1 Corinthians 15:30-45; The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany; February 23, 2025;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:30–45, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Every sickness, every accident, every injury, every form of suffering leads to the question that Paul poses in this text. It was especially poignant for the Corinthians who had seen their brothers and sister die for the faith. And it is an important question considering the context he sets. In the first few sentences he contends that Christian suffering is only valuable if there is a resurrection. In fact, he says that if there is no resurrection we may as well be doing something else. We are moving our services to “Up Yonder”. If there is no resurrection, we may as well skip the service all together, order a stiff drink, and watch hockey. So, given that the resurrection validates Christian suffering, he states the obvious question,

How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?

In our language we might ask, “Will it be worth it?” Paul’s answer is straight forward and a little blunt.

You foolish person!

Of course it will. The resurrection of the body is the primary hope of all Christians. Without the resurrection there isn’t any hope at all.

Christianity is false, in fact, if Christ isn’t raised from the dead. If he is not, Paul says a few verses earlier in 1 Corinthians,

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17, ESV)

Paul says, if Jesus is not raised, then you are not to be raised, our preaching is in vain, our faith is futile, we are still in our sins, those who have gone before us have perished, and we are “most to be pitied”. It is a blunt answer, making Christianity dependent on the resurrection, and particularly Jesus’ resurrection. Christianity can, in fact, be proven false, if the body of Christ is produced. That’s how important the resurrection is to our faith.

Paul uses a metaphor, the seed. A seed can’t grow into a plant, it can’t bear the fruit intended if it isn’t planted in the ground. The seed can’t see the glory of the plant any more than a baby in the womb can understand the fullness of life outside the womb.

For you and me, he says, what is sown, that is planted in the ground in death, is perishable, dishonorable and weak, a natural body.

Our human body is perishable, sickness and injury are a part of our everyday life. Sore knees, hips, broken bones, cancer, bird flu, failing eyesight… the list goes on and on. Perishable means heading toward death. Food in the fridge doesn’t last forever. And that is the body we have. It is the consequence of sin. That’s what it means when the bible says,

For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23, ESV)

We are perishable. But, Paul says, through the resurrection of the body, we will become imperishable. No more illness, no more injury, no more failing eyesight. The food in the fridge lasts forever.

What is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.

What Paul is saying here is profound. Today and every day we breathe, we live in dishonor. We wear it on our sleeve. We do what we don’t want to do. We don’t do what we want to do.

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Romans 7:15, ESV)

That’s the daily struggle against sin, that is so ingrained in us that we can’t stop sinning.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24, ESV)

That is the dishonor. The dishonor of daily sin. And death is the result. A sinful body rotting sown in the ground.

But it is raised in glory. The promise of resurrection is the removal of dishonor. No passage of scripture describes this better than Romans 6:5-7.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:5-7, ESV)

It is our death in Jesus that accomplishes it. Our old self, our sinful dishonor, was crucified with Christ. The body of sin, the dishonor, is brought to nothing. We have died, in Christ, and are set free from sin. The resurrection cannot be separated from the cross. Our sin is done away with there. Holy Baptism is the promise of the old self, the sinful dishonor, dead and buried. It is the promise of the resurrection where the dishonor is completely gone.

It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

The weakness of what is sown is obvious. We get sick. The world rejoices in diseases that have been irradicated. But the truth is they are lurking below the surface, ready to strike our weak bodies. Work is hard. We are easily fatigued. It doesn’t matter how fit you are, you get tired. And our bodies break down with age.

“It was much more fun to live in the sixties, that to be sixty.” A quote from the internet.

And worst of all, we die. That is the culmination of our weakness, again death is in the picture.

Raised in power is the answer. All our weakness is gone. No longer will sickness plague us. No longer will fatigue be a problem. No longer will the frailty of age sneak up on us. We will be filled with divine life and strength.

Paul calls this a “spiritual body”. It doesn’t mean a non-physical body. It isn’t that we will be raised from death to living on clouds with harps in our hands having sprouted wings. Job says it.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27, ESV)

In this flesh, with these very eyes. This body will raise from death because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Our spiritual body will be physical, it won’t be subject to all the things that are buried in the grave. Death is done in. We will no longer die. Sin is dead in the grave. We will no longer sin. We will be fully controlled by the Holy Spirit.

It is return to Creation.

first man Adam became a living being

Everything that Adam was created to be, will be ours again. God’s perfect design for people will be fully realized.

Will it be worth it? I think so. And so did Paul. He said it this way to the congregation in Rome.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18, ESV)

The sufferings of the present time. All of them are part of this natural body, perishable, dishonorable and weak. But that’s just it, the present time, not forever, passing away and sooner than any of us believe. Unless Jesus returns first, we will all close our eyes in death. And when they open all of that perishable, dishonorable, weakness will be gone. We will be delivered from this body of death.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25, ESV)

Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Luke.4.31-44; The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 2, 2025

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:31-44, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today will be a good day to review the 2nd article of the Apostles’ creed. P. 322 in the front of your hymnal. Let’s read it together. I believe in Jesus Christ, His-only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

Now the part I want you to pay close attention to today is the part that says: [Jesus] purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death…

This Gospel reading today from St. Luke reflects what Luther is talking about right here. When we talk about the work of Jesus, which is what he did for us through his life, death and resurrection, we are talking about those three things: rescue from sin death and the power of the devil. And that’s what we see in this reading today. It starts with the power of Satan.

Jesus casts out a demon from a man in the synagogue. First, we must remember that Satan has real power. These demons that possessed people were and are real. In those days they were well recognized. We don’t know what kind of trouble this one caused but we are reminded by St. Peter to be on the watch for Satan.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8, ESV)

And it’s true and we’ve all seen Satan’s handiwork. We don’t have to go far either. All we have to do is look around us, we can see it right here. You’ve seen the destructive power of Satan at work even in our church. He divides. He distracts. He sets friends against friends. He urges us to concentrate on things that are unimportant, making us think they are most important. He whispers lies in our ears that we gladly believe because it’s the easy way. His goal is for you and me to go to hell. He works especially hard among Christians to get them to take their eyes of the Cross of Christ. And we listen to him all too often. In fact, if it weren’t for God’s Word and the Sacraments, if it weren’t for Jesus we’d be slaves to Satan and all his works and all his ways.

It’s no different in the Gospel. This possessed man was in the Synagogue. Life in Christ is no different than any other church where God’s Word is proclaimed. But Jesus shows he is more powerful than any demon, and even Satan. When he commands the demon out, the evil spirit throws a tantrum by throwing the man on the ground, but he can’t hurt the man anymore. Jesus has commanded him to come out and he must do so immediately. This evil angel, this unclean spirit asks Jesus, “Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus’ answer is an emphatic “Yes!”

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, ESV)

Jesus performs this miracle for us. That’s what Luke wants us to see. Jesus rescues us from the power of the Devil.

Next, we see Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law. She has a very high fever. She is dangerously sick. This is Jesus rescuing us from death. After all illness is just death lying in wait for us. Every time you and I get sick we are pushed closer to the grave. When you have the flu you might say, “I just want to die and get it over with.” Illness and disease take away our abilities. We can’t take care of ourselves. We can’t take care of other people. When we are sick, we are slaves to it. And no matter how hygienic we are we just can’t always avoid it either. We don’t have to look very far to see that this is true either. Right here, just look at our prayer list. It is long. It seems to grow every day. While it’s good that we pray for all these folks, each name on the list is illness taking its toll; cancer, influenza, pneumonia, blood clots, heart attacks and death and more. Each illness is a sign that we will all die. And there isn’t anything we can do about it. Death has us in its grasp. We are slaves to illness and death. Well at least that is without Jesus.

Jesus shows us his rescue again. I think it is very interesting that St. Luke uses the very same word about what Jesus does. He rebuked the demon. He rebuked the fever and it comes right out of her. Now we should see right away that this isn’t healing in the way that we’ve seen it. When someone is released from the hospital we pray for their recovery. Peter’s Mother-in-Law had no recovery. She got up and went right to work without any effects. Jesus’ healing shows more than just the removal of the illness. It shows a return to life the way that God has designed it. She was free to do what she was called to do, serve the guests that had come to her house.

Jesus performs this miracle for us. That’s what Luke wants us to see. Jesus rescues us from the power of the death.

But Luke also wants us to know that Jesus does even more yet. The news spreads and people bring all kinds of sick, and demon possessed to Jesus. He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them, the text says. He heals them all, every one of them. St. Luke wants us to see Jesus rescuing us, too.

Now there’s one of the three yet to go, and admittedly it’s not mentioned directly in the text. But it is here. Jesus rescues us from sin. You see, Satan has power among us because there is sin among us. Death has power among us because sin is among us. What we see Jesus doing here, is restoring things to the way they should be, because without sin there would be no illness and death. Without sin Satan would have no power over us. It is important to see that Jesus healing miracles are always accompanied by Jesus’ preaching. That’s how the text starts out. Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath. And that’s how the text ends Jesus says, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God…” What is the good news of the kingdom of God? Back to Luther’s words: I believe that Jesus Christ… has purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, [God/Jesus] himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14-15, ESV)

That’s it exactly. Through death Jesus rescues us from lifelong slavery to sin, death and the power of the devil. How does Luther say it: not with gold or silver, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. You see those miracles we see here, commanding demons and fevers to leave, are just the little ones that point to the big one, the important one, the miracle of God-come-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ. I like how Luke, who’s always interested in Jesus direct connection to people, says that Jesus laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. That very hand that he stretched out to heal and cast out demons is the very same hand that he stretched out on the cross. It’s there that he paid the price for sin, not with gold or silver, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Being alive to God in Christ Jesus, means that we don’t have to tolerate Satan’s temptations, we don’t have to live in sin. Satan wants us to think that money is more important than people. Satan wants us to think that the budget is of a higher priority than the telling people of this community that Jesus lived and died and rose again for them. But that’s not being alive to God in Christ Jesus. We don’t have to live that way anymore. Instead, we can get our priorities right. Our income is a gift from God, not to be used to purchase the latest and greatest toys for ourselves, but to use in service to our families, our church and our community.

Being alive to God in Christ Jesus, means that illness, death and Satan are nothing to fear. We may not be able to avoid them, but Jesus tells us that they are done in. Our death isn’t the end but only the beginning of life forever with him. So, illness is an opportunity to serve; first, in prayer, then in presence. I would urge you to pay particular attention to those among us who are ill, or suffering, and make an extra effort to touch them, as Jesus did. And what about all those on our prayer list? We care for them by praying, and that’s important, but is there more you can do. Especially, I would urge you to be the loving hand of Jesus to those on our prayer list. Nothing will break down those cliquish walls we’ve been so eager to build up at Satan’s prompting faster than the loving touch of Jesus Christ.

All of that is possible, not just possible but happens, through Jesus. Picture this one last thing. There’s a practice in our church that we don’t use much here, but you can see it in print if you turn to p. 293 in f your hymnal. There in red letters toward the top of the page you’ll see these words.

The pastor places his hands on the head of the penitent and says:

In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the  Son and of the Holy Spirit.

That’s the touch of Jesus, forgiving you all your sins. As your called and ordained servant of the Word, Jesus speaks his words through my lips, and he touches you through my hands. Understand that it’s not my forgiveness that I give to you, it’s his. He purchased and won you from all sins, death and the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.