B, Easter Sunday - 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 "Passive Power"
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (with the original Greek passive "he was seen" put back in)
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he was seen by Peter, and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, 8 and last of all he was seen by me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Sermon
Humanity has always had a thing for power. To have power is to have control! When the going gets tough, the tough get going! An economic downturn seems to have taken the wind out of the sails; the things we depend on for stability seem to have lost their power. Far be it that we should have to suffer under a weak economy!
So governments borrow big, and we're encouraged to spend up big to save and nurture the monolith in which we've trusted for our stability and strength.
Our unquenchable thirst for power reveals much about who we are, as individuals and as a society. It seems no one wants to be seen as powerless, and so we easily fall into a game of one-up-man-ship - having to have the best of everything, to seemingly look better than the next person.
And so an imbalance appears very quickly in society. Life becomes more about me - "look at what I've got" - rather than the wellbeing of our community's weak - locally, nationally, and globally. And so the top dog proudly stands on a pyramid of beaten broken people.
Today we celebrate God's power! His power is found in the passion of Jesus Christ. And this power is counter-cultural. It doesn't work in the same way as does the power of humanity, whether it is collectively as a community, or individually through the achievements of one.
The power of God is not revealed in success, potential, productivity, or in the collective power of the populace. No! The power of the passion; falls on the shoulders of one man, who became powerless and passive to all that went on around him. God's power is found in the passivity of the passion; God's power is found in the obedience of Jesus' death, where in the tomb Christ had no power to bring himself back from the grave.
Before his crucifixion Jesus told his disciples, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:42-45)
Jesus told his disciples that power is not enforcing one's rights over someone else, or keeping up with all the latest fads, but rather true power is trusting God's power, in our weakness, in our service - in sacrificing our rights for the sake of others.
Death is the weakest state in which any person will ever be! Nothing is all we can do, when we die. You can't do anything when you're dead. Yet this is exactly from where the power of God is revealed - from death in the grave. In Christ's totally humiliated state he was stone cold dead. The Son of God, an eternal divine being, lifeless in the grave! Jesus listened to his Father, and so he was obedient unto death.
Imagine government saying "Don't spend up big, rather sacrifice what you've got! In fact you don't need any more consumables, what you have is good enough. We will make do with what we've got. Give up the niceties of life; it's ok if our economy looks weak!"
But we don't hear this, nor do we want to. A part of us would die if we had to give up our most loved consumables. Humility has never been a strong point of humanity. Unlike Christ, we, with the disciples and all people, are more concerned with prestige and power.
However, Jesus is honoured today because of his humility - his submission. Saint Paul tells us of Christ's passivity in his first letter to the Corinthians. Unfortunately most English bibles lose the passive emphasis which Saint Paul intends for his hearers. But listen as the passive emphasis is reintroduced, "For what I (St Paul) received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen by Peter, and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, and last of all he was seen by me also, as to one abnormally born." (1 Cor 15:3-7)
Jesus died! We know he was passive in his death. He said nothing against the false accusations made against him, nor did he nail himself to the cross.
He was buried. He didn't bury himself! Now praise the Lord, he has been raised from the grave. He was raised from the dead, something he had no power to do in death!
He was seen. He didn't rise from the tomb at Easter and reveal himself in a show of almighty power! Rather he was seen by God and by those whom God allowed to see him. Jesus' power is revealed in weakness, both before and after his resurrection.
The passivity of the gospel is the source of great hope for us, for when we are dead we will not be able to raise ourselves either. The passivity of the gospel is also a great template for our lives as we move towards death. Our power is not in our productivity, prestige, or popularity. In fact while we focus on these things, Jesus is not to be seen.
However, the power is in the passivity of the passion of Christ and his subsequent resurrection by God the Father, seen only by faith, which is also a gift of God. We are called to lay down our authority and power, surrendering ourselves to Jesus Christ, as he did for his Father.
And the good news is this: That when we were powerless to lay down our sinful natures, God came to us in baptism. We don't even need to have power or the ability to come before God. In his power God came while we were totally lost in our sinful natures - while we were completely powerless.
So as we continue in this life, baptised into Christ's passive death, we know there is no need for us to prove ourselves through popularity and power in this life. That in itself is liberating.
We don't need to keep up with the Jones; we don't need all the latest gizmos and gadgets. Like Christ we can be passive; trusting only in God the Father's love and justification, through God the Son's grace and means, by the power of God the Holy Spirit's gift of faith and fellowship.
We know that Jesus is risen! We know that he is glorified! And God calls us to trust him, even while we struggle, to be truly humble and to rid ourselves of our desire to be popular or powerful. God calls us to rest in the hope of our resurrection to eternal life. Just as Jesus trusted in God and was raised; we are called to trust in the grace of Christ so we too might be raised to life with him together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Like Saint Paul, consider yourself as the least. Allow yourself to be empowered by God's power in the resurrection, bring glory to him. Know that by the grace of God you are what you are, and his grace towards you is not without effect, even though you still struggle with sin in this life. When you work harder than all people - know it's not you, but the grace of God with you. Just as Jesus trusted and was raised from the dead; trust that you too one day will be raised from the dead to be glorified with him, but only because of his death and resurrection.
Today we celebrate God's power in Christ over, our weakness, sin, and death. We are called to repent for our desire to be top dogs and hear that we are forgiven for Jesus' sake. We live totally dependant on the Holy Spirit's power, to bring us into the power of Christ's death and resurrection, so that in hope, one day we will be powerfully glorified and live forever with our Father in heaven in peace. Amen.
