What if …?

1 Corinthians 15:12-22 ¹²Now if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is pointless, and your faith is pointless too. ¹⁵Then we are even guilty of giving false testimony about God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it were true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then it also follows that those who fell asleep in Christ perished. ¹⁹If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all.

²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man. ²²For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive.

Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) Amen.

Early in March, a Russian “transhumanist and life extensionist” named Alex Turchin published his plan for brining people back to life. He calls it a “technological resurrection.” We only need to build a Dyson sphere to make it happen. Then we can upload people’s memories onto computers for later “resurrection.”

We only need to build a sphere that is hundreds of millions of miles around. In the center of the sphere is the sun. With the energy of the sun, Turchin says, we would be able to generate enough “computing energy from the sun” to recreate a person based on their digital roadmap and recorded memories. Then they could live in a virtual simulator similar to the Matrix.

As someone who likes sci-fi like Star Wars, Star Trek and Dr. Who, I’m impressed with Turchin’s creativity.

Still, when it comes to resurrectins, I think I’ll stick with the carpenter from Nazareth.

That’s what the apostle Paul says, too, in 1 Corinthians 15.

What if Turchin could really build a Dyson sphere? What if people could really be resurrected? That would change everything.

I’m confident that none of us believes a Dyson sphere will be created and that none of us will be resurrected by it to live inside the Matrix.

But, all of us believe that there is a resurrection – not a digital one – but a physical resurrection of the body to live eternally in God’s heaven. This resurrection comes through Jesus – the One who created the sun. This resurrection to eternal life is real. St. Paul proves it. He proves it with a series of “what if” questions. He asks, “What if Christ did not rise from the dead? Then what?” He offers some disturbing scenarios as answers.

Paul begins, “Now if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.” If the Corinthians wanted to believe that their fellow Christians were dead and in the grave, and that’s where they were going to stay, then they had to believe that Jesus was still dead and in the grave. What kind of Savior is that? One who is still dead, still in the grave. If he’s still dead, he’s not much of a God, not much of a Savior.

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is pointless …” The Bible makes the resurrection a central doctrine. If you take the preaching of the resurrection out of the Bible – and it’s in the Old Testament, too – then you have gutted the main message of the Bible. Then the Bible is not God’s love letter to a fallen race that he wants close to Himself, but it is a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of religious terrorists. Building churches, training pastors, sending out missionaries, telling children about Jesus – all of this means nothing if Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then we might as well sell our church, close our school, take our money out of the offering plate and throw away the Bible because without Christ’s resurrection, they mean nothing.

“If Christ has not been raised … your faith is pointless too.” We believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Healer and Comforter. He blesses those who are poor and hungry and who weep and who are hated by men. We confess that we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. But Paul argues that if Christ has not been raised, your faith is meaningless. You have nothing to hold on to during difficult times or even death. If there is no security in Christ, then you have to find your security elsewhere.

“Then we are even guilty of giving false testimony about God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it were true that the dead are not raised.” We began our worship today singing, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” (CW: 157). We light the Paschal Candle because it connects dying to sin and being raised to a new life in Christ in our baptismal waters to Christ’s death and resurrection. We partake in the Lord’s Supper where we believe that Christ comes to us with his body and blood in the bread and wine. But if Christ is still dead and in the grave, then you and I are a bunch of liars. We are bunch of losers. We are believing a lie. Every Sunday we are perpetuating that lie. And then Jesus is a big, fat liar, too.

“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” The comforting message of the Bible is the assurance that God forgives our sins, removes our guilt, cancels our shame and makes us victors in Christ. But Paul argues that if God the Father did not accept the work of Jesus Christ and left him to rot in the grave, then you and I are still in our sins. We are unforgiven, guilty, shame-filled, and inferior. We are condemned to eternal destruction in hell.

“Then it also follows that those who fell asleep in Christ perished.” Our fellow believers who died believing in Christ are still in their graves. There is no hope of us ever seeing them again.

“If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all.” Most of you probably remember the A-Team’s B.A. Baracus whose trademark phrase was “I pity the fool!” If Christ is still dead, why not “eat, drink, and be merry?” Why not live like animals who have no morality and no sense of right or wrong?  Why bother coming to church, taking time out of our busy schedules to read our Bibles, give our hard-earned money to the church, if everything is a lie? And if it is a lie, you and I are fools for believing it. Paul could be the first century B.A. Baracus, “I pity the fool if Christ is still dead!”

That’s Paul’s argument for Christianity and Christ’s resurrection. All the other world religions are filled with “what ifs”. “What if you live a good life?” like in Mormonism. “What if you live at peace with nature?” like Buddhism. “What if you kill the infidels?” like Islam. “What if your ancestors or the animals are spirits watching over or haunting you?” like Shinto in Japan or the spiritism among the Native Americans. However, Christianity has no “what ifs.” It is a religion of certainty – a certainty based on a Sunday morning when the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth walked out of a Jerusalem grave.  Christ’s resurrection removes all uncertainty, all ambiguity, all indecision.

Paul makes a major shift in his discussion of the resurrection. He turns away from the tragic implications there would be for people if there were no resurrection by emphatically stating: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Soon you will be planting your peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers in your garden. The best part of those vegetables is that once you pick the first ones and wait a little while, you’ll be able to pick more. Jesus is the firstfruits from the dead. He is the first of the resurrection crop. You and I and all believers will come later.

“For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man.” The inevitable has been reversed. Adam, our first father, became the originator of sinfulness and death for all humanity – no exceptions, no exclusions! What a fate! However, Jesus Christ, our firstfruits, became the originator of salvation and life for all humanity. It applies to everyone! “For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive.” What is true of the One is true of all. Your forgiveness and eternal life are activated by Jesus, not you, as guaranteed in his payment for sin received when his Father raised him from the dead.

Christ arose with a glorious body, no longer bruised and bloody, but complete and perfect and no longer confined to space and time. And when he shall appear on that glorious morning to unlock our caskets, he shall raise us from the dead. Then we will be like Jesus. All deafness will be gone. All blindness will disappear. All weakness in our arms and legs will vanish. Death will no longer have any hold over us. Then we will sit at the Lamb’s High Feast (CW: 141) for it is the Feast of Victory (CW: 265). All this is possible because Jesus was raised from the dead.

What does all this mean for you now? It means that because Jesus finished his Father’s work, your life has worth. Because he was forsaken, you will never be alone. Because he was buried, you can be raised. Because he lives, you don’t have to be afraid. Because he was raised, you can be strong. Because he has reached down to you, you don’t have to work your way up to him. Because His promises are always true, you can hope!

Paul gives a detailed, rational argument why Jesus had to rise from the dead because the “what ifs” are too terrible to imagine.

Notice that in Paul’s argument for Christ’s resurrection he doesn’t say Jesus “probably rose” or “possibly rose” or “sort of rose” or “we think he rose.” No, Paul says, “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead.” It is a fact – an undeniable fact – a real fact. Let the world laugh and make mockery of us for what we believe. The fact remains – the Easter tomb was empty. Jesus is leading the parade of those who have been rescued from the grave’s clutches. The cemetery is not a place of death. It a place that will soon be the place of life.

The disciples saw a risen Lord. They ate with a risen Lord. They touched a risen Lord. They listened to a risen Lord. Day after day they visited with him. And because they did, we don’t have to rely on the “what if” of a technological resurrection through an impossible Dyson sphere. We can be sure our eternity doesn’t rest upon an unanswered “what if?” Look at all the evidence. Jesus Christ is alive. And that means you and I will live, too. Amen.

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18) Amen.