Easter Sunday “There is Fruit Beyond the Grave”
April 20, 25 1Cor.15:19-28 (cpr00,01)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The title of this message is ‘There is Fruit Beyond the Grave’, and it comes from the Epistle lesson read from 1 Cor.15; where twice, St. Paul refers to Jesus as ‘the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.’ That means that Jesus is the first & foremost. And because of His power & promise of life, He has opened the door for all people to follow after Him with a resurrection to new life. Today we say & sing our ‘alleluias’ because Christ is risen. But we also rejoice because it means that we, & all who bear His name, will live also. With this title: ‘There is fruit beyond the grave’, there is a subtitle: ‘some things cannot stay buried.’
If it were not Easter morning, using this subtitle would not be good news, but bad news. There are those things in our life we thought we had buried long ago, but they don’t stay buried = suddenly they ‘bear fruit beyond the grave.’ Maybe it was a very hurtful thing we said to someone, or behind their back; a careless night of partying; or maybe it was some years of ungodly living; or it could’ve been some years of super-religious living & looking down on others as so unholy. There are many sinful things we have tried, and then tried to bury & put behind us. But, some bad things do not stay buried.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God wants us to know that we’re not alone in this trouble; that’s why He wants us to be familiar with those He writes about in the Bible.
1) By hiding, Adam & Eve thought they could bury their sinful disobedience of eating of the forbidden fruit. But God came to them & started digging. He uncovered their sin, which caused the world God created in perfect harmony with Himself – to be in disharmony. Their sin bore poisonous, deadly fruit; from dust they were made, & to dust they would return. Some things cannot stay buried.
2) Cain found that out, too. He thought he had hidden Abel’s dead body way out in the field. But when God asked him about his brother, he realized that he was his brother’s keeper, and some things could not stay buried.
3) What about Moses? He hit the rock to get water, instead of following the Lord’s command to use words. Much time passed, but when it came time for Israel to enter the Promised Land, Moses could not enter. His action seemed like such a minor thing, except for one in a leadership position; to disobey God is no small thing. Even tho His sin had been forgiven, the earthly consequences -even years later- did not stay buried.
4) King David thought his sin with Bathsheba was buried with her husband Uriah’s body out on the battlefield. But when Nathan-the-prophet confronted him, and when that child born out of wedlock & in deception died, David realized that some things could not stay buried.
5) I wonder if the Disciples had thought about this history as the news came back to them that the tomb was empty, just as Jesus promised. They had denied Him, doubted Him, & abandoned Him. Would their sin come back to bite them?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We all know about this bad ‘fruit beyond the grave.’ We’ve all tried to bury some things from our past: from our teen years, as a young adults; or even something we did last month. Nobody knew about it — or very few. Stealing, lying, experimenting with substances; immoral relationships; how we abused someone’s trust, or taking our anger out on others.
The variety of sins against God & His ways is almost endless. But they all have our theme in common. Just as sinners before us, we also think we can bury them == we say: ‘Oh, that was years ago…..or weeks ago.’ No one will ever find out. But by the Law of God, sin has no expiration date. In Matt.12, Jesus says: ‘I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they have spoken.’
God’s Law is eternal, & His memory is perfect. We cannot bury our sins. A political candidate is truly fortunate if something they did as a teenager stays hidden, & is not dug up & used against them. But no sinner can hide from God; He sees all & knows all. To hope that no one digs up our sins – is no hope at all. The wages of sin is death. So, any solution for us must be stronger than both sin and death. (now, hold that thought!)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
St. Paul is the perfect one to write about this theme. He had plenty of stuff he would prefer to have stayed buried. He was an over-achiever, with unusual zeal in religious things; but he didn’t realize that he was on the wrong team = opposing God. Like Cain & Moses & David, he had to live his life with the terrible sin of how he assisted with the stoning to death of an innocent & godly man: Stephan. (in Acts 7)
Besides that, he didn’t know everything. Paul had some heated disagreements with the other Apostles about how things should be done; & His zeal split his relationship with fellow missionary Barnabus in Acts 15. But God’s holy law was like a mirror in front of his life. Paul referred to himself as the ‘worst of sinners’ because he persecuted the church = and even tho that was many years in the past, time doesn’t erase sin.
On the other hand, Paul faced his reality of sinful-fruit with absolute hope & assurance; and he wrote to the church at Corith about it. They were trying to bury some of their own sins of arguments & lawsuits with fellow Christians; they had split into factions fighting with each other; they were letting-in those bringing false doctrines; & they were tolerating the immorality of some members. Paul knew those things would not stay buried, but would bear poisonous fruit that would destroy their faith & serving of Christ.
Paul wrote to them to correct them; & the Holy Spirit writes to us to keep us from making their mistakes. When we study & learn & obey the Lord’s teaching, then we don’t have to try to cover up & bury our wrongs. So, it is a fact of life in this fallen world: some things will not stay buried = sin bears bad fruit beyond the grave.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BUT TODAY we rejoice that the Lord’s Easter resurrection changes that fact with its own new & greater fact. Using Paul, the Holy Spirit reveals to us the new & better ‘fruit from beyond the grave’ — it’s called the Firstfruit, which, by God’s grace & power, could also not stay buried. Jesus Christ is that Firstfruit.
Paul is using an OT picture; the Israelites brought the first ripe food of field & tree as a thank-offering to the Lord. They first gave to God, trusting that the One who provided the firstfruits – would follow it up later with giving the whole harvest. And this is the picture of the work of the Savior. His resurrection from the grave was the firstfruit, assuring all people that those connected to Jesus will follow with Him thru the grave & into heavenly life.
We cannot bury & escape our sins; but Jesus IS able. He took away the poison of our past & present sin; He has healed us of its spiritual & lasting harm. The forgiveness of His cross & death is that God Almighty says: ‘I will remember those sins no more.’ (Heb.8)
Jesus went into the tomb bloodied, crucified, & dead under our sin. But when He came out again, He was Risen, living, & glorified.
He took in all our bad deeds, hurtful gossip, our religious pride against others, our evil behaviors, & destructive habits. He carried all the world’s sin into the tomb; and He came out empty-handed, so that the Gospel could be preached to all nations: that all people have been forgiven in Him. God’s Law no longer accuses them; in Jesus you are set free from your past.
So, God’s calls us to repentance; He speaks upon us His forgiveness; and He gives us the Holy Spirit so we are adjusting our lives to live as new & holy people. As Romans 8 says, ‘there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’
Romans 6 declares that our old selves have been buried with Christ thru Baptism into death, so that just as He was raised from the dead, thru the glory of the Father, then we, too, will live a new life. And again, as we eat His Body and drink of His Blood in His Holy Meal, we continue to receive Him, the firstfruit from the dead.
We celebrate that Good News in a special annual way today. But we also need that same Good News every week of our lives, as we are dogged by our sins, & are tempted to try to bury them. Remember those two facts: that won’t work, and, God gives us a heavenly solution. Jesus died for us, but He could not stay buried; Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
That means that, by His promise, we will follow. His resurrection is the good news we need to live in this faith – today & tomorrow. Until -thru our death- we join with the Resurrected One in the life to come.
Amen