On the Level
Epiphany 6
Fr. Tim Nunez
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
There are certain verses in the Bible that jump out at me every time I read or contemplate them. They nail vital aspects of our faith, key points that help us to frame our understanding of God and our life with him. We have one of them this morning.
“If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we above all people are to be most pitied.” (1 Corinthians 1:19)
As you heard, Paul wrote this as part of his strong affirmation of the Resurrection of Jesus and his promise for our own resurrection. The “vital aspects of our faith” include our understanding of who Jesus is and where he is leading us.
First, Jesus teaches us how we are to live as individuals and in community, as family, neighbors and so on. And it’s not just what he says. It’s how he says it. In one place he’s general, “Love your neighbor.” In another he’s very specific, “You must forgive.” He shares parables that invite us to reflect on different aspects of a story and how it rubs up against our own lives, in effect teaching us to think more like him.
Beyond all of that, he teaches us by example, how he cares for people yet confronts the false, his steadfast faithfulness and his resolve. Without any doubt, we become better people as we follow Jesus. Without a doubt, the world is a much better place today because of his teaching.
But we are not to settle for that alone, or as Paul puts it, “for this life only,” which brings us to second point. Note that Paul is not talking here about heaven. (He does reference heaven in his other letters.) Here, he is hammering home the unique and eternal importance of the fact of the Resurrection, that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.
This is not a philosophical point. It is either a true fact or Paul – and I – are misrepresenting God, which would be horrible beyond description.
And the promise is that we will be like Jesus and with Jesus forever. Paul describes it this way a little later in the chapter.
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in 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. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)
That will be the consummation of the Kingdom of God. That is where we are going, our farthest target.
How does that look? Does it matter how rich or poor you were in this life? No! Does it matter how tall or short you were? No! Does it matter how old you were when you died? No! Does your ethnicity or skin color or language matter? No! Do any physical or mental challenges you had in this life matter? No! Do your sins matter if you repented and gave your life to Christ? No!
Keep that in mind as we join Jesus this morning on a “level place.” He is coming down with the twelve from “the mountain” where he has picked them as his leadership team. The Kingdom of God is just breaking out into the world. This “level place” is a not-so-subtle signal to these new leaders that they are not above anyone else.
You may recall how John the Baptist, quoting Isaiah, heralded Jesus’s arrival.
As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”(Luke 3:4-6)
“Every valley shall be filled” Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those excluded and defamed. Jesus will add the lepers, the sick, the lame, the deaf, the blind, the possessed, those in grief, tax collectors and other outcasts, and even the dead. All of those deep and suffering points do not define you or your eternal life with Christ. They shall be filled, which is to say redeemed. be filled.
“Every mountain and hill shall be made low.” Don’t cling to riches or satisfaction or fun or praise. Jesus will and can add those in positions of power and control, those with greed and disregard for their neighbor. We tend to live with a mixed bag. One can be rich and grieving, or poor and highly praised. None of that can save you. Only he can and he will, but the Kingdom of God is a “level place.”
We are blessed in this life when we see the Kingdom of God at work around us. Some of you have experienced it in the Walk to Emmaus, Cursillo and/or Kairos. Some of you have experienced it at Camp Wingmann. And we experience it in the life of this church. Those who join us online experience it, too!
All of these open opportunities to share the Kingdom, to experience the blessing, to recognize that our hope and promise, that point farthest out, is here for us today, because Jesus is here for us today. Don’t take it for granted. You have citizenship in the Kingdom. Live in the Kingdom!
AMEN