The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio
In this section of I Corinthians, we have two chapters
that are among Paul’s most well-remembered and treasured words. I Corinthians
13 has for obvious reasons been called the Love Chapter. I Corinthians 15,
though lesser known to some people, has been called the Resurrection Chapter.
Here is an excerpt from a sermon I have preached more than once on I
Corinthians 15 entitled, Three Reasons to
Anticipate a Great Future….
Finally, reason #3 that this passage gives us for
anticipating a great future is that God’s grace can change our lives.
Paul writes,
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of
God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the
contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace
of God that is with me.
What is grace? I like author Anne Lamott’s
definition: “Grace means you’re in a different universe
from where you had been stuck, when you had absolutely no way to get there on
your own.”
Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God…”
God’s grace changes the lives of everyone it
touches. It changed Peter’s life. How can we forget? Peter was the one who
denied even knowing Jesus on the night Jesus was arrested and brought to trial.
Yet, Jesus appeared first to Peter so that their relationship could be
restored. That is grace.
James was Jesus’ half-brother. He did not believe
that Jesus really was the Son of God before his resurrection. (If you have
brothers, you will understand how this works.) However, Paul tells us that
Jesus appeared to James, apparently to give him a second chance to believe.
James did become a believer and one of the leaders of the early Church.
Then there was Paul himself. He had
persecuted the followers of Christ. Yet, Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus
and gave Paul another chance to follow him. Paul’s life was changed by that
encounter. God’s grace led Paul to work as hard as he could to spread the good
news about Jesus. In short, grace is God doing for us what we cannot do for
ourselves.
Actor Kevin Bacon tells this story about when
his 6-year-old son saw his movie Footloose for the first time:
He said, “Hey, Dad, you know that thing in
the movie where you swing from the rafters of that building? That’s really
cool, how did you do that?”
I said, “Well, I didn’t do that part—it
was a stunt man.”
“What’s a stunt man?” he asked.
“That’s someone who dresses like me and
does things I can’t do.”
“Oh,” he replied and walked out of the
room looking a little confused.
A little later he said, “Hey, Dad, you
know that thing in the movie where you spin around on that gym bar and land on your
feet? How did you do that?”
I said, “Well, I didn’t do that. It was a
gymnastics double.”
“What’s a gymnastics double?” he asked.
“That’s a guy who dresses in my clothes and
does things I can’t do.”
There was silence from my son, then he
asked in a concerned voice, “Dad, what did you do?”
“I got all the glory,” I sheepishly
replied.[1]
Joel Sarrault writes, “That’s the grace of
God in our lives. Jesus took our sin upon himself and did what we couldn’t do.
We stand forgiven and bask sheepishly triumphant in Jesus’ glory.”
Thus, God has given us three reasons in
this passage to shout. We can anticipate a great future because Christ died for
our sins, because he has been raised from the dead, and because God’s grace can
change our lives.
If you would like to listen to the entire message, of which this is an excerpt, click here: Three Reasons to Anticipate a Great Future.
[1] Joel Sarrault in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching
(Baker), from the editors of Leadership.
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