Grace Lutheran Church Sermon The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 11, 2007

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany “More than a victim”

February 11, 2007 1 Cor. 15:1-20

We proclaim Jesus Christ at this congregation. We join our voice to St. Paul and proclaim Christ and him crucified. The cross is a central part of our congregations’ hymns, liturgy, readings from scripture, sermons, and of course visually we all see this large cross over the altar. St. Paul began his letter to the congregation in Corinth by standing the whole contents of his letter on the indispensable pillar of faith, the cross.

We proclaim Christ and him crucified so that our faith might not rest in the wisdom and power of men but in the power of God. The world stands on power and might. Victims are defined as the ones who weren’t strong enough, did not have enough wisdom or power. Too often victims are pressured to examine themselves and discover what fault lay within themselves that brought on this tragedy.

Christ is a victim on the cross. He assumes to himself our guilt and shame. The wisdom and power of Jesus was thought by the Romans, Pharisees, Sadducees and the crowds to be foolish as Jesus hung on the cross. The cross completely flips the order of power by declaring Jesus, the lamb of God, to be the true source of God’s wisdom and power.

If we want to see the sacred heart of God we are directed to look at Jesus hanging on the cross. Jesus on the cross dies for us. The idea of wisdom and power on the cross is defined by grace instead of might, self-sacrificing love instead of competitive victory, and service instead of receiving.

Jesus told his disciples on the night he was betrayed, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

The love of the cross is a love of sacrifice and service for the other, even when that other is filled with hate and anger. Jesus died on the cross for a world that would reject him. Even with this rejection spitting him in the face and filling the air with words of hate, Jesus still gave up his spirit and with fulfillment cried out with his last breath, “It is finished.”

The wisdom of the cross is the same wisdom witnessed as Paul was on the road to Damascus. Paul had been on his way to Damascus to arrest the followers of the way of Jesus. But while on the road he was brought to his news by the call of Christ. Jesus took Paul, and used what should have been rejected, and turned him into an apostle.

But none of this love, grace, or truth can be revealed without the Resurrection. If Christ is not raised from the dead he is simply a victim. If Christ is not raised from the dead our faith in him is useless because he would be shown to be powerless against the wisdom and power that rules this world.

In the 15^th chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul reminds the Corinthians that their faith in the cross and in Christ and in all that has been taught among them has meaning only through the risen Christ.

Jesus is more than a victim at the hands of this world. Jesus is more than just an abused, beaten, mocked, and killed prophet. Jesus is not just a wise man who said some smart things and then was killed by the cruelty of this world. Jesus is more than a victim in a long string of victims.

If Jesus had not been raised from the dead it would useless for me to preach up here about love, self-sacrifice, grace, hope, or faith, because all of these things would be shown to be empty efforts against power and evil in this world.

Christ rose from the dead. St. Paul pushes us to faith in the resurrection by reminding us in his letter to the Corinthians, “[Jesus] appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all of the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” (1 Cor. 15:5-8)

Why does Paul tell who Jesus appeared to? To demonstrate the truth that the victim has risen and has been vindicated. The resurrected Christ creates faith in the way of the cross. By faith in Christ on the cross we also are united to Christ who is risen. Our hope for today and our hope in moments of suffering when it would appear we are only victims at the hand of evil, is made real by the real rising from the dead by Jesus Christ.

Our hope in suffering and in despair is that Christ is more than a victim on the cross. Our hope and faith is rooted in Jesus as the risen victim. Jesus is the victim that has become the conqueror. Jesus resurrection makes death powerless. By faith in Christ we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Jesus’ followers who walked with him during his life would have suffered a loss at his death. But eventually he would have become in a long line of great men, just another dead man, put to death by the hate of this world. But the story of Jesus did not end with death. So the story of Jesus’ followers did not end with death. So our story does not end with death. We are not powerless in this world. Though the early church was persecuted they were not empty of power, in fact the church flourished under early persecution because they were confident that there power was in the Risen Christ and not in the sword.

We may today get frustrated as we look at a society that does not value the commandments or the power of forgiveness. You may find yourself shaking your head at disbelief at what you hear on TV or read in the newspaper. But I do not want you to be deceived. You are not victims. You are more than victims. By faith in Jesus Christ you can go into this world with all of its hate and anger and vice and malice and stand up and reach out with grace. Because by faith in Jesus you are bound to his victory. Stand up in this world and act with cross and the resurrection as your backbone and you will stand tall no matter who or what tries to push you down. Stand tall! Jesus is alive. The cross was not in vain but victorious.

Soli Deo Gloria

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