Read: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

“Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:1-2

Funerals are important for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that they give us a chance to take the major memories of a lost loved one, celebrate them, put them in a box with a bow, and set them on a prominent shelf in our souls. Those memories keep them alive in our hearts and in our communities.

In this passage, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians to remember what they have been told. Paul has proclaimed to them a series of stories, memories of one who was no longer in this earthly physical life. He urges them to remember, but in this case, it’s a little bit more than just keeping someone precious alive in our hearts and communities. They have found that in remembering these stories, the one who they lost is present in unexpected ways, life-giving ways, even what some would call miraculous ways. So powerful are these stories that even those who had never met him in life find that he is with them.

Easter is the great celebration of the amazing power of the story of Jesus, his teaching, his miracles, his self-giving, his death and resurrection. That resurrection lives on in those of us who, like the Corinthians, find that in recalling his stories we find that he is with us again in unexpected ways that are life-giving, even miraculous.

Loving God, this Easter day, we thank you for the gift of life you gave us in your son, Jesus Christ. May the telling of his story continue to transform us, our community and our world. We ask this in his own name, just as he taught us to do. Amen.
-Fr. Paul Moore