Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15
15Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters,* of the good news* that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters* at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.* 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died* in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.* 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end,* when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For ‘God* has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection’, it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? 31I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters,* as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,
‘Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die. ’
33Do not be deceived:
‘Bad company ruins good morals.’
34Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ 36Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is* from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will* also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters,* is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,* but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
55‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting? ’
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved,* be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
Sermon Title: "STRAINING CREDULITY" 
Sunday, April 12, 2009 
PASTOR HUDSON: This morning we're going
to be talking about straining credulity. The
dictionary defines credulity as the willingness to
believe without adequate evidence.
I have a relative who is a devout believer in
almost all things paranormal. Loch Ness Monster,
Sasquatch, UFOs, you name it, this person believes in
it. Of course, I tend to be a little bit more on the
skeptical side. So when we get together I can't
resist giving him a hard time about UFOs and
Sasquatch. It drives him crazy when I don't respond
the way he wants.
Now in our culture the majority of us are
probably on the side where we're a little more
skeptical about those types of things. We have grown
up thinking of the supernatural as suspect, and this
creates a problem for us as believers because of this
whole Easter thing, the resurrection of Christ.
Historically, we think of some things being
mythological, and of course we have to be careful to
define what we mean. Myth has three different
meanings. The everyday one most of us are aware of is
the imaginary story, the Easter bunny so to speak. We
clearly are not expected to take it seriously.
The second definition is not as well known but
used equally as often. It means a story that's very
ancient in nature, and it's goal is to explain a
tradition. The third definition of myth is an
illustration of a principle or way of life to be clung
to and is representative of the highest and best way
of living. The last two, the explanation of the
traditional practice, and more specifically,
illustration of a life principle are the ways in which
many in our generation view the story of Jesus Christ.
I was visiting with a person earlier this morning
about the richness of the mystery of the resurrection
and how hard it is for us to wrap our mind around the
idea of Jesus who was dead now coming to life after
three days. Our mind can't grab a hold of that. We
struggle with the resurrection of Christ in the same
way we struggle with the Loch Ness Monster and
Sasquatch.
From the time we first enter school it's hammered
into us everything has a cause and effect. We are
taught there is a rational explanation for anything
that happens. However, the
ancients were not necessarily more naive than we are today.
For example, when Mary went to the tomb early in the morning and
saw it was empty, she rushed back to the disciples to
inform them. They looked at her and said she was
imagining. Their reaction to he may have been similar to how we
think of UFOs and Loch Ness Monsters, it strained their credulity.
I have purposefully saved this passage for the
conclusion of the sermon rather than reading it at the
beginning because I want you to hear how those
ancients were just as incredulous as we might be
today.
Hear Paul's words to the church in 1 Corinthians
15: Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of
the gospel. By this gospel you are saved. For what I
received I have now passed on to you as of the most
high importance. That Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that
he was raised on the third day according to the
scriptures, then he appeared to Peter and then to the
12.
Therefore, if it is preached that Christ has been
raised from the dead, how is it some of you say there
is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has
been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, our
preaching is useless, so is your faith.
Paul makes it clear, Christ has, indeed, been raised from the dead.
Human reason would say the whole message of the
resurrection should be lumped very appropriately along
with all of the other myths of our world, but Paul’s
very precise wording makes that position difficult.
The resurrection is
not a myth in the sense that it's an explanation of a
church tradition, nor is it an illustration of a
principle of high and lofty worth.
The apostolic writer makes it clear, this event really
happened. Because of that, it's appropriate to ask
this question: Do we see Easter in the way that's in
defiance of our normal-thinking culture and see it as
real? Do we live as though a risen, living Christ saw
us this week, watched us in our home, our workplace,
heard our conversations, or do we live as though this
story of resurrection is a myth?
Maybe the best way for you to be transformed by
the Easter experience is for you not to grasp it with
your head, but grasp it with your heart and actually
reach out to encounter and experience Jesus Christ in
such a way you live with a conviction that is born out
of encounter more so than out of logical constructs.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Amen.