The Cornerstone of Our Faith I Corinthians 15:12-20 February 11, 2007

Are you a single-issue voter? I’d guess that for most of you, and for most Moravians, the answer is no. But I’d also guess that, like me, you probably know some folks that do fall into this category.

Just so we’re on the same page, a single-issue voter – for those of you who are wondering what I’m talking about – is someone for whom one issue (and we’ll talk about the typical issues briefly in a minute) decides the direction of your vote for a candidate or your decision to support a particular party or cause.

I love the story about the 1851 running of the America’s Cup yacht race. It goes like this: In that particular running of the race, which that year was around the Isle of Wight, an island off the southern coast of England, the schooner America raced against 15 yachts from the British Royal Yacht Squadron. Waiting near the finish was Queen Victoria. America won by 20 minutes that year, so far out in front that when it appeared on the horizon it sailed alone into the view of the waiting crowd. “Which ship is that?” Victoria asked. A naval officer looked through his scope and replied, “It is America.” Victoria then asked, “Who is in second?” The officer looked again and again saw only America. “Majesty,” he replied, “there is no ship in second.”

Single-issue voters see the world a lot like the officer with the telescope. One subject so dominates the race for their attention that there is nothing in second place.

It appears, from my reading and listening, that there are lots of single-issue voters in America today. Witness, as an example, the success of the National Rifle Association in either getting pro-gun congressional candidates elected or stopping those candidates that they perceive to be anti-gun, or at least pro-gun-control.

Or, witness the number of presidential votes that were won, in 2004, by the coupling of that election with votes on state constitutional amendments that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Or witness, finally, the recent success of Ned Lamont, who recently defeated popular incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic Primary solely based on his opposition to the Senator’s voting record on the war.

Clearly, single-issue voters exist on both sides of the aisle.

These days, five topics tend to dominate the single-issue discussion. They are gun control, abortion, gay rights, Israel and the war in Iraq. All of them are likely to raise emotional debate, and each of them has, over the past year or two, played a critical part in determining the makeup of a legislative body or the confirmation of a Federal or Supreme Court Judge.

Sometimes, these issues are called litmus tests. And the reason these issues are so divisive and incendiary is largely because they function that way. They give the user the ability to distill everything he or she needs to know about a person to a single subject, which, once it’s identified, can simplify decision-making considerably. All one needs to do is research the person’s stand on the litmus-test issue, apply the test and, just like that, the decision is made.

It would be nice, wouldn’t it, if life were that easy.

We Moravians know, however, that it just isn’t so. We stand here, today, heirs to 550 years of tolerance, openness and acceptance. Narrow-minded, litmus-test type thinking simply isn’t consistent with our view of the world. We were among the pioneers of the Ecumenical Movement. Our Communion table is open and has been for centuries. We work to find common ground with people of different cultures and backgrounds, all over the world.

And that spirit of openness spills over from the matters of faith that we embrace to the way we live our lives. You simply can’t recite –and believe – our wonderful “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love” motto on Sunday and then turn around and practice “my way or the highway” thinking the rest of the week.

How, then, do we Moravians react when we are presented with the passage of scripture we read this morning as our Epistle Lesson? The passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

As you will recall, Paul makes this statement: "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."

It doesn’t get much clearer. If God has not raised his Son, as the New Testament tells us he has, then there is no basis for our Christian faith. We have not been restored to communion with our God. The Christian Church is preaching an illusion. And we might as well just give up all of our Christian activity and proclamation and go do something else.

The Christian faith, for Paul, stands or falls on the resurrection of our Lord.

Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is the central tenet of our belief. It is our single issue. The cornerstone of our faith. It is our litmus test.

I know that this presents a problem for some people. After all, there is no logical, scientific proof of the resurrection. We don't have a videotape of the empty tomb. We have no seismograph of the Easter earthquake. All we have are the stories-the stories of Jesus' resurrection passed down from generation to generation by people like us. By people of faith.

Professor and author Thomas Long puts it this way: “The central claim of the Christian faith – that a young rabbi named Jesus who was dead as a door nail on Friday afternoon was somehow full of life on the following Sunday, raised from the dead, walking and talking and eating fish with his disciples – shatters logic, breaks the mold of our previous experience and stretches the bounds of our ability to believe.”

Yet, here is Paul, telling us that a belief in resurrection is essential – absolutely essential – to our Christian faith.

As you might expect, there has been endless scholarly debate over Jesus’ resurrection over the centuries since his death.

Some argue that Jesus was raised bodily – using the gospel accounts as evidence – and some argue he was raised spiritually – sometimes citing Paul as a source for this position. Still others argue that the whole thing was a hoax and that either Jesus never really died or that his Disciples made off with his body and somehow disposed of it without the knowledge of the authorities.

Still others argue that the story of the tomb, its stone, the angels, men and women at the tomb; the story of Jesus meeting, talking and eating with his followers, etc. is a myth, a legend created by various Christian movements many decades after Jesus' execution. That saga, these scholars argue, was captured in the four canonical gospels at different stages in its development.

Frankly, I am not bothered by these debates. That is because the important thing is not the details of the resurrection; the important thing is the MEANING of the resurrection.

And we can find that meaning, eloquently expressed by Paul in our text. You see, what Paul does in this passage is challenge his readers (the Corinthians and us) to think in the present tense. He challenges us, when we consider the truth of the resurrection, to think about our personal experience. He challenges us to think about our own faith.

Again, Professor Long puts it this way, paraphrasing the Scriptural account: "If you want to know if the resurrection is true," Paul says, "look around you. Can you see the risen Christ in your own experience? Look with the eyes of faith. Can you see the risen Christ out there in the world? There are no proofs. There is only what you can see when you look with your faith."

Have we not all felt the presence of Christ here in this place? Have we not been moved by the power of His love?

When we recognize the hours spent by our Fishes and Loaves volunteers – stocking shelves, replenishing the food supply, giving food to those who are hungry
When we recognize the fact that of some of our members, who barely have enough to provide for their own needs, are among those who give to support needy children in Tanzania through Dear Brothers, Dear Sisters
When we recognize the time spent by volunteers maintaining our prayer list, preparing meals for our various congregational events, keeping our books and records in order, tending to our physical plant, teaching in our Sunday School, advising our youth fellowship, singing and directing our choir

When we recognize all of those acts of kindness and unselfish love, and recognize those individuals who show that their lives have been profoundly affected by their faith, I believe there is only one conclusion that can be drawn. The kind of ministry that happens here in this place each week happens because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. And the people who carry out this ministry do so with a faith that is not in vain.

The good news is that we have died and risen with Christ, and that dying and rising has consequences. Positive consequences. It gives us the opportunity to live a life connected to God, in the present and in the future. Now and forever.

We know that, in fact, Jesus Christ lives and dwells in our midst as Lord. You and I know these things. We know them in the pit of our stomach and in the depths of our being.

And we know them precisely because God has come to us in his risen Son and spoken to us through his Word. God has spread out a table before us. God has nourished our lives with a merciful message. God has blessed us and filled our cup to running over with love.

You and I have a faith that is past and present and future. We know where we came from, we know where we are and we know where we are going. We know the joy of God's forgiveness in Christ as a part of our daily life. And we share in the hope, strengthened by God’s promise, that there will be a final kingdom, where God will be all in all, where everything will be turned upside-down and where evil and pain, and sorrow and suffering and poverty and hunger will be done away with forever.

Yes, my friends, the resurrection is true. It is fact. It is the truth that underlies all other truth in this world of ours. You could say that it is the one fact that makes our life worth living.

It is indeed the cornerstone of our faith. Our litmus test. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is risen indeed!

So, Friends, here is the bottom line. We may be tolerant and open and forgiving and willing to dialog on almost every issue. We may not be single-issue voters. That is, after all, the Moravian way. But on this issue, we stand as firm as a rock. We worship a crucified and resurrected Lord. Hallelujah!

AMEN