Loving God, you continue to call us into faith, inviting us to be renewed in your love by the power of your Holy Spirit.  By that same Spirit, strengthen us in our faith today, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            In 1 Corinthians, we get a glimpse into some of the things that people struggled with in the early church.  Last week, we heard about how they struggled with love, giving in to pride and arrogance instead.  This week, we hear that at least some of them struggled with the resurrection.  Some had been saying that the dead will not be raised, and perhaps some also had trouble believing that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

         This is particularly interesting because, at the time that 1 Corinthians was written, there were people who were still alive who had seen the risen Jesus with their own eyes.  Yet, we also know from the gospels that even Jesus’ closest companions struggled to believe that he really was risen from the dead.  They see the risen Jesus and they touch him.  They see the scars from the nails on his hands and feet.  He eats with them and talks with them.  And yet, many of them still had doubts.

         In Paul’s effort to convince the Corinthians of the truth of the resurrection, he points to the faith that has been passed on to them from those eye-witnesses.  We can hear echoes of the Creed as he tells them “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  To Paul, these are essential aspects of their faith in Jesus.

         At the same time, Paul lists a few different occasions when the risen Jesus had appeared to his followers, even citing one occasion when Christ “appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time” (1 Cor. 15:6).  Paul also points to his own experience, even though he didn’t physically see Jesus.  In his case, he saw a blinding light and heard a voice from heaven that said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5).  Thus, Paul lifts up what the scriptures say, what the eye-witnesses say, and his own experience in trying to convince them (and us) of the truth of the resurrection.

         Essentially, Paul is laying down some building blocks that might lead to faith.  Whether he convinced anybody, we do not know, and it can be difficult for those of us who are people of faith to know what things might be needed in order to help somebody else to believe.  There are building blocks, and there are also stumbling blocks, and there is no one size fits all formula for how people come to faith.  In fact, if I were to ask each one of you today what the building blocks are for your faith – or what the stumbling blocks are for you – each one of you would likely have a different answer.

         For some of you, you can’t even remember a time when you did not believe in Jesus.  He has just always been there in your lives.  For others among you, there was a specific turning point in your life when something happened that kindled your faith in Jesus.  And, many of you have struggled with your faith along the way, but God has brought you through those struggles.

         People have, in fact, believed in Jesus through some of the things that Paul mentions in today’s reading.  Some have come to faith through reading the Scriptures – even through reading unlikely books like Leviticus and Esther (William Barclay, In the Hands of God)!  Some have also been helped in their faith by seeing the changed lives of others who believe in Jesus.  This was certainly true for some of those who witnessed how Paul’s life was changed after he had encountered Jesus on the road.

         Ultimately, however, it is personal experiences of the power of God that help the most in both kindling and strengthening our faith.  A moment of clarity during a worship experience.  An obvious answer to prayer.  A miracle of healing.  A dream or vision of Jesus.  God’s Word speaking directly to your heart.  Seeing the power of the Holy Spirit at work. – Any of these experiences help solidify our faith, giving us the resources to draw on when things happen that challenge our faith.

         In fact, it is important to remember that even those who believe have doubts.  The people in Corinth who received Paul’s letter believed in Jesus, but they were having doubts about the resurrection.  For us, maybe it’s not the resurrection that troubles us, but other things that are part of the Christian faith.

         The people who possibly struggle the most, though, are those who want to believe and find that they just can’t.  I have heard people point to various things that are stumbling blocks for them when it comes to faith.  Some have decided that the church is full of hypocrites, and they want no part of that.  Others have found some details in the Bible that they can’t quite square away, and that has become a stumbling block.  And still others look at all that is evil and wrong in the world and can’t figure out how there could be a loving God.

         If we are entirely honest, those who do believe have also struggled with some of these things over the centuries.  In fact, I remember one seminary professor saying that faith is all about becoming comfortable with ambiguity.  However, regardless of which things we might struggle with in our faith, ultimately, faith is not something that we can produce either in ourselves or in other people.  Faith is always and only the work of the Holy Spirit.  We can open ourselves to the work of the Spirit or shut ourselves off, but that is it.  God does the rest.

         Mind you, the Holy Spirit also has been known to work through things like Word and Sacrament (aka the means of grace) in order to give that gift of faith.  For, these are the things that remind us that,

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). 

Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Easter 7 (NL 2)                                 1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 51-57

May 24, 2020

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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