Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
For the past two months, we’ve been having our current round of classes for those who wish to be confirmed or received at our next Episcopal Visit. This always means going over a good deal of the basics, the foundational elements, of our faith and tradition. In fact, I’ve titled the current classes “Foundations in the Formularies” to underscore this. After a general overview class, we went through the catechism as presented in the Offices of Instruction from the Prayer Book. We then looked at the major Prayer Book Services through the lens of what they teach us about the Gospel. This past Wednesday we finished going through the Articles of Religion, and we’ll conclude with a look at the ministry as presented in the ordination vows. I’ve found a lot of joy in reviewing these foundations. It’s nice to revisit the basics. I’m reminded of Martin Luther’s advice that we never outgrow the Small Catechism that many of us learned as children.
Today’s Epistle and Gospel similarly take us back to basics as we approach the halfway point of Trinitytide. In our Epistle from the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul reminds his readers of the basic Gospel Story. He presents the Gospel that he received, and that he delivered to those to whom he ministered. In our Gospel lesson from Luke 18, our Lord tells a story to illustrate the basic attitude or disposition necessary when we come before God. He tells the story to get folks to stop trusting in their own righteousness, to stop looking down on others, and rather to come before God in humility. It is only when we realize that we in ourselves bring nothing to the table that we can enjoy the benefits of being at the Lamb’s Banquet.
Last year we focused on our Gospel reading and the issue of humility. This year, we will focus on those Gospel Story basics in our Epistle. You may recall that the church in Corinth had some serious problems. They were plagued with factionalism, moral scandals, and serious theological confusion. Indeed, theological confusion will often lead to moral and ethical confusion. That’s one reason it is so important to have good theology. John Stonestreet, one of the deacons in our diocese and the host of the radio program, “Breakpoint,” likes to say, “Ideas have consequences; bad ideas have victims.” This was certainly the case in the Corinthian church!
To combat their bad theological ideas, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians of the basic facts of the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:1 (page 204):
Brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also have received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time.
First, notice that the basic facts of the gospel are centered around the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. As we continue reading in the chapter, we see that much of the Corinthians’ theological confusion was related to the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead. Some of them thought there would be no Resurrection. Others thought it had already happened, and everyone who had died since the Resurrection happened or were still alive were out of luck. Others thought the Scriptures teach a spiritual resurrection, but not a bodily resurrection. Correcting that confusion is why St. Paul brought up the Gospel basics of this chapter. If they could understand the facts about the Lord’s Resurrection, that would help them understand the promise of their own Resurrection.
This is a basic teaching that is still needed today. Indeed, it has ever been so. John Donne, the famous 17th century poet and dean of Westminster Cathedral, said this in one of his homilies:
As there have been more heresies about the humanity of Christ than about his divinity, so there have been more heresies about the resurrection of his body, and consequently of ours, than about any other particular article that concerns Christ’s humiliation or exaltation.
Donne goes on to provide a litany of historic and then-current heresies rooted in errors about the resurrection. We could certainly add to his list! There are plenty of Christians today who think the Resurrection of the Dead is synonymous with “going to heaven when you die.” They think that our bodies are prisons or irrelevant. They think that the physical world’s future is to be destroyed in fire. But that’s not what Scripture teaches. In Revelation, we are explicitly told that the world will be renewed, and that the heavenly Jerusalem will come down to earth rather than the other way around. A few verses after today’s Epistle, St. Paul affirms that the Resurrection is indeed bodily, even though our bodies will be glorified. And all of this is rooted in the Lord’s bodily resurrection on that first Easter Morning.
To get the resurrection wrong can lead to all sorts of problems in our lives here on earth. At the most benign end, you could become “so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good,” as the old saying goes. You just don’t care about the world and living in it. I’ve known many Christians that fall into this error. At the most dangerous end, one can fall into the old heresy of Gnosticism with its radical dualism between the spiritual and material. Not only does Gnosticism always lead to bad beliefs about the Incarnation of Jesus, but gnostics always end up living in extreme asceticism or extreme hedonism. All of life either becomes fasting and extreme denial of the body or all of life becomes feasting and extreme indulgence of the appetites. In neither case can one truly love God or love one’s neighbor. I can’t help but see the Corinthians’ scandalous and hedonistic living as having a connection to bad beliefs about the resurrection. I’m sure the same is true of licentiousness in the Church today.
Next, notice that St. Paul frames the Gospel as something that he preached because it’s something that he received. He delivered the Gospel to the Corinthians so that they would also receive it. St. Paul considered himself a steward of the Gospel’s message and teachings rather than a cutting-edge innovator. This is why it’s a mistake when folks try to pit Paul against Peter or Paul against James or (worst of all) Paul against Jesus. God’s word doesn’t work that way. No, Scripture is consistent with itself. There is one faith, one Lord, one baptism.
This is something that anyone who preaches or teaches God’s word needs to keep in mind also. We are mere stewards of what we received, just as St. Paul, and all other of our ancestors in the faith, were. As St. Vincent of Lerins famously said, catholicity is defined by what has been believed and practiced always, everywhere, and by all. Keeping this in mind is why I tend to quote from either the early Church Fathers or our Anglican Formularies rather than more recent sources in my homilies. Be very skeptical when someone claims that God is doing a new thing. That’s often a mask for our own innovation. Rather, remember the “Church is a witness and keeper of Holy Writ” that cannot legitimately “ordain anything that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another,” as Article XX says.
And speaking of Scripture and witnesses, notice that St. Paul speaks to both in our Epistle. The Gospel is something that we receive and steward rather than something we make up, and the Gospel is attested to by the witness of Scripture as well as eyewitness testimony.
St. Paul says that the death of the Lord as well as his burial and resurrection were “according to the Scriptures.” That is, the basics of the Gospel story had been prophesied throughout the Old Testament. A classic example is Psalm 22, traditionally recited on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, where the crucifixion is clearly predicted in King David’s poetry centuries before it happened. Isaiah 53 is another such example, to the point where one Jewish friend of mine was surprised that Isaiah 53 is in the Old Testament rather than the New. In alluding to the witness of the Old Testament to the Messiah, St. Paul is merely echoing the way our Lord Jesus taught Scriptures. Indeed, at the end of Luke’s Gospel, the resurrected Lord spends the better part of a road trip explaining everything that the Law and the Prophets said about him.
This points to how we should read our Old Testament. While we don’t read much of the Old Testament in our Communion liturgy on Sundays, if you’re following along with our daily readings in Morning and Evening Prayer, you’ll read through the majority of the Old Testament each year. When you do keep an eye out for what it tells you about Jesus. All of our Scripture reading and study, both in the Old and New Testaments, should be centered on Christ. It should be Christocentric.
St. Augustine famously said, “In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New the Old is revealed.”[1] The Old Testament Scriptures are a predictive witness to the Gospel. The New Testament Scriptures preserve the testimony of the eyewitness to the Gospel writing within a few years of the events. In our Epistle St. Paul notes that St. Peter, the Twelve, 500 others, St. James, the rest of the Apostles, and Paul himself had all met the risen Lord quite literally “in the flesh.” The New Testament preserves the testimony of many of these eyewitnesses. Furthermore, both the Old and New Testaments are the very Word of God; not only are they testimony about God, but the Holy Spirit himself speaks through the Scriptures.
Why this matters for us today is that we can be confident that our faith is not blind. It is not empty hope. No, these basic facts of the Gospel story have both eyewitness and divine testimony. Our faith is based on true historical events that actually happened before eyewitnesses.
In the most recent “state of theology” survey done by Ligonier Ministries, only 62 percent of the professing Christians surveyed could “strongly agree” with the statement, “Biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate. This event actually occurred.” Another 22% “somewhat agree” with that statement. Putting aside the question of what it means to “somewhat agree” that the Resurrection actually occurred, that means that a whopping 16% of professing Christians don’t believe the basic facts of the Gospel. I can’t help but wonder why someone would remain a Christian if they don’t believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again for our sins. Surely they’re not here for the coffee!
It’s been said that we now live in a “post truth” society, where emotions and personal beliefs are more important than objective facts. This isn’t the same as skepticism; in skepticism one might doubt that what is presented is actually true. When it comes to “post truth,” the truth doesn’t even matter. The philosopher J.P. Moreland defines truth as “a matter of … belief, thought, statement, or representation… corresponding to reality.” If we are to have a faith that saves us, makes a difference in our lives, makes a difference in the world, and (most importantly) brings us into covenant relationship with God, that faith must be true. It must correspond to reality. It can’t just be a feeling. That is why the basic story of the Gospel is indeed a story. It is a summary of the events of salvation history. Indeed St. Paul says in our Epistle that such a story saves us.
So, keep these truths on your heart and on your mind. As the Old Testament says, bind them for a sign upon your hand, and as a frontlet between your eyes. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and upon your gates. Speak of them when you rise and when you lie down and when you walk along the way. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. Tell the story to yourself and others, the story that Christ died for our sin, was buried, and rose again the third day, as predicted by the Prophets and witnessed by the Apostles in God’s very Word. Let this story be the basis for everything you think, believe, and do as a Christian.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] Latin: Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet, “Seven Questions Concerning the Heptateuch,” 419-420.
