Sown in Weakness, Raised in Power

    This is the sermon from the funeral for Bob Loges on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The text was 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-57. The other readings referenced here were the Old Testament Reading Isaiah 65:17-35 and the Gospel Reading John 11:17, 27, 38-44. You can view the video of this service here. 

“Sown in Weakness, Raised in Power”

    But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
    So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 
    I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-57

In the Name of Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, dear Cindy, Kim, Melissa, Jennifer, and Samira, your family, and friends of Bob gathered here today,

Our God is in the business of giving new life. In fact, He holds the monopoly on resurrection. He’s the only one who can make it happen. This is good news for us today as we gather to mourn for Bob. God gives us a glimpse of new life all around us right now as we see the earth springing into new life.

You’ll notice that Paul used something Bob was familiar with in this section, planting and a seed becoming full grown plant. That’s just one example of how God gives new life. Let’s look at how this happens in three different ways, in nature, in Jesus Himself, and finally in us, including Bob.

1. Resurrection in Nature

Paul begins by saying, “You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.” (1 Corinthians 15:36-37)

            Bob used to call himself just a “dumb farm boy.” But here’s the thing, a “dumb farm boy” knows more about new life and resurrection than most people. In fact, when you are farming, you depend on this very thing happening.

            Think about the miracle that happens every time you plant just one seed. You take a corn seed, which looks dry and dead. You take this dry, dead, shriveled thing and you stick it in the ground. Even scientists don’t know exactly how it happens, but it does! That tiny little seed sprouts and grows into an entire plant! It’ll be more than ten feet tall by the end of the summer! That plant is way more impressive than the little seed that got stuck into the ground. It’s even grown more seeds to make more plants of that same kind next year. Multiply that by an entire field growing and it’s nothing short of miraculous.

            All of this happens thanks to one command that God gave back on the third day of creation.

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12

            God made this process good for you and for Bob too, didn’t He? Through that work done in the ground, God provided for you. He used His creation to put food on your table and on the tables of many others. We can thank God for that today.

            Farming happens according to God’s promise. God said these words just once and it still happens today. As Noah and his family left the ark, the LORD said to him, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22) God has kept that promise.

            Bob loved farming. Even when he couldn’t do it anymore, he wanted so bad to be out there planting every year. The brokenness you saw in Bob’s body and mind is just one part of the brokenness of the world that comes from sin.

2. In Jesus’ own life

Bob’s confirmation verse is Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” I haven’t lived up to that, you haven’t lived up to that, Bob didn’t live up to that either. All of us have walked in ways that show we listen to the counsel of the wicked. We’ve all stood and defended our own sin. We’ve all gotten comfortable scoffing at the world, our neighbor, and perhaps even God.

            No one has done this perfectly, except for one, our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this world to live the prefect life we could not live. And then He allowed the same thing that happens to a seed to happen to Him. Listen to how Jesus describes His own suffering and death,

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:23-24

            We’ve already seen what happens when a seed is planted in the ground. It grows into something far more amazing that what was planted. The same thing would happen to Jesus’ own body. Just think of the difference between Jesus’ body on Good Friday and on Easter. If you saw Jesus when He died, you wouldn’t even want to look at Him, it was that horrible; blood oozing from head to toe, skin torn by whips, nails through His hands and feet, and a crown of thorns on His head.

Yes, what Paul says here was true for Him, perishable, dishonored, weak, dust like Adam. But He was like that unimpressive seed that gets planted in the ground. Just as God’s Word and promise takes seeds and makes them grow, so Jesus, the Word of God, was changed into something that was so much more! Jesus rose from the dead. His disciples saw Him, talked with Him, touched Him, and even ate with Him. Jesus was clearly alive again! Even now He  is imperishable, incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and very, very real!

Jesus’ lowly body was transformed into something glorious. It’s an even more amazing transformation than a seed becoming a whole stalk of corn. It was the same body, just perfect, the way things were supposed be all along. Death has no more dominion over Him. Because Jesus did this, He promises to do the same thing for us.

3. Resurrection for Us

            We know that promise is true for us because we have already been united with Jesus in His death and resurrection. That happened for Bob when He was baptized here at Holy Cross on July 7, 1940. On that day, God made the promise to forgive all Bob’s sins and gave him everlasting life.

            Just we see God’s promise fulfilled each spring as new life begins, God kept His promise to Bob. All his sins were forgiven. And Wednesday morning, the eternal life that Bob already had overcame death and Bob was welcomed into the joy of heaven. Since Bob died in Jesus, death doesn’t have anymore dominion over him either. Bob is with Jesus! He is enjoying the presence of God our Savior and he is done with suffering and confusion.

We know that’s true now, but we’ll see it again. Jesus promise to come our graves just as He came to Lazarus’ grave and call us out. This means that today we are planting a seed. We’re placing Bob’s body in the ground. It’s weak, it’s perishable, he’s returning to the dust we were taken from. But to God this is a seed. In fact, to God, our cemetery is a garden that will sprout to life when He says the word. We’re planting it today in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

But look at how Bob’s going to be when we see him on the last day! Those same things that we said about Jesus’ body will be true about Bob and all of us. We will be imperishable, glorious, and clothed in God’s power. We will live forever with Jesus and with each other. This is where our hope lies even now.

            If we trust God’s promise about seed time and harvest coming each year, shouldn’t we trust His promise of eternal life and resurrection? After all, we see seeds growing new plants every year. That happens because God said it would. Since you can see that promise come true before your own eyes, trust that God will also make this promise come true. Jesus is coming to transform all our bodies, and Bob will be right here with us with that happens!

During Bob’s life, you all enjoyed a lot of fun with him. There were the lame jokes and lots of laughs. There were sleep overs with the girls and their friends and then the grandkids. There was riding in the snow and so many other good memories. Just think, in this new creation that’s coming when Jesus raises the dead, we’re going to be able to do all those things again.

And yes, as Isaiah says, there will be work to be done and we will enjoy the work of our hands. Can you imagine what farming will be like in that new creation? There won’t be weed or thorns, the weather will be perfect, and we will enjoy it all. Bob is going to love it, and so will you.

Dear friends, this is the hope we have. God brings new life. We see in the fields each year. We know it happened to Jesus when God raised Him from the dead. Since God has done this we can be confident of His promise to Bob and to us. Amen.