‘…he appeared to me also’ (1 Corinthians 15.8).
Context
Mission agencies, as a matter of course, require their workers to complete a form on which the workers record information that only they know in order to give ‘proof of life‘ in the event of their being kidnapped.
This means of ‘proof of life’ is more palatable than the alternative of sending a body part, such as a digit, or an ear having been cut from the kidnap victim’s body. This surgical ‘proof of life’ has the added benefit of demonstrating that the kidnappers’ threats should be taken seriously.
At the time of writing there are two students, Libby Squire and Daniel Williams who have separately gone missing from their homes. The families of the young woman and young man are understandably extremely concerned and are hoping to find proof that their loved ones are still alive, although Daniel’s family have been informed that a body has been recovered close to where he went missing.
Sometimes, when all hope of life has gone, the only comfort to be found is the return of a loved one’s remains. The plane piloted by David Ibbotson that was carrying Emiliano Sala from Nantes to Cardiff has been discovered on the seabed in the English Channel, north of Guernsey. The search for the crashed light aircraft has been partly funded by private donations to help Sala’s family find out what had happened to him and Ibbotson.
The USA has a tradition of recovering the bodies of service personnel who have been killed in action overseas. This policy of ‘leave no one behind’ is a continuing issue as it has been part of the negotiations between the USA and the DPRK (North Korea).
Global weather has been highly dramatic in the last few weeks. There has been a polar vortex in the US mid-west at the same time as excessive heat and then floods in Australia. The cold weather in the USA has been so extreme that boiling water poured from a kettle freezes before it hits the ground. In Australia the floods have caused crocodiles to be seen in suburban streets and even climbing park trees. There are echoes here of the B-Movie franchise Sharknado where sharks swim into people’s homes.
John Allen Chau, was killed in the Andaman Islands when he went there to attempt to evangelise the Sentinelese islanders – one of the remotest people on the planet. Chau’s father, Dr Patrick Chau had attended Oral Roberts University, an evangelical Christian institution, but he blamed his son’s death on extreme Christianity.
Reflection
Paul’s words to the Corinthian Christians at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15 have a two-fold purpose. On the one hand they affirm that Jesus’ resurrection was not imagined by just one or two people, but was witnessed by more than 500 people between Easter and Jesus’ ascension. Paul’s argument is that this ‘proof of life’ was an historical event and formed the basis of his gospel proclamation. The second purpose in Paul’s writing is to let those reading know that Jesus had appeared to him too. While some of these witnesses had died – or ‘fallen asleep, as Paul would have it – there were enough still alive to be able to attest to the truth of the gospel.
There is consensus among the majority of scientists that man-made climate change is not just real but a real problem. There are still those who deny that it is an issue that needs to be tackled, and the cold weather in the USA doesn’t help, however the record heat in Australia far outweighs the big freeze in the USA. Proof is constantly needed, to defend against deniers with loud voices.
‘It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it’, someone nearly said in the original Star Trek television programme. Might one say the same of the resurrection life of Jesus? An Anglican clergyman caused some controversy recently over a sermon preached some years ago in which he seemed to deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
The death of John Chau, along with the death sentence handed down to Asia Bibi in Pakistan, is a reminder that preaching the Gospel can still have dire consequences. Peter, Paul and the New Testament apostles would not have needed such a reminder as few of them died in their beds. If the Gospel causes no offence, perhaps we are not preaching it properly – discuss!
Prayer
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me. Psalm 138.7
Our God, we pray for Christians in those part of the world where they are oppressed by the state or threatened by terrorists: places where churches are bombed and Christians attacked, where the law discriminates against Christians and in countries such as Nepal, where it is now illegal to encourage a person to change religion.
Our God, we may not have seen Jesus as did Peter, James, Paul and the others, but by your Spirit Jesus is alive in us. May you give us the courage and the imagination to proclaim the resurrected Christ, in word and deed.
Our God, we give you thanks for the world in which we live. It is sometimes hard for us to understand the science behind the debate about climate change. Help us to take the trouble to engage with these issues and to care for our fragile world.
Amen.
Questions
The controversy surrounding Dr John Shepherd’s Easter sermon challenges Christians to consider how they understand the resurrection of Jesus. Thirty years or more ago, the then Bishop of Durham declared that the resurrection ‘was not just a conjuring trick with bones’, causing a furore.
- How do we understand the resurrection of Jesus – he ate fish, but walked through locked doors. Life, Jim, but not as we know it?
- If the bones of Jesus were found in a grave, would that affect your faith?
All-age activity
Show the YouTube video ‘Test your awareness’. People don’t always see what is in front of them. Some refuse to acknowledge what they actually see.
Young people
- What questions could only you answer to prove that you are you?
- Have you ever seen something that other people didn’t believe because they hadn’t seen it for themselves?
Simon Carver is a Baptist Minister in St Albans and takes a particular interest in film, sport and US politics.
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