Life Is Stronger than Death

April 17, 2022 • Easter Sunday
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 (The Inclusive Bible)
Pastor Jeff Wells

[You can view the full worship video recording at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRQw-qSRlo

There is so much need for hope in the world today. There is so much awful happening around us. So much sadness. So much depression. Between war, racism, the endemic pandemic, and the effects of climate change, many people have sunk into despair. How can we keep hope alive? In the resurrection of Jesus, his first disciples, and those who came after them, found hope. I believe we can find hope there too. It is not the only source of hope in the world, but it is a powerful one, as I hope you will see.

The story of Jesus and the movement he built could have ended up very differently. After Jesus was arrested and executed by the Romans, the disciples disappeared. They went into hiding, in fear for their lives. Presumably, they thought it was all over. Their tiny movement had no hope of surviving without their brilliant and charismatic teacher and leader. The tentative support they had among the masses would quickly dissipate. Who would follow a dead messiah? Yet, somehow, they did come to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead and was still available to them. They found hope and faith to persevere in the face of persecution. And, they began to attract many new followers. 

I won’t try to convince you of a specific way the resurrection of Jesus occurred. We cannot rely on the accounts in the Gospels and references in the epistles for accuracy because they differ so significantly. The resurrection can’t be proven. It is a matter of faith. Yet, what is clear to me is that in the days and weeks after Jesus’ crucifixion, his closest followers had a series of profound spiritual experiences of him risen from the dead. These stories were passed down orally and in writing to rapidly expanding communities of believers and, ultimately, to us. So, whether he was raised from the dead in body, in spirit, or in the minds, hearts, and love of his followers, Jesus’ resurrection was powerful for them – and still is for us.

The apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church only 20 to 25 years after the Jesus’ was crucified – after the surviving Biblical accounts tell us he was then raised from the dead and experienced, in a variety of ways, by the eleven apostles and by many other followers. It is so interesting, therefore, that already at the time of that letter and, perhaps, much earlier, some early Christians discounted the possibility of resurrection of the dead. When the apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church, I don’t think folks he was arguing against were claiming Jesus was not raised from the dead. They were asserting that there was no general resurrection available to everyone. So, Paul pointed out the logical conclusion of their position: if there is no general resurrection from the dead, then, Jesus himself couldn’t have been raised, and therefore, your Christian faith falls apart. It’s meaningless. 

I confess I am, generally, a skeptic when it comes to miracle stories in the Bible – and miracle stories don’t get any bigger than the resurrection of Jesus. On the other hand, I am attracted to the aphorism that everything is a miracle – love is a miracle, joy is a miracle, beauty and goodness are miracles, and life, certainly, is a miracle. We need the resurrection because we desperately need the hope and faith it makes possible. 

I don’t necessarily hold to a literal interpretation of the resurrection of Jesus. But we don’t need that kind of interpretation to grasp what the resurrection means for us. Jesus being raised from the dead signifies, once and for all, that life is stronger than death and that God, in deep connection with all life in the universe, can and does bring new life out of death. So, when I hear Paul declare, “If Christ has not been raised, then all of our preaching has been meaningless,” I hear it echo in other powerful ways, too. Our preaching is meaningless if it contains no hope for life conquering death. Our proclamation is meaningless if it cannot help us to imagine the end of racism. Our preaching is meaningless if it does not inspire hope in us and call us to act to bring forth a new ecological civilization. The resurrection gives us hope and faith that these things are possible. 

In the face of war, violence, oppression, ecological crisis, social alienation, and all of our everyday pain and suffering, don’t you see signs of resurrection – of new – life all around us? I see resurrection hope in the small victories for the labor movement at Starbucks and Amazon individual locations. I feel resurrection hope in the movement for Black Lives that has sparked deep going conversations and re-evaluations in schools, faith communities, businesses, professional organizations, and more that are not going away. And they are actually shifting some of the power and policies in those institutions. I see signs of resurrection hope in new movements for confronting the ecological crisis – movements that are led, primarily, by young people. I am thinking of young leaders like Greta Thunberg and others, and groups like Extinction Rebellion and the Sunrise Movement. One of humanity’s greatest sins has been to see the soil, water, air, and all living things as merely material to be exploited for human benefit. So, of course, I smell resurrection hope in the growing number of individuals, organizations, communities, and even nations that are recognizing the need for a fundamental remaking of the relationship of humanity with the rest of the natural world. 

This resurrection hope is not wishful thinking. We acknowledge the ever-present reality of pain, suffering, evil, and death. Resurrection hope does not deny them. Instead, our hope, embodied in action, is our response to them. [1]

Nature shows us that life is stronger than death. The pattern of new life arising out of death is visible at every level of the biosphere. For the most part, and in endlessly creative ways, species of living beings evolved together in carefully balanced ecologies in order for life to expand, diversify, and thrive. That thriving does not deny death. It requires it. As the author of Braiding Sweetgrass says, “That’s the way the world works, the exchange of a life for a life, the endless cycling between my body and the body of the world.” Friends, each of us is going to die and if we choose a green burial, our decomposing bodies will contribute to the cycle of death and new life. Moreover, all of the good we do in the world, the ways we inspire others, the legacy we leave, the lives we live – and especially, the communities we help build – live on in others – and only sometimes in a conscious way. Collectively, our lives create the possibility of new life and new ways of living. One of the errors we Western theology has made is to suppose that resurrection to new life is solely individual. It is also communal.

With all of these meaningful ways to think about and interpret resurrection to new life, there is still the question, “Is there some kind of life after death?” I agree with Jane Goodall, who said, “Well, when you die, there’s either nothing, in which case, fine. Or, there’s something. If there’s something, which I believe, what greater adventure can there be than finding out what it is?” If there is another life after this brief span, surely, it’s not just for humans. It’s also for animals. And why limit it there? What about plants and fungi? 

I do hope there is some great adventure after this life and that we get to meet up with loved ones and relatives we never knew or people we have always wanted to meet. I know that, especially for those who have suffered great pain or loss, the vision of resurrection from the dead can be deeply meaningful. I would not want that hope or consolation to be taken from anyone. 

Yet, I believe we should focus on what we can do now. What we are called to do is to save, foster, sustain, improve, celebrate, and love the lives around us and our own lives, here and now – not only human lives, but all lives. 

What keeps us celebrating the resurrection of Jesus every year? God could not save Jesus from death on a cross. And God cannot keep any of us from dying one day. Yet, I believe in the depths of my spirit that life is stronger than death. I believe that God will help us to turn from our destructive ways and that life will survive on the Earth and new life will continue to rise up. I hope and believe that in some powerful and mysterious way, we will be raised up to a new and glorious life with God. Resucitó! He is risen! Christ is risen, indeed. Hallelujah!

Copyright © 2022 by Jeff Wells
All rights reserved.

[1] Adapted from Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times (New York: Celadon Books, 2021).

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