Shownotes
"Your labor is not in vain." It's one of Paul's most direct declarations in 1 Corinthians 15, and Dr. Jennifer Pietz, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, believes it has everything to do with how church leaders carry their work today. In this Easter reflection, Jenny addresses three common misconceptions about resurrection that quietly hollow out hope in ministry, and grounds each one in what Paul actually argues in 1 Corinthians 15.
Resurrection isn't only about Jesus. It isn't only a future promise. And it isn't an escape from the world. It's the present foundation of Christian vocation, and the reason your labor in the Lord is never wasted. If you're a church leader who is tired, discouraged, or simply hungry for a word that goes deeper than Easter Sunday optimism, this reflection is for you.
Transcripts
Greetings in the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ during this Easter season, I want to offer some words of encouragement about what the reality of resurrection means for our Christian vocations. To do so, I'm going to draw on the Apostle Paul's powerful declarations about resurrection in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and address some common misconceptions about resurrection. The life
Death and resurrection of Jesus are foundational for all aspects of Christian faith and life. And While this Easter message focuses on resurrection, we always need to be aware that there is no resurrection without crucifixion. Our declarations of Christ is risen indeed do not gloss over the reality of death, but rather acknowledge Christ's victory out of and over death. One misconception about resurrection is that it only involves Jesus.
Apparently, some of the first century Corinthian Christians held this view, because Paul challenges it in 1 Corinthians 15. It seems that the Corinthian Church had embraced the core gospel message of Jesus' death and resurrection, but some did not understand that the resurrection of Jesus means that all who belong to Him will also be resurrected to imperishable life after death. So, Paul tells the Corinthians, and us, that you can't have one without the other.
If you've been baptized into the death of Christ, then you will certainly be raised with Christ. Otherwise, Paul says, it's all in vain. If we've only hoped in Christ for this life, we are the most pitiful people of all. Why would our faith be in vain if resurrection only involves Jesus? We know that through his death and resurrection, Jesus has already defeated sin, death,
and all that separates people from meaningful relationship with God and each other. We are grounded in this truth right now. But maybe you've noticed that there is still suffering and injustice in this world, and that even faithful Christians die. This tension between what we know to be true and our current experience arises from the fact that the reign of God was inaugurated through Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension,
but it has not yet been fully realized. We live in this fragile, yet beautiful time in between by faith in God's promise to ultimately do away with death and all its manifestations. The promise of resurrection, not just for Jesus, but also for us, guarantees that our present struggles in life or in ministry aren't in vain.
that the sin and death we still experience will not have the last word, and that our relationship with Jesus that begins in faith now will not end with our own death. Faith has a future that brings all the joys and sorrows of our present into the eternal life and love of the triune God. This brings me to another misconception about resurrection, namely that the resurrection of believers is only a hope for the future.
Of course, it is that. And it is appropriate that, besides Easter, Christians seem to talk about resurrection most frequently at funerals or as part of the end-of-life journey. As Christian ministers, it is our calling to share the promise of life beyond death when it is urgently needed. At the same time, we must remember that resurrection isn't just a promise for the end of our lives or for the very end of this world.
The reality of Christ's resurrection means that we experience resurrection life in part now in our daily lives and ministries. Because Jesus Christ has been raised, we have already received the gift of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us and works the transformative power of Christ's death and resurrection in us now. John chapter 20 shows the resurrected Jesus imparting the Holy Spirit to his disciples, empowering them to spread the gospel.
It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that the Church is formed and sustained, drawing people from all places and backgrounds together into the one body of Christ. Now, as Paul warned the Corinthians, we must remember that we do not have the fullness of resurrection life now. But we do experience the first fruits of this life in the present through the power and presence of the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The promise of a future resurrection is not to be an abstract hope, but rather a foundation of our lives in Christ now. This brings me to one more misconception about resurrection that I'll address. Resurrection does not mean escaping from this world, but rather engagement with the world. Our hope in a future resurrection and our partial experience of resurrection life now is not an escape from the realities of this broken world.
but rather empowerment for serving this world that God loves. Paul had to tell the Corinthians that their tangible experiences of the Holy Spirit and their abundance of spiritual gifts were not just for their individual spiritual edification, so that they could detach themselves from concern for the well-being of the whole Christian community. And believing that we will be resurrected bodily in the future does not mean that we sit idly by in the meantime. To the contrary,
The gift of Jesus' own life for us and the power of His resurrection mean that we have been freed from sin, death, and the power of evil so that we can share this good news with others in word and deed. We have been claimed by the risen Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit so that we can serve others with the same divine love we first received. Resurrection, dear friends, empowers Christian vocation.
And this is good news. The present reality of resurrection life means that our work in the Lord is never in vain. I imagine that as Christian leaders, you have experienced moments of frustration or disillusionment. Perhaps you haven't seen your work in ministry bear fruit as you had hoped. Maybe your congregation struggles with interpersonal conflict or with trying to work together for the common good.
as happens in all human communities. Or maybe you are just tired. And looking at the wider world, it may seem at times like injustice and destruction are raging unchecked, and anything we do to declare life in the face of death seems to be a drop in the bucket. As we live in the tension of the already not yet reign of God, Paul exhorts us saying, because of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection,
My beloved sisters and brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Christian leaders, your labor is not in vain. What began by the grace of God will be brought to completion by that same grace. Just as Paul tells us that God will bring about the fullness of resurrection life in ways we can't imagine,
So too is God at work through your lives and gospel ministries in ways you cannot perceive. The beautiful promise that resurrection life breaks into the present means that what we do matters, both now and for eternity, but that ultimately the results are not up to us. It is God's work through us, as Paul says. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
Continue to faithfully pursue whatever calling God has given you, filled with the joyful knowledge that God brings new life out of death and brings hope to human impossibility. The reality of resurrection also means that you are not alone in your vocation. The triune God is with you. The Holy Spirit empowers your service. And because of Christ's death and resurrection, we are all part of the church, the body of Christ.
know that we are in this together. God bless you and all those around you as you continue to bear witness to the life-giving power and presence of the risen Christ.