Sermons

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.

This morning, I want to quote two famous people.  I begin in an unlikely place.  With John Lennon, and the words from the song “Imagine”:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Let me switch gears for a moment.  Let me turn to St. Paul.  The Epistle reading is from his first letter to the Corinthians.  We have only a part of the fifteenth chapter; I would like to read parts of that chapter – some which we have read this morning and some which we have not.  St. Paul writes:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,”

“Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.  We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
         

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.  If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Let me try to put this all together.  There are several points that I would like to make.  Let me begin with the words from “Imagine”.  It is nice to imagine a world very much like Lennon is talking about.  But as we look out into the world, we see something far different.  There are countries, and killing.  There is peace in some places, but only tenuous at best.   There is greed and hunger, and instead of brotherhood, there is maneuvering and power playing.

The world is different.  Lennon understood that.  He called his song “Imagine”, after all, and not reality.    But the truth is that the world that we live in – the reality shows us the need for Jesus Christ.  If the world were the way that John Lennon  imagined it, there would be no need for Jesus.  But, the world that we live in yearns to be saved.  And only one person can save this world – Jesus Christ.

And as to St. Paul --  St. Paul is writing to the Church in Corinth.  It seems that they were having a problem with some in the Church who did not believe in the resurrection.

As a wise professor once said to me, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  There are those who would still deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   St. Paul’s words to the Christians in Corinth are applicable for us today:

“If Christ has not been raised, (our) faith is futile and (we) are still in (our) sins.   … If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all (people) most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, …For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Can you imagine a world where there is no killing?  Where there is peace.  Where there is no hunger?  Where there is not greed.  Where there is a fellowship of all persons?

These imagining can be reality in only one person – Jesus Christ -- who truly was raised from the dead.  That is why we are here today. 

“Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!”  AMEN.