Text: I Corinthians 15:51-58
Prayer Pointers: For those who are rejoicing
For those who seek a victory
For those who are seeking the announcement of God
We come to the end of our reading of Paul in Corinthians for this week, and he ends with a note of triumph. He invokes a sounding trumpet, a horn of good tidings. At one time, announcements came to a people with a trumpet sound; the best we have today are the beeping sounds that come on our phones when there’s a weather alert.
Paul uses two images to explain this trumpet. One is of an exchange: “the perishable…must put on the imperishable…” Resurrection life is a gift. It is not something that we go out and get, or have within our own natures, but rather it is something outside of ourselves, something that must be bestowed. Like those who win the Publisher’s Sweepstakes, there is the sound of celebration as one life is traded for another. The other image is of conquest, where an enemy has been routed. “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Resurrection life is joyous triumph; like those on the home front, we celebrate the results of the hard work another has done on our behalf, and so we say
Alleluia!
Easter joy ~ Pr. Dave Brooks