In the Twinkling of an Eye

1Corinthians 15:51  Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed,52  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 will be changed. 53  For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54  When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55  "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58  Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

Written in an era when the Roman Empire ruled by force, and the fear of death kept the populace compliant, Paul contests this view: "Death has been swallowed up in victory...Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"  Once the followers of Jesus discover that death is but a temporary interruption of life, they will be able to stand “steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord”.

We who follow Jesus are Resurrection People.

For Thought

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; 

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul

Horatio G. Spafford

Ordinary 32 / Pentecost +25

54 A Resurrection People

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 329.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.