And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. – 1 Corinthians 15:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 15, 2018): 1 Corinthians 15

One of my favorite movie scenes is from the 1991 Comedy “City Slickers.” Mitch (Billy Crystal) and Curly (Jack Palance) are riding with the herd, and they fall into a conversation about love, life, and missed opportunities. Curly finally looks at Mitch and asks “Do you know what the secret of life is?” And then he holds up his index finger. “This.” Mitch purposefully misunderstands the statement and responds with “Your finger?” Curly just moves on with the conversation. “One thing, just one thing. You stick to that the rest don’t mean sh**.” Mitch’s response is probably the response all of us would have had if we were the ones riding with Curly. “But what is the “one thing?” Curly’s response to our question is spoken with a smile from the old cowboy. “That’s what you gotta figure out.”

Curly is probably right, but boiling down life to one thing is never easy. Life is a multifaceted adventure. Yet, at the same time, we somehow feel the truth in Curly’s statement. Life is about one thing. And somehow, our mission to figure out that one thing and stick to it.

Paul seems to have figured it out. He knows the one thing, and it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have always argued that the most important day on the Christian calendar is neither Christmas nor Easter. It is Good Friday because it was on Good Friday that the debt that we bore because of all of the wrong that we have done was paid in full. If Easter Sunday happened without Good Friday, then we would know that death had been defeated, but it wouldn’t matter because we would still be living under the penalty of sin. And the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). But the truth is that the Easter weekend events actually support each other. On Good Friday our penalty is paid, but on Easter Sunday God shows through the raising of Christ from the dead that the payment was accepted. I still think that Good Friday is the most important date on the Christian Calendar, but I am equally convinced that the Easter Weekend events need each other to find their meaning.

Paul would seem to agree, even going as far as to say that without the Easter resurrection, our message and faith would be useless, or maybe better phrased as without power. The message of critical importance to us that God’s forgiveness is both deep and wide comes straight out of Good Friday, but the power of that message is found in Easter Sunday – and, therefore, Easter Weekend essentially becomes a single event. This is our one thing, without which our message, faith, and lives are without both power and meaning.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 16