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The Catholic Telegraph
February 23, 2001Last Sunday Paul taught the Corinthians about the nature of the risen body, about its likeness to the risen Christ, the heavenly Adam. In this Sunday’s reading Paul is dealing with the "how" of the resurrection: what’s going to happen when it takes place?
He describes the resurrection in verses 50 to 53. That which is material and corruptible cannot have a place in the realm of immortality. A transformation is required, an intervention of God. The instant of fulfillment will come suddenly and with grandeur, like an unexpected trumpet blast. At that moment, those who are already dead will rise incorrupt, since they have already been changed by God. Those who are still alive will undergo a similar kind of change to bring them into incorruptibility. It will be something like putting on different clothes when that which is mortal will be clothed in immortality.
Next, in our reading for this Sunday, Paul engages in a kind of lyrical reflection on the significance of this change, when perishable existence is replaced by immortal life.
That transformation, he says, constitutes the fulfillment of prophetic declarations from the Hebrew scriptures. He cites, rather freely, it seems, Isaiah 25.8 ("He will destroy death forever"), and Hosea 13.14 ("Where are your plagues, O death, where is your sting, O nether world?"). He applies these quotations to the redemptive work of Christ. Sin brought death as a consequence, and the law of the former covenant brought not redemption but a deepened awareness of sin. Thanks to the faithfulness and dedication of Christ, humanity, in and through Him, has now overcome sin and so there will be no more death. We have defeated our enemy. We are called to thanksgiving.
By way of conclusion to this chapter on the resurrection from the dead, Paul teases out some of its consequences. We who follow the Lord need to be consistently faithful and firm in our service of Him, being aware that all our efforts to live up to Christ’s gifts in us will not be useless, but will find their fruitfulness in our final, full participation in His resurrection.
This is a passage about hope and consistent dedication. Hope assures us of God’s love and generosity still to come. Granted, in baptism we have been given a sharing in the life of the risen Christ and our lives have meaning in Him. But our life here and now can be terribly flat, superficial, distracted. It is hard sometimes to keep in focus where our real value lies. In addition to the dangers of tedium and dullness, there are more acute episodes that can force our attention away from living in the Lord, episodes like serious illness, like significant misunderstandings with a friend, like the break-up of a marriage, like difficulty in finding any meaning or comfort in our faith and in our efforts to stay in touch with the Lord. We find ourselves wondering, "Is this all there is? Is this present state of uncertainty and struggle the best that God can do for me?" The answer, of course, is no. We have been redeemed and gifted by God, but the final act of God’s generosity is still to come when all that we are is definitively transformed by our being clothed with His glory once and for all. We can still look ahead in hope to the joyful call of God’s final trumpet.
But hope does not authorize laziness. We are still called to contribute our own efforts to God’s plans for the final resurrection. It is not that we have to qualify for resurrection by our good deeds or that we have to bribe God to continue his benevolence toward us by our efforts at virtue. It’s rather an issue of consistency, of exerting our own efforts to live up to what God has already made us to be, and to make ourselves ever more receptive to what God has in store for us in the future. We are to be "fully devoted" (i.e., dedicated) to the work of the Lord, knowing that the Lord will not allow our efforts to be without effect.
This reading brings to a close the Lectionary’s survey of First Corinthians. In the short last chapter (that we do not hear from in the Church’s liturgical readings) Paul talks about his project for a collection for the Christians in Jerusalem and about his travel plans. He offers greetings to a whole series of individuals, signs the letter personally, and prays for his readers: "The grace of the Lord be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus."
This is an important book of the New Testament, the only one from which the Church gives us serial readings each year. Maybe that’s because First Corinthians deals with so many issues that are still current: divisions in the Church, marriage questions, liturgical disputes, the ultimate direction of it all. We need to hear that many of our "contemporary" issues are two millennia old, that there has always been tension in the Church, that we are always in need of guidance and encouragement. And we need to be reminded how much we need the grace of the Lord and the love and guidance of the Lord’s apostles.
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Conversation Questions
What do I look forward to as my future from God?
What relationship does my life today have to that future?
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