedom, because in those early days, no one told us what to do. We decided on our own where to go, and when, and with whom. We decided what was right and we demanded the freedom to do it.

And because Seattle, like Corinth, is a port city with trade ties to East and West,. How else can we welcome immigrants from all over: Russia, Eritrea, Vietnam, India, China? So, we pride ourselves in our tolerance of differences.

And yet. We need to be careful. Because in Christ, independence is NOT the ultimate virtue. Instead, we see the sin, the brokenness, the imperfections that have existed and continue to exist in our world and in ourselves. We confess, like Paul,

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do (Ro 7:19).

We recognize our wretched situation, and cling to Christ—because only when we do so, we confess that these sins that we continue to struggle with are nailed to the cross. And in so doing, we recognize that in Christ, independence is NOT a value. Instead, we admit our dependence on God through Christ. And this enables us to listen, and listen carefully, to what God is saying.

We need to be careful. Seattle-ites value freedom, but in Christ, freedom is NOT the ultimate virtue. Instead, earlier in 1 Corinthians Paul reminds us (twice!), “You were bought with a price.” In Christ, we are free from sin but not to do whatever we want. In Christ, we are free from sin but not free from God. In Christ, we are free from sin—and that enables us to listen, and listen carefully, to what God is saying.

We need to be careful. Seattle-ites are so accepting of diversity. So tolerant. So nice. As one of my Canadian friends puts it, people in Seattle are so tolerant and nice that they have “no edges.” And yet, in Christ, diversity, with its attendant tolerance and niceness, is NOT the ultimate virtue. Instead, Paul points to a diversity that is unified in love, purpose, and focus. It is a diversity that enables us to listen, and listen carefully, to what God is saying.

Like the Corinthians, our environment encourages beliefs and behaviors that are at odds with our life in Christ. So, we too need to be constantly reminded of what we believe, lest we justify our culturally-bound behaviors. We too need to be reminded so that instead of changing our beliefs to match our behaviors, as the Corinthians were doing, we will change our behaviors to match what we believe. And in changing our behaviors, we proclaim that Christ is still alive and speaking to the world today.

Now, I know that you’ve been talking about Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. And these are indeed some ways that we live out our faith. I also know that you’ve started a series on the Gospel of Mark. And this is good, because right behavior must arise from and partner with right belief. Because if we do not ground our behavior in Christ, what will gives us the energy to continue to act justly in the face of overwhelming injustices? If we do not ground our behavior in Christ, what will gives us the conviction to love and show mercy when everywhere we turn, we see and experience greed, power-mongering, anger, and vengeful acts? If we do not ground our behavior in Christ, how can we walk humbly with God when our world listens to and honors the arrogant and self-serving?

So, Paul points us to Christ. This Paul believes. This Paul proclaims. This Paul lives out: that Christ died for us. That Christ was buried, pursuing us into death. That Christ rose for us, leading us out of darkness. And because I am Christian, Paul’s hope and Paul’s belief is also mine: Christ died for ME. Christ was buried, for ME. Christ is risen and shows the way, for ME.

And so, when I look around, and am overwhelmed by the sheer bigness of our work still left to do:

• The children orphaned in reality and in spirit, exploited and abused
• The inherent racist, sexist, elitist, (and to coin a word) “genderist” assumptions and programs found in our culture, government, places of work, and organizations
• The perfectionist expectations we have of others but not of ourselves that prevents us from showing mercy

When I am overwhelmed by how much is still left to do, I remember:

• Despite the sin I see, Christ on the cross has already defeated it
• Despite the deaths I experience, Christ who was buried has already experienced it, and indeed experiences it with me
• I remember that, at the end of the day: our God is the one who, in the midst of the most hopeless, truly-buried, 3-days-dead, dried-bones-scattered-to-the-winds situations—brings back life.

And so I rest in God, knowing that while many of these seemingly hopeless dark situations are bigger than ME, none of them are bigger than GOD. And when we walk with God, none of them are bigger than US.
Remember our 100th day? These are some of the things Tarak McLain said:

• I believe that Life is good
• I believe that God is in everything
• I believe everyone is weird in their own way

I don’t know if it has been 100 days since you as a church have committed to living out Micah 6:8. I don’t know if you’re halfway through your “kindergarten year.” But what I do know, is that we can do justice, we can love mercy, and we can walk humbly with God, because “this we believe:”

• Christ died for us
• Christ was buried for us
• Christ rose for us

Because of Christ, we have hope. THIS is the good news that we live out, cling to, and proclaim.

Copyright © 2009, Angela Miksovsky. All rights reserved.