Unnaturally Born

1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news which I preached to you and which you also received, in which you also stand, through which you are also being saved if you hold fast to the message which I proclaimed to you - unless you have come to believe to no purpose.
For I handed on to you as something of primary importance what I also received - that Christ died on behalf of our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, a majority of whom remain alive even now, though some have died. Then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as though to one untimely born, he also appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called 'apostle', because I persecuted the church of God. But by God's grace I am what I am, and God's grace toward me has not been given in vain, but rather I worked harder than any of them - not I, but the grace of God which is with me. So then whether it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

"Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.” Do you remember this song? “Oh, Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me. I must be one heck of a man. Oh, Lord it's hard to be humble, but I'm doing the best that I can."[1]

Forgive the singing, but here’s my question for today: Why is it that the more we point at ourselves, the emptier we feel? Now, by today’s standards that song is pretty tame stuff. When Mac Davis sang that song twenty-five years ago it was before Terrell Owens, Kevin Federline, Paris Hilton and all the folks who have made a career out of self-promotion. But it points us right back to an American and a human frailty – the more we point at ourselves, the emptier we feel.

Next week I’m going to start a series on the seven deadly sin and we’ll make our first stop at pride. But today it might help to talk about our humility problem. The problem is we don't have much of it and it’s not making us any happier. The columnist Donna Britt once wrote that we are in the midst of a "Hey, look at me" era where people compete to see how much attention they can draw to themselves. From sports figures to celebrities to the people around us at school or work, it seems that the greatest aspiration we have is no longer to do our best but to be “in your face.”

The interesting thing about all of this, Britt says, is that there has probably never been a time in the nation's history when we had less self-esteem than we now have. We may talk big but we feel small. Acting tough and pointing to ourselves as number one is really only a compensation for our sense that we really don't matter in a cold, impersonal, technological society. But it's also a reflection of our inability to seriously face the sin and brokenness in our lives. It's just too scary to admit that we're really not all we're cracked up to be.

So then there’s Paul. The apostle Paul has never been a great model of humility for me. He was involved in too many struggles in the early days of the Christian Church to be too modest about his work. But in the passage we have from First Corinthians today, Paul does help us think through what might be behind the “Hey, look at me” tendency which is there in the depths of our souls.

In chapter 15 of this first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul is once again trying to reestablish his authority to talk to the church about theological issues. It’s something he does throughout this letter. He seems to be responding to critics in this Corinthian church who want to compare his message with that of other apostles and to choose up sides as if each apostle represented some different faith. And over and over again Paul makes a plea for unity in this troubled church.

He starts the letter by saying, "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you" [1 Co. 1:10]. He warns them about their boasting about spiritual gifts like the ability to speak in tongues. In chapter 12 he gives them the image of the body of Christ as a model for how the Church should understand itself - all members connected and united in Christ. Chapter 13 is the famous love chapter which we associate with weddings but which Paul used to urge the Corinthians to care for one another.

Finally in chapter 15, as he prepares to answer a debate about what happens after we die, Paul comes back to why it is that he dares to preach to them. Because you know that it is a pretty audacious thing to preach. To speak the word of God? You might think that’s just another way of saying, “Hey, look at me!” But Paul sets the stage. He reminds the Corinthian of the good news which first brought them into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Then he questions whether or not their belief has been in vain. “I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you,” he says. “This is what you’re standing on. It’s the basis of your salvation. I told you about this. Or maybe you’ve forgotten?” It’s a fair question since they don't seem to be getting along with each other or with him at the moment.

Then Paul goes on to outline the story he told them about Jesus and this is one of the most important passages in the New Testament. It sounds like a creed, like the Apostle's Creed, a statement of faith. For Paul this is what is essential to know about the faith. It is one of the oldest accounts we have of the story of Jesus. Paul was writing at a time only 20-30 years after Jesus' death. The gospels weren't written down until probably a decade or so after that. So Paul is giving us the heart of the faith as it was understood by the earliest Christian communities.

It went something like this: First, Christ died. There is no getting around it. This is where faith begins. Christ came to die for and with people who were broken by sin. Christ came to die to free us from the power of sin. This is what the scriptures pointed to. This is why we have the cross as a central symbol of our faith. Paul starts this message by pointing to the cross.

Then Christ was buried. This wasn't just some symbolic death; it was a real death - a human tragedy. Something that we would see as irreversible. First there was the cross, then there was the grave.

Then Christ was raised from the dead on the third day. What humanity had seen as impossible God saw as possible. The expectations of the world were reversed and God brought life from the midst of death. Again the scriptures pointed to this as the inevitable result of God's action. God continually says the "yes" of life over the "no" of death. Resurrection is what it’s all about and it’s what makes us an Easter people. The cross, the grave, the empty tomb.

Then, Paul says, Christ appeared to Cephas - the Greek name for Peter. Once again, this wasn't a symbolic resurrection it was real resurrection, witnessed by those who knew and loved him. And not only did Peter see Jesus, but then the rest of the twelve disciples. Then about 500 disciples saw him at one time, and Paul notes that most of them are still alive and can affirm what he is saying. Then Jesus appeared to James and the other apostles. You can’t tell this story without the revelation of Jesus as the living Christ.

Then Paul does an interesting thing with this statement of faith - he includes himself in it. We sometimes say the Apostles' Creed as if it is something that does not include us. We say "we believe" that all of this has occurred - that Jesus did die and was buried - that he did rise again on the third day and did appear to the disciples - but Paul is not content to leave it at that. He goes on to complete the story. "Last of all, as if it happened even to someone not born at the right time, to someone unnaturally born, Christ appeared to me" [1 Co. 15:8].

Christ appeared to me. What a way to finish a creed! Suddenly all that has gone before is not a stale creed from the early centuries of the Church; it is a living, breathing story that includes me! Paul knew that the story was not complete until we became a part of it. That's what makes this whole religion business more than just a storytelling exercise - because it moves us to seeing ourselves as a part of something larger than ourselves. And what does this do to the "Hey, look at me" tendency? It is swallowed up in the saying: "Hey, look at Christ. I'm a part of that story!"

One of the most popular movies of the 90s was a film called Forrest Gump and the genius of the movie was that it took the whole of modern American history and put a likeable American like us in the picture. Alabama goes to the national championship game in the Orange Bowl and Forrest Gump is there. America goes to war in Vietnam and Forrest Gump is there. America goes into outer space and Forrest Gump is there. I think one of the appealing things about the movie was that it allowed us to make the story of this huge, vibrant country our story. It's more manageable and real if we can somehow see an ordinary person like ourselves in it.

That's what Paul urges us to do - to see ourselves in the story of Christ and to recognize that it changes the whole world because we are a part of it. Two thousand years later Christ is no less real because of the witness born by people like Paul generation after generation.

To be a part of this story, however, we must be realistic about who we are. We're not a part of the story of salvation because we earned our way there. We're not a part of it because we somehow deserve it. We're a part of it only because we don't deserve it.

Paul knew that very well. He had been a Jewish leader. He had persecuted the Church. When Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned, he was holding the cloaks of the stone throwers. He was heading off to persecute Christians himself when he was struck blind by a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul says to the Corinthian Christians, "I'm the last one who should be called an apostle. I'm not worthy of the title. But by God's grace I am what I am. God gave me the same message of hope and life that he gave to Peter and the twelve disciples. I didn't deserve it, but God called me anyway. And now I'm part of the story."

You and I can be a part of the story, too. Not because we deserve it, because we don't. Not because we can earn it, because we can't. We can be a part of the story because despite our flaws and weaknesses, despite our sins and shortcomings, Christ calls us. Christ saves us! And we get to join the line of witnesses that stretches back to the first visitors to the empty tomb. All it requires is a little humility - recognizing who we really are and who God says we can be.

Our other scripture passage today is the story of Jesus calling the fishermen from their nets and their work on the sea. “Come, follow me,” Jesus says, “and you will learn how to fish for people.” And those disciples do something absolutely incomprehensible. They drop their nets and follow him. What were they thinking? To leave the security of what they knew? To leave friends and family, kith and kin, and traipse through the land with this itinerant teacher? What were they thinking? It’s just not natural.

This is the point. We may sometimes assume that because we grow up in land that is sometimes called a Christian nation that being a Christian is the most natural thing to be. But there is nothing natural about it. It’s natural to remain where we are and to resist the transformations that will require us to change. It’s natural to believe that there is no one else who is for us and it’s all up to us to make a difference. It’s natural to hold on to things rather than to let them go. It’s natural to define ourselves on our terms. It is unnatural to respond to the living Christ who says, “Come, follow me.” It is the call that creates the conditions for change. It is the call that changes the world. It is the call that leads us to be unnaturally born…born into a family that was not our own…born into a way of life that we could not have conceived of…unnaturally born as children of God.

Here’s the good news: There is an answer to the emptiness that lies behind our lack of humility. Like Forrest Gump, we can make it into the picture. Not to say, "Hey, look at me" but to say, "Hey, look at that cross. Look at that empty tomb. Look at that bread and wine on that table. I'm a part of that. That's my story. I am God’s.” Thanks be to God.

[1] Mac Davis