Hope And Peace Of Mind
Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Dear Friends,
The topic at lunch the past few days has been a mudslide in Sausalito. Early Thursday morning the ground gave way under one house and it slid down into a house below. Both houses were destroyed, as were a few cars. One woman who lived in the first house was injured but is expected to recover. Unfortunately, she lost her beloved cat.
News reports say 50 other people were evacuated as other houses are inspected. As of noon, the electricity and gas were still off in the area.
At lunch today, a contractor was explaining that many of the neighboring houses can be shored up through some new types of technology. I won’t pretend I understand how this technology works, but I do hope it provides hope and peace of mind for the people in the neighboring homes.
Hope and peace of mind are important for most people. It leads to a healthy state of mind as we live our lives in this world. Imagine what it would be like if you or I went to bed not knowing if our homes were secure enough to withstand the effects of some types of weather. It would be quite nerve-wracking.
Paul talks of hope in another way. He talks of hope as important in our spiritual lives. In the reading above he talks of the hope of the resurrection. Earlier he talked of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Now he talks of the resurrection of the followers of Jesus. Our resurrection is hope for you and me. It gives you and me peace of mind.
My prayer is that the hope of the resurrection would give you peace of mind in your day to day lives.
Peace,
Ricky Adams
Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Mill Valley, California