Resurrection Day
April 12, 2009
Now That’s a First!
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
The First Time in Human History
Now there’s a first for you. I hand on to you as of first importance what I myself in turn have received: that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures. That he was dead and buried. And that he was raised and he appeared to Peter and the rest.
This is the first time in history that such a thing has ever happened. A man completely dead has come alive again not just in fiction but in fact.
Death has been defeated. The stone cold judgment of the grave has rolled away by Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings on earth.
And so now this gospel of God’s grace becomes a matter of the “first importance.” The first item on the list of any Christian. The cornerstone of our faith. The pivot point, the fulcrum, on which our future hinges. It is “Job One” that directs our ways…and orders our priorities.
First Things First
Charles M Schwab
“Show me and my boys how to make the best use of our time,” he said, “and I will pay you any price within reason.”
And the expert said, “It’s very simple. Just make a list of all the things you need to do in order of their priority. And then start with #1. Stay with #1 until it’s finished. And then #2 will become #1 and the cycle is repeated.
Do this for three months and then send me a check for whatever you think this advice is worth,” the expert said.
Three months later the expert received a check for $25,000 (an enormous sum in those days), and this one piece of advice helped Charles Schwab build the largest independent steel company in the world.
Paul Had His Priories Straight
Saint Paul had his priorities straight. Paul knew what was “Job One.” He knew what was of “the first importance.” He did it everywhere he went. The core message. He did it to build the church of Jesus Christ.
I pass on to you as “of first importance” what I myself in turn received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. That he was dead and buried. And that he was raised again. And that he appeared to a whole host of folks—including, would you believe it—he appeared also to me.
Paul did not deserve it. Nor, do we. Paul was not one of the original twelve disciples. He was a persecutor of the church. He tried to stop this vital message. He was part of the problem, not of the solution, like we so often are.
But the grace of God made him what he was and that grace was not in vain. Jesus appeared to him, too—to stop Paul in his tracks and claim him as his own.
And Paul got the point. If there is no Easter…if Jesus is not raised…then all of life is useless. There is no hope. And we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised, the first fruits of those who have died. That is the fact we celebrate today.
We Have Seen Him, too, Risen & Alive
Jesus of Nazareth
We are not original disciples either. We were not there when the mighty hand of God first rolled the stone of death away.
But we do stand in that long line of apostolic witness. The angel told Mary. And Mary told Peter. And Jesus appeared to two disciples on their way to Emmaus. And then to the twelve. And then to more than 500 brothers and sisters, most of whom were still living in Paul’s time.
And Jesus appears to us today through the bread and wine and that long line of apostolic witness.
Job One
And what is there for us to do, except to do what Paul did and to receive it, believe it and pass it on.
We become part of that chain, that food chain of Gospel witness. We become another link in that long line of the apostolic message.
This become Job One for us. A matter of the first importance. The most vital mission and the most vital message in the world.
There are many things that clamor for our time and our attention: our kids, our spouse, our family, our jobs, our friends, our personal desires and interests. We are constantly bombarded with pressures and demands.
But this comes first. This must always come first. That Jesus died for our sins according to God’s plan…and that he was raised again from the dead…and that he appears in many moments in our life to say that this gospel of God’s grace is specific meant for you and for me. And it is now our job to pass it on.
This is the first of many firsts, for without this “good news” everything else we do in done in vain. The death and resurrection of Jesus is a first. An awesome first. Which makes of it a matter of the “first importance.” “Job One” for any Christian.
Saint Paul certainly had his priorities right. Do you?
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster