Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Cor. 15:58
Because Jesus was raised from death our service and work are worthwhile. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are part of an amazing story with a glorious ending. But right now, as we await that ending, we live in the “troublesome middle” of the story. We live in a broken world and sometimes we wonder if the gospel is making any difference. Crime, injustice, violence, sexual abuse, and hatred only seem to escalate. Even, within the church, Jesus’ followers often behave poorly. We complain, covet, gossip, lie, and cheat. The ten commandments are broken consistently day after day.
It’s nothing new. Paul was writing to a church in Corinth that was struggling to follow Jesus. So why belong to a church if it struggles with following Jesus commands? Why preach the good news if people who claim to be Christ-followers fail to respond?
The answer is resurrection. Paul encourages believers to stand firm and give themselves totally to the work of the Lord. The verb translated “always excelling” means to “be always abounding” or “overflow.” This is the language of extravagance and excess. Rather than pull back, we are to push forward in our work and service despite what this world feels like and what we see happening around us. The resurrection is what gives our work significance, meaning and success. We will see limited success now, but the ultimate victory will come when we are raised as Christ was raised. So in the now, we need each other. In the community of the church we find support, hope and purpose as we grow in faith and discipleship.
We as Christians are called to practice resurrection in our daily life. We are called to practice resurrection daily as we engage in a life permeated by the presence and companionship of the resurrected Jesus at home and work. We are to be living witnesses to the one who conquered death and lives still. We should be able to tell the story of his resurrection, but we should also be looking for stories of resurrection that are around us. We need to have eyes to see anew resurrection happening around us. This week I found a flower blooming all by itself, proclaiming the resurrection. Sometime we need to bloom even when we are by ourselves to proclaim the resurrection. Without resurrection the story of Jesus would at most be good advice (how to live a life) and not good news. Resurrection changes everything, let’s be looking for its work still going on around us.
