DAILY FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION

“Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Cor 15: 12-14)

We might not walk around “saying” that there is “no resurrection of the dead,” but at the same time, we might live as if we didn’t believe in it, really. How is it that we “believe” in the resurrection of the dead? We “await” it, or “expect” it, or even “yearn” for it, as we say in the Creed: “Προσδοκῶ” ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν / “expecto” resurrectionem mortuorum / “чаю” воскресения мертвых. As Christians, we are called always to be looking forward, toward this “happy end,“ rather than dreading doom-and-gloom, as if that’s what is awaiting us just around the corner. No, what awaits us, and what we await, is a good thing, not a bad thing. So if we’re living in fear, or dread, which seems to be a widespread disease of our time, then “our preaching is in vain,“ as St. Paul says, and our “faith is in vain.“

In Christ, I am given new life, not only in the future resurrection of the dead, but already here, time and again, whenever I die the “small“ deaths of my sinful choices, and am brought back to true life in Christ, by His regenerating, healing grace. Even in those “small“ deaths, I consistently dare, in faith, to “expect“ Him to do that; to “look forward“ to Him doing that, and indeed to “yearn“ for Him to do that. So let me turn away from fear today, if it’s reared its ugly head in my heart, and embrace faith in my risen and ever life-bringing Lord. I believe, Lord, and look forward to, new life in You today, once again. Amen!