Unreasonably Reasonable
Swiss theologian Karl Barth famously said, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both.” Many preachers stop there when it comes to this instruction given to the greatest theologian of his day. But there is more to the quote: “Take your Bible and take your newspaper and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” This morning we will attempt to heed the words of Karl Barth.
Three days after Easter in 2019, the New York Times ran an opinion piece featuring a conversation between New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof and, at the time, the newly minted President of Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. Serene Jones. The conversation was edited to save column inches, so Kristof begins the conversation with a doozy of a question in the published interview.
Kristof asked, “Do you think of Easter as literal flesh-and-blood resurrection?”
Rev. Dr. Jones first answered the question without answering, so Kristof pushed her on the point.
Kristof asked, “Without the physical resurrection, isn’t there a risk that we are left with just the crucifixion?”
Rev. Dr. Jones skirted the question two more times, but Kristof was persistent.
Kristof asked, “Isn’t a Christianity without a physical resurrection less powerful and awesome?”
Rev. Dr. Jones answer Kristof’s question.
Rev. Dr. Jones responded, “For Christians for whom the resurrection becomes sort of an obsession, that seems to me to be a pretty wobbly faith.”
The interview published by the New York Times is precisely the conversation occurring within the Corinthian church that the Apostle Paul is addressing in our scripture reading.
“Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures.”
And Paul continues in next week’s reading saying, “If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless… If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.”
Paul addresses what is perhaps the oldest and longest-running question the Church has wrestled with since Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb and a stone rolled to lock his body inside.
Paul does not hold up the burial clothes left behind by Jesus as evidence, and Paul does not quote Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. When Paul penned this letter, the gospels had yet to be written. Paul does not tell a story with angles as the gospels of John and Luke will. Paul does not recount a “great earthquake” as the Gospel of Matthew will.
Paul gives an argument.
Avoiding cliches about love being stronger than the grave, Paul puts forth evidence that Jesus Christ is in FACT – not hypothetically or theoretically – raised from the dead. According to Paul, the tomb IS empty, and because of this FACT, nothing else matters.
Throughout Paul’s letters, he points to the FACT that Jesus Christ is risen. Paul does not point to parables and miracles. Instead, Paul points to that which is entirely beyond reason yet is entirely not unreasonable to believe.
The Church is full of people with unorthodox beliefs and practices. This has been the case, is the case, and will be the case until the resurrected Christ returns and his kingdom is fully realized. To people like Rev. Dr. Jones, to those who cross their fingers or toes when reciting the creeds, you are not devoid of a spiritual connection with God because that is not how God operates. God does not punish us for our beliefs or lack of belief. For that matter, God does not reward us for our beliefs either. So, if you chalk Easter up to a fools’ day or the Sunday on the calendar when it is impossible to get a last-minute brunch reservation, that’s fine. You do not have to believe the resurrection happened.
Your disbelief, along with your belief, does not change that the entirety of the New Testament, corroborated by the witness of Cephas, the twelve disciples, 500 people – actually more than 500 people because, according to Jewish custom, Paul only mentions the men – and included in that 500 is Jesus’ half-brother who had not been a disciple because he thought his brother was a total nut job while Jesus was alive, understands the resurrection of Jesus Christ as an event in history.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, is not a myth or moral metaphor.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, is FACT.
Christianity, Paul tells us, is not a set of moral teachings or a group of practices you must master before the salvific work of God is yours. Christianity is news. It is news of what Jesus Christ has done with you not having to do anything yourself.
This news is the Gospel – news of what God has done for you despite your failures, no matter how hard you have tried, to love God or your neighbor as much as your love yourself.
The Gospel is not how to build a better you.
The Gospel is not how to build a better world.
The Gospel is not telling someone who they are allowed to love.
This Gospel is not spirituality, service projects, or political influence.
The Gospel is news that the tomb is empty.
The Gospel is news that a better world has been built.
The Gospel is news that Jesus Christ is risen.
And this is the most urgent endeavor of the Church as this news is what separates the Church from secular liberal do-gooders and those who might attempt to prescribe legislative morality.
The news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ comes to us as a surprise because conventional wisdom tells us the news we have received is incomprehensible, implausible, and is downright BS.
[Howard Thurman Image Slide]Rev. Dr. Jones’ predecessor theologian Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman said this of the surprising news the church bears witness to:
“It carries with it the element of elation, life, of something over and beyond the surprise itself… This meaning has to do with the very ground and foundation of hope about the nature of life itself… It is as if a man stumbling in the darkness, having lost his way, finds that the spot at which he falls is the foot of a stairway that leads from darkness into light.”
The Gospel Good News of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s vindication over the power of sin and death in this life.
It is Good News.
It is Good News because what happened on the cross and because Jesus Christ is risen, all of your failures to adequately answer the question “What Would Jesus Do?” are forgiven. Once-for-all forgiveness for you.
The tomb remains empty so that you will remember that all of your sins – the ones they will not let you forget and the ones you cannot forgive yourself for – are forgotten. Buried with Jesus Christ in his death were all of your sins. And in the light of the Good News of his resurrection, his perfect righteousness is now yours.
The best news.
Good News.
This Good News is the news that is proclaimed week after week, the best kind of broken record because it does not matter if you are an orthodox stick in the mud or an unorthodox heretic. It does not matter if you cling to the resurrection news or find it impossible to believe because you are not who they say you are, what you do, or what you believe.
Because of the Good News encountered by the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus – Jesus Christ, resurrected – witnessed by the Church for over 2000 years, you are who Jesus is – a beloved child of God. You are what he has done. You are perfect – made perfect by his righteousness and unwavering love.
