Reflections on "Fact or Fiction?" I Corinthians 15: 1-11; Luke 24: 36-48

I do not have a very good feel for how this sermon went.  It was a sermon that was making nuanced distinctions that are sometimes hard to convey.  At some point during the sanctuary service, I remembered that in my initial thoughts on this sermon (when I was putting the series together) the title was supposed to be "Fiction or Non-fiction?" to build off the image of stories and those two main categories in a library.  In the putting together of the last newsletter, the sermon title got switched, which I think is one reason the sermon was hard for me (note to self - take better notes when brainstorming sermon topics!).  The initial thought was to think about our faith stories and characteristics they might have of fiction or non-fiction; instead, the sermon drifted to what is factual and what is not.  I think the initial thought would have worked better.

At the chapel service, one of the members made a comment about the sermon title, which led to my changing the final line of the sermon for the sanctuary service.  Again, it would have worked better in the context of the original thinking.

I had fun with the broiled fish illustration.  When the text gives us something unexpected like that, it really makes  it fun to study the text.

In part because I was struggling with this sermon, the printed text is probably not as close to what was preached, because I was free lancing more than usual.

“Fact or Fiction” April 22, 2012; FPC, Troy, I Corinthians 15; 1-11; Luke 24: 36-48

Introduction: We continue to reflect on how we tell our faith story – the stories of what God has done and how those stories are part of our own story.

Move 1: Hard to tell our faith story because we live in a world where things are either fact or fiction.

a. Can you prove what you are telling me?

1. if you can give me concrete proof, I'll listen to you.

2. If not, don't bother me with your story.

3. In other words, if you can factually prove the resurrection, then I might buy it; otherwise, forget it.

b. When we read this story in Luke, we recognize that those early followers of Christ must have lived with a similar tension – prove it, or else.

1. Why else would Luke include in this powerful story of resurrection the little tidbit about Jesus eating broiled fish.
2. If we did not know better, me might see this mention of eating broiled fish as some kind of embedded marketing – you know like they do in the movies – the lead character opens up her computer and every viewer can see that it is an Apple computer. If Luke had noted that Jesus ate “Mrs. Galilee's” brand of ” broiled fish, it might make sense.
3. But why else, in this powerful story when the resurrected Christ surprises the disciples and shows them the marks of the crucifixion on his hands and his feet, would Luke mention that Jesus ate broiled fish?
4. Because eating was something concrete that Jesus did.
5. Luke includes that in the story a a bit of factual information for the ones listening or reading the story.
6. Jesus, the resurrected one, got hungry and needed to eat, just like every other human.
7. In other words, the resurrected Christ was real.

It's hard to tell our faith story in a world that wants proof.

Move 2: Vulnerability of believing and telling our story.

a. Nora Gallagher, in her book Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment and Moments of Grace, reflects on the vulnerability to the disciple Thomas must have felt as he heard the stories from the other disciples about their having seen the resurrected Christ.

1. rationally, Thomas knows that he has never seen a person who has been resurrected.
2. He can hope for resurrection.
3. He can hope in the God of resurrection.
4. But it would be a huge risk to move from hoping in the resurrection to believing in the resurrection.
5. What if he were wrong. “If Thomas hopes to see Jesus again, and it turned out to be a hoax, what then?” (52)

b. and how much greater risk to share that belief?

1. Your friend wants to know why you still seem hopeful even though you have lost your job.
2. It's one thing to say you are hopeful that God will do something.
3. How much more vulnerable it is to claim that God is at work in your life, even in that moment of job loss and that you believe that God will guide you.

Move 3: Our story has the power to shape us and others.

a. As we read Paul's letter to the Corinthians, we see how he pushes his way through the dilemma of fact or fiction as he tells his own faith story.

b. First he lays out his faith claim.

1. Christ has died for our sins.
2. Christ has been resurrected from the dead.
3. As proof that it is true, he describes how Christ appeared to Peter, and then the twelve disciples, and then 500 hundred people.
4. As we hear him mention the number of 500 people, I am thinking of broiled fish.
5. The point is not that Paul has counted up the number of people and the sum total is 500; the point is that the story of Christ's resurrection must be true, after all, a bunch of people saw him.
6. If we read more of his letter to the Corinthians, we get into more of his rational arguments about the resurrection.
   b. but I suspect the power of Paul's story of the resurrection of Christ comes from how that story has changed and shaped him.
   1.When the Corinthians read Paul argue for the resurrection, they read the words of a man whose life was changed by the power of the resurrection.
   2. They know Paul's story – how he was changed from someone who persecuted Christians to someone who proclaimed the resurrected Christ.
   3. he tells the story of the resurrection from the perspective of someone who offers him changed life as proof.
   4. He can argue with the best of them about how the proof of the resurrection, but his best argument is his own story.
   Conclusion: I have been known to tell members of my own family, "Just because you say it doesn't mean it's true."
   Just because Luke tells us that Jesus ate broiled fish, doesn't mean that the story of his resurrection is true.
   Just because Paul tells us that 500 people saw the resurrected Christ doesn't mean that the story of his resurrection is true.
   Just because you tell people that the God who resurrects has changed your life, doesn't mean that the story of Christ's resurrection is true.
   But in a world that demands facts, your faith story and speak a truth that needs to be told.
   Fact or fiction. No, faith.