The First Fruits - 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 (Epiphany 6C)

 As much as I've enjoyed the winter weather... I can't help but to look ahead to when it's a little warmer outside. I know it's a little before the season, but does anyone enjoy garage sales? I mean, it's a great way to clear out stuff from your house you've accumulated, and if you're lucky, then you can get some cash out of it to do whatever you want with, whether it's to trade it for more stuff or not! 

Anyway - about five years ago, at our old house, we tried to have a garage sale. We got all our stuff around, put on a half dozen tables, labeled & priced everything to move. It was part of a whole neighborhood two-day sale; we thought - how can we not get rid of this stuff??

We opened the garage on the first morning, hoping there'd be a line down our street. There was no one. We said, maybe it's just early - the people will come later. 

At the end of the first day, we had no customers. What we didn't realize is that as much as we told people we knew, there was no greater advertising in the newspaper or online or anything. 

The worst part of the whole thing is we only sold one item. It was a pair of rusty garden shears for three dollars. We sold them to a high school kid who wanted them for a school project, taking them away on his skateboard. Not the best way to carry them but... seemed okay. What was the worst thing about it was that we inherited those shears from the people we bought the house from. They left them behind!

We had really great hopes for this garage sale! I mean - it was going to start a fund so we could have a vacation! Who wouldn't want that? And yet - living at the end of a cul de sac makes it really hard to market and execute a garage sale very well. 

At the beginning of the garage sale, we were both excited about the possibility of not only getting rid of all our junk, but profiting from it. We wanted to tell EVERYONE in the weeks leading up to the day of the sale. Hey... we got some really good stuff.. you know you want to come check it out... 

But at the end of the first day, having had no traffic, not even random people to talk to, it really discouraged us, and to think... we had another day to sit around and stare at the stuff we didn't want anymore. 

Paul is talking in our scripture this morning about another way of turning what was useless into full of life, continuing our discussion from last week about Christ's resurrection, moving on to the rest of us.

Our faith is centered around the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To continue the metaphor, imagine in the last few minutes, a mysterious stranger comes to your garage sale and says without even looking at the items, I'll take everything. Load it up in my truck and I'll take it. That would be miraculous! Not only would we rid ourselves of what we wished to get rid of, and we have the cash to use however we will, I bet we'd have a story to tell. We are energized and motivated to tell people once again, about this stranger saving our garage sale. 

Now, we have the opportunity to do just that.... and no - I don't want you this springtime to go around all the local garage sales to empty out people's storage spaces. But we can tell people about the resurrection that brought life to those who thought life was limited! That life had an expiration date! That there is an abundance of life for those who wish to hear and live it. 

Let's take a closer look at what Paul is saying... now, last week, again, we were talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God in human form. Paul moves past this, and expands his thoughts about resurrection of... everyone. This sounds very different that what I talked about just a few weeks ago about spiritual gifts, and love, but it kind of makes sense. Let me explain - starting at the beginning, we need to find our spiritual gifts, and through those spiritual gifts, love can be the result, deepening our relationship with God and with humanity as their creation. In this building of faith, Paul is trying to point out what matters. The resurrection of Christ is something that is foundational to the Christian faith. So he wants to talk about it and not beat around the bushes. He starts with Jesus, because as much as we want to know what happens to each of us dies, there is no disputing that Christ died, was buried and resurrected back to life. 

Wait - so what were the ideas of what resurrection was? Our culture says that it's your spirit leaving the body (which can be traced back to Greek origins); is it reincarnation - the idea that your soul is recycled into a new body? (like some Buddhists and Hindus believe). Did this resurrection ONLY happen to Jesus? These are all valid questions, but Paul is putting words to the idea that Jesus was raised from the dead, not only as a spirit, but as flesh encapsulated. This is not even the more modern idea that our spiritual / rational self will leave our flawed and fleshy prison. All of it - skin, bones and everything between is a part of God's creation. Later in the chapter (starting in verse 35), Paul does double back a little bit on his own words and say that the body is more like a seed in a garden, transforming from something unknown into beautiful fruit. 

But in verse 20 is where we get the title of today's sermon - "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."  But, those firstfruits? What are those? Can I get them at a grocery store? The firstfruits are a reference to the Old Testament, in terms of a sacrifice. We offer God the first fruits of our harvest or flock. We offer God our best, so we can show faith that God will provide. 

How is Christ then,"the first fruit of those who have died"? Christ is the best of humanity, and sacrificed everything - including his life - assuring us of more life to have hope for. This is not meant to put Christ on some sort of pedestal. This is to show what is possible in God's plan for his creation. As Jesus was raised, so we will be raised. The idea was that the fruits, grains or animals offered to God as a sacrifice, then the rest of the harvest would be blessed, and in that same thought, we are the "rest of the harvest" after Jesus' sacrifice, so we are blessed. The Greek word that it came from could also be translated as an entrance fee, if you will. 

I hope that the theme of this whole series has come through - that love never ends - that God is with us yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's not just supposed to be a slogan; a quick yet disposable thought. It's rich and deep and gets to the core of what we are doing here. The love that we have in this room for the others and even the community around us, has been connecting us to those who started the church back those 60-odd years ago, and to the community who will be here 60 years from now. It's what makes life real, making sure everyone we are interacting with knows they are loved. We are loved because Christ loved us.  

And this, friends, is the Gospel, here is the good news. Christ loved us, so we must go and love, never ceasing, telling the world about how God has transformed our lives through grace and mercy. When the church is seemingly going in many different ways, the gospel is always where we should start and end. How do I love my neighbor? How can Jesus' resurrection bring my neighbor a break from their suffering? How can the love of God work through me to bring justice and mercy? 

Isn't that one way to consider our spiritual life? We accept Jesus into our lives, and we think we have great hope, and after a while, in the rejection that sometimes happens, or feeling embarrassed or scared to share the gospel with those who may need it, we feel let down.

Imagine laying your sins bare for the God of the universe, and for him to look at it, turn away, and think... yeah - I've already got stuff like this, I don't need any more. Thinking about it like that, it's heartbreaking. But Paul has different ideas. He says, if Christ has been raised from the dead, than all believers will be raised from the dead. We don't need to preach forgiveness and grace if we are all just going to be forgotten anyway. 

But as we’ve learned this morning, God wants to bless us and our own fruits that we have created through building our vines and our gardens full of beauty. We don’t always feel like the treasures God proclaims us to be. But that is also part of the Good News too - humanity is the best of God’s creation and may we be blessed to even just to be a part of it. 

Amen.