On this Friday in Easter Week,we have a poetic passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
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. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15: 51-58).
This passage has been put to music in Handel’s Messiah. Paul paints a wonderful picture which sometimes has been very misunderstood, and you may have heard of it as “the rapture” the belief of some that there will be some who will be taken by God and others left behind for a period of tribulation. This belief has been the subject of a somewhat popular series of books, The Left Behind Series.
I don't think that Paul had The Left Behind Series in mind in this passage. In the 15th chapter of his letter, Paul has been telling the Corinthians about the resurrection. Paul is looking toward the Second Coming of Christ, the first born of the new creation who has been raised to life in the resurrection. What Paul is telling the Corinthians in this portion of the letter is that death has no more power over them; death is the very thing that the majority of human beings are terrified of because of its finality and because of the unknown. Paul is telling his readers that Christ is victorious over death because he has risen, and God the Father has made him a new creation. Paul tells us that this same end awaits you and me.
Let us pray: Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
BISHOP’S COMMITTEE MEETING THIS SUNDAY—IT IS THE THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH. We have a few things on the agenda: (1) the recurring Internet access issue (we are paying for it but do not seem to have it); (2) the Community Garden and adding a new signatory to the account; (3) some maintenance issues old and new, including a few dead trees.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST especially Cindi Clack and Betty Robinson.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
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. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15: 51-58).
This passage has been put to music in Handel’s Messiah. Paul paints a wonderful picture which sometimes has been very misunderstood, and you may have heard of it as “the rapture” the belief of some that there will be some who will be taken by God and others left behind for a period of tribulation. This belief has been the subject of a somewhat popular series of books, The Left Behind Series.
I don't think that Paul had The Left Behind Series in mind in this passage. In the 15th chapter of his letter, Paul has been telling the Corinthians about the resurrection. Paul is looking toward the Second Coming of Christ, the first born of the new creation who has been raised to life in the resurrection. What Paul is telling the Corinthians in this portion of the letter is that death has no more power over them; death is the very thing that the majority of human beings are terrified of because of its finality and because of the unknown. Paul is telling his readers that Christ is victorious over death because he has risen, and God the Father has made him a new creation. Paul tells us that this same end awaits you and me.
Let us pray: Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
BISHOP’S COMMITTEE MEETING THIS SUNDAY—IT IS THE THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH. We have a few things on the agenda: (1) the recurring Internet access issue (we are paying for it but do not seem to have it); (2) the Community Garden and adding a new signatory to the account; (3) some maintenance issues old and new, including a few dead trees.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST especially Cindi Clack and Betty Robinson.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
No comments:
Post a Comment