May 24, 2020 - We Will All Be Changed - 1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 51-58

We Will All Be Changed
1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 51-58
Easter 7 – May 24, 2020

 

“Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed…”

- 1 Corinthians 15:51

 Podcast from several years ago about what happens to caterpillars while they are in their chrysalis

·       We all know they change from caterpillar to butterfly but I’ve never given much thought as to what exactly happens in that process

o   Would probably have assumed that caterpillar stayed intact, with wings emerging, whatever other changes happen like add-ons

o   but that’s not what happens!

·       Open chrysalis – what’s there is “goo”, viscous, thick – nothing recognizable as what the caterpillar once was; it all dissolves!

Fascinating to me!

·       Wonder what the caterpillar might think about that process of going through this time of being goo – if it could think

o   Would it be mystified? Befuddled? Anxious? Uncertain? Terrified??

o   If the caterpillar would want to go back to life pre-chrysalis, pre-goo, b/c it cannot envision or imagine the transformation that is in store, the future that waits for it, thinking perhaps that this gooey existence is it, forever

As Paul continues his letter to the Corinthian church, it seems to me that they are a little gooey themselves

·       He writes to them of Christ’s resurrection, reminding them that this is the good news that he proclaimed to them – handing it on to them as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the 3^rd day in accordance with the scriptures – and then appeared to many, many witnesses

·       Yet it seems that some of them have not understood what this means

o   Some of them are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead

§  Scholars suggest that some of the Corinthians thought that they had already experienced a spiritual resurrection, that this life and world in which they find themselves is all there is, all there is to hope for

o   They are in a goo – they are not what they were, but not yet what they will be – and yet they don’t recognize that there is transformation yet to come

This time of the world feels gooey to me

·       Much of life this side of the grave feels gooey, honestly

·       We see the world through caterpillar eyes – this world is what we have experienced, all that we have known

·       In this time of pandemic, in other times of crisis and great change, we may feel confined by our circumstances, hemmed in by our own chrysalises, not able to experience the freedom that we once knew

·       Confused, anxious, concerned, loss, grief

·       Life as we knew it dissolving; things we took for granted gone or changing

o   No matter what we may think individually about this novel coronavirus and the diseases and health challenges it creates, there is no denying that it has rocked our world and made us rethink so many things, from health and hygiene practices to how valuable and necessary certain essential services/job really are, to grappling with injustices surrounding poverty and health care and child care; so many pieces of this societal puzzle have come apart – trying to figure out a way to put them back together in a way that is just and sustainable – for individuals, for households/families, for our culture, for the global community, for our planet/creation

o   Even something as simple as celebrating birthdays (Blow out your candles and then we’ll serve everyone the cake you just breathed all over!!)

·       We don’t entirely know what things are going to look like on the other side, even as we begin to slowly and cautiously emerge from this chrysalis of staying safer-at-home

o   And we may be tempted to try to emerge as caterpillars again – to return to doing the same things that we have done in the past, to revert to old ways of worship, of work, of relating to the world and one another

·       But Paul’s words remind us during these times, “we will not all die, but we will all be changed!” (taking a little liberty with what Paul was getting at – b/c he was talking about what happens after this life, but it fits what happens in these kind of world-changing times as well)

·       There is no going back to being a caterpillar, church. The world has changed. We have changed. We will keep changing.

 But back to the caterpillar for a minute

·       B/c scientists have looked at what happens in that goo and beyond

·       Though the caterpillar mostly dissolves, there are tiny microscopic parts that remember what it is to be a muscle cell, or a brain cell

o   In fact, one researcher did an experiment to see if caterpillars retained any memories on the other side: sprayed strong smell, zapped the caterpillar, over and over til caterpillar associated smell with getting zapped and started to move away whenever smell came

o   Control caterpillars didn’t have an such reaction to this smell

o   And when moths emerged on the other side, and exposed to same odor – they’d move the opposite direction!

o   And so some part of what the caterpillar comes forward through the chrysalis to the adult form

·       And even more amazing – when scientists dissect a caterpillar – beneath the skin are some structures of the butterfly yet to be – wings, antennae, legs are there, already formed, before the caterpillar enters its chrysalis –

o   These tiny adult parts are rolled up and hidden along the edges of the chrysalis, not going through the goo – becoming part of the adult butterfly when the goo is transformed

·       The caterpillars carry with them part of their future selves, long before they fully become those creatures!

 I think Paul would have loved this metaphor

·       Because though the Corinthian Christians are not yet fully what God has made them to be – the process has already started; transformation has already begun

·       Because Christ has been raised, we believe and trust that we will be raised too

o   He is the first fruits of those who have died

o   He is the model, the prototype for what humanity will one day experience in its fullness

§  Jesus, in a physical body, eating and drinking, and tangible enough to touch, still known by his scars

§  And yet transformed, different – is unrecognized by Mary M. in the garden, can pass through locked doors, has to convince the disciples it was really truly him

·       And Paul wants to remind that early church that physical resurrection is real – but also that this kind of life/heart transformation is not just something to hope for in the afterlife, but instead about transforming the way they live in the here and now

o   Christ’s life and death and resurrection change us, calling forth from us what God placed within us from the start, characteristics that are already taking shape, but haven’t yet fully emerged, like the adult wings and legs and antennae are already present in the caterpillar

o   Things like love and joy and peace and patience, kindness and compassion, generosity and mercy, wisdom, faithfulness, gentleness, and courage to face change and challenge

·       Knowing that Christ is even now at work in the world to overcome every ruler and authority and power, to put all enemies under his feet, even death!

People of God, this time will change us, has changed us, is changing us!

·       Old things, ways, expectations, systems are dissolving in this amorphous goo, but we don’t entirely know what will emerge on the other side

·       Will we embrace the changes God longs to create in our lives or struggle to go back to what once was? Will we allow ourselves to sit with this discomfort and disorientation of not being what we were and yet not quite yet knowing what we will be?

·       Will we dare to trust the God who made us, who forms us, who loves us? To believe that God can transform us into something new, and that that something new will be something good, something amazing, something beyond our expectations or imaginations?

o   Not just in some future day when we die and are raised to new life in Christ (though that is when we will experience it fully, completely) – but now? In this present time?

o   We will certainly bring along with us some of the things that were important to us and who we are before we entered this time of transformation

Just as caterpillars carry within them essential parts of their future selves, God has already placed within us all that we need to become who God has created us to be

·       What are those things will God call forth from us, already present and waiting to be released? – not just as individuals, but as a congregation, as people of faith united in Christ’s love for us and for all of creation beyond all of the divides us (both the superficial and the monumental)?

Christ’s life, death, and resurrection calls us into God’s future, where we will be like Christ

·       May Christ’s life and love transform us even now to be more and more like him, while we await our emergence into the life Jesus gives – and may we share this hope with the world who needs to know that there is new life beyond the goo.

·       Thanks be to God

·       Amen.

 

 

May 10, 2020 - Jesus Unites Us Despite Our Divisions - 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Jesus Unites Us Despite Our Divisions
1Corinthians 1:10-18
Easter 5 – May 10, 2020

Get-Along T-shirt

·       Kids “quarreling” (fighting!) this past week (quarantining isn’t easy on any of us! ;) )

·       Mentioned to Andy that maybe we should get one of those giant T-shirts that says, “This is our get along shirt”

o   Idea being that you put 2 kids in it – both of their heads through the head-hold and each get 1 armhole – but they are bound together with this shirt until they learn to get along

o   Doesn’t really teach them how to resolve conflict, just forces them to be close to one another; makes for a funny picture, but it’s not really effective

At 1^st read, sounds a little like what Paul is advocating here – just get along!

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.” – 1 Cor. 1:10-11

·       The church in Corinth was a contentious mess

·       Disagreements all over the place about all sorts of things

·       In this passage – it’s about loyalty to different leaders – “I belong to Paul/Apollos/Cephas/Christ”

o   Familiar territory – preferred preachers/pastors – founding pastors, the person who baptized/confirmed you; the one who was there when you joined the church

·       Lots of other issues too – about how to handle sexual immorality among them, what to do about divisions of socio-economic status/behavior at common meal, who had the most important spiritual gifts, etc.

·       From the reading, we hear that they are divvying themselves up into different factions, with each respective group thinking that their preferred leader/way/belief is the “right” one

o   Roman society was a hierarchical structure – wealthy and powerful at the top/ sense of entitlement based on those kind of divisions

·       Church kind of like kids squabbling and fighting, and you can kind of hear Paul exhorting them to just get along!

 

A Get-Along shirt doesn’t solve the deeper issues

We know this to be true

·       Live in a deeply fractured society that seems to just keep splitting farther and farther apart

o   Certainly we can see this in congregations – though CTV really doesn’t seem to have too many of these kinds of issues, I’m thankful to say! J

·       Part of human nature to define ourselves as what we are vs. what we are not and to group up with others who are like us; this is how we get our sense of identity, which is so important to who we are and how we feel we connected to the world

o   Some are small and trivial things: Coke vs. Pepsi, Android vs. iPhone; Packers vs. Bears (or maybe the Vikings) (I know that last one doesn’t feel so small or trivial! ;) )

o   Some are bigger: Rural, suburban, urban; liberal/conservative/independent

·       So often we just don’t understand one another and our differing points of view (and there is social science research out there that indicates that in some cases, we literally take in the same info and experience/understand it in very different ways – it’s fascinating!!)

·       And we don’t always honor and value one another as we ought – we “other-ize” people with labels, we dismiss one another, we talk past each other; we want to hold on to the idea that we are right

o   Do this on an individual level, sometimes with friends and family (sometimes I just have to “hide” people on FB, b/c their posts just rile me up and raise my blood pressure, though I do try not to do that; I try to stay open to other points of view)

o   But that’s hard work – much harder than just putting on a “Get-along shirt” would imply

·       And Paul isn’t really advocating the underlying message of a “get-along” shirt

o   Being united in the same mind and same purpose is not the same as uniformity of opinion or just pretending differences don’t exist

o   We don’t have to be the “Borg” (of Star Trek fame – the “hive mind” where everyone believes exactly the same)

·       But the heart of what Paul is saying throughout this 1^st letter to the church in Corinth (which was made up of a hugely diverse group of people from all walks of life) is that all that they do as a people who are following Jesus comes back to love

·       It is not that the differences don’t matter or that that should just be brushed aside (though certainly Paul thinks that your preferred leader is NOT what or who is important here) – it’s that our identity is no longer to be found in all of those differences that we think are so important

·       Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians – and us – that all of the social structures that would define us, all of the ways that we identify our “tribe”, all of those differences that divide us into factions – those don’t, those shouldn’t matter

·       What unifies us is the love that we know in and through Christ Jesus and that is the unifying force for us within our congregations and how we should then interact with others in the world around us

o   Not privileging ourselves and our own understandings/beliefs, wants and desires above and beyond others

o   Not thinking that our loyalty to one particular leader or another is what matters

·       But recognizing that the core of our identity is based in Christ, who unites and unifies us beyond all that would divide us

o   We’re never going to just “get-along” – in our congregations, in the wider church, in the world

·       But belonging to Jesus reminds us and calls us to do the hard work of trying to understand one another, and to treat one another with dignity and respect, even if we’ll never see eye to eye,

·       This is our work as followers of Jesus, who laid down his rights to himself and took up a cross, dying there to reveal God’s love for all the world

·       May we seek to live out this kind of foolish, powerful love in our lives and in the world around us. Amen.