1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 (NRSV)
Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 on biblegateway.com
Verse 35But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" Verse 36Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. Verse 37And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. Verse 38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. Verse 42So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. Verse 43It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. Verse 44It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Verse 45Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Verse 46But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. Verse 47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. Verse 48As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Verse 49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. Verse 50What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Devotion
When I moved to Minnesota, it was to settle in the township of Hampton with a population of 114. Here was this city-girl residing in the middle of corn fields with none of the amenities I was accustomed to having nearby. That year was memorable as I was able to witness and learn about the circle of life as the crops were harvested and the fields prepared for the spring.
The Apostle Paul teaches the Corinthians that the resurrection is like this. Being a child of God is not static or a once-and-done kind of thing. It is about embracing the gift of life found in our baptism. Through the water and the word, our old self dies as our new self in Christ rises. The challenge for us is to live out our faith no matter where we find ourselves. Sometimes it will be in the middle of a cornfield and sometimes in the heart of a city. Wherever we are, we know that God is with us and giving us life that is both physical and spiritual.
Prayer
Holy One, help us to be a life-giving force in our world. Help us to share your love with all we meet as we live out your peace, justice, compassion, and truth in all that we do. Amen.