Selected Sermons

Hogwarts and Heaven - Could Either Be True?

1 Corinthians 15

by Jennifer Thiessen

Sermon: February 10, 2002.

I have heard it said that when one is preparing a sermon one ought to have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Well this week I haven't read the newspaper; I've read Harry Potter novels. So for this sermon I have had the Bible in one hand and Harry Potter novels in the other.

I Corinthians 15 is entirely about one particular, peculiar Christian belief - the Resurrection of the Dead in the last days.

Harry Potter novels, as I'm sure most of you are aware, are about a young boy named Harry Potter who lives a normal, but quite unhappy life in London, England. He lives in a world very much like the world we live in ourselves here in Toronto. Fans of the books often comment that Harry Potter is "just like us." This changes when he turns 11 year old - Harry begins another life - a strange life, a fantastic life. Harry learns that he is a wizard and at the end of the summer he will leave his unhappy life in London to begin his life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Life at Hogwarts is fantastic compared to life Harry lives in London. At Hogwarts Harry has lots of friends, lots of food, a nice castle to live in, and he even learns to fly on a broomstick.

When Harry first finds out about Hogwarts it seems unbelievable, too-good-to-be-true. This "afterlife" after-summer-life is outrageous, fantastic. It is also more-than-a-little weird. A school of wizardry is weird. Flying is weird. Not normal & not believable.

In London, Harry lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin - the Dursley Family. The Dursleys don't want to think about this Hogwarts School and all the weird things that go on there, like flying, and strange magic. These things are not normal, and therefore not to be believed, not to be talked about, not to be thought about. They think Hogwarts is Hogwash! The whole matter is too outrageous, too fantastic, too far-fetched. Quite Distasteful & Unpleasant.

As I read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 this week, it struck me that in some ways, the church in Corinth was a little bit like the Dursleys.
The idea of the resurrection and life after death was too outrageous, too fantastic, too far-fetched. Really Quite Distasteful & Unpleasant. Weird ideas like flying, like angels?!

They had seen people die, this was the early church, they were persecuted, their friends had died. And the idea of resurrecting those dead bodies was weird, distasteful & unpleasant. Not to be believed, not to be talked about, not to be thought about. The phrase that we translate to mean "the resurrection of the dead", would be more literally translated, "the rising of the corpses." Not an idea that they wanted to think about.

So the church in Corinth was teaching a cleaned-up, more dignified, more believable Christianity. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead - at least not in a physical way. Maybe the resurrection of the dead just means an altered sense of being.
Maybe it won't really mean bodies are resurrected, maybe it'll just be souls, or minds or hearts. Maybe at the end, when Christ is reunited with all of the Christians who have passed away it's won't be a physical reunion. Maybe it'll just be one big happy universal blend of energies. All the souls will mingle in a nice tidy, ethereal altered state - like light! An intangible, non carnal, non-physical resurrection of the dead. (A much more pleasant idea.)

Let's stop for a moment and put this letter into its historical context.
The Christians at the time of Paul's writing did not imagine that you and I would be here today. The didn't know that the church they were starting would last 2000 years. They thought it might last 2 years, maybe 2 weeks. They were an oppressed minority living in violent times. They were waiting for a deliverer, a Messiah, a savior to rescue them. They believed that Jesus was this Messiah. Jesus had gone to heaven; but he would be coming back to lead the Final Battle. Soon Jesus would come back and rescue them from their oppressors. He would lead the believers in the ultimate battle between good and evil. And he would win. He was the hero and the good guys were going to win. The final battle was going to be soon. The end of the world was coming in their lifetimes. This was it.

That's why Paul (in other letters) says, "give all your possessions to the poor". It makes sense - you don't need to save possessions if it is end of the world. That's why he said don't get married - why bother, if the end of the world is coming? If the end of the world is coming, the only thing that matters is getting ready for it.

They believed that they were living in the last days and that Christ's return and the return (or resurrection) of all the other believers who had died was going to happen soon. This was not just an obscure hypothetical idea in the future like it is to us; this was their present reality. The dead who were going to be resurrected, were their friends and leaders, many of whom had died violent deaths, being persecuted for their faith. They were aware that they themselves might be killed before Jesus had won the final battle. This question of the resurrection of the dead was a personal issue. It was personal and it was distasteful to imagine their friends, leaders or their own bodies coming out of the grave.

We live in a different time. With a different set of realities in the church today. But we too are uncomfortable with teachings on the resurrection of the dead. For different reasons. As I read through Corinthians 15 this week, I saw myself in Corinthian church. I don't want to think about the bodily resurrection of the dead either. I don't want to think about the resurrection at all. This is not a part of Christianity I am comfortable thinking about. I would much rather talk about the present, this earth, this life - things I can do in this
earthly body. Christianity right here right now, makes sense. This resurrection, afterlife stuff is too weird, too far-fetched, too outrageous.

We all know Christians who seem to think only about the resurrection and the afterlife. They are so focused on forcing their beliefs on to everyone around them that they miss opportunities to be of any practical use to their communities. Rather than address the physical needs this life, they can only talk to people about their
spiritual needs. These Christians are sometimes described as being, "so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good." This kind of Christianity is Quite Distasteful & Unpleasant to us. In an effort to not be like them, we don't talk about the resurrection of the dead at all. Like the church in Corinth, we don't want to think about it or talk about it either.

But Paul won't let the church in Corinth, or us here in Toronto, dismiss this difficult idea. Paul says, "How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins and then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If it is only for this life that we have hope in Christ, then we are to be pitied more than all people. (Verses 12-19)

Paul makes it very clear; the resurrection of the dead is central to Christian faith. By denying the physical resurrection of the dead, we deny the importance of the physical world God created. By denying the physical resurrection of the dead, we deny that these flawed bodies of ours are loved by God and will be redeemed. By denying the physical resurrection of the dead, we deny that what we do with these bodies is of ultimate significance in God's eyes. God has not abandoned God's creation. (Hays p.277-278)

Paul also makes it clear that the physical body of the resurrection will be different than the physical bodies we have on earth. He compares it to a seed and a plant. The seed is buried; later, it comes to life as a plant. The seed lives on in the plant, but we do not dig the seed back out of the dirt. The seed and the plant are the same life, but the two bodies are completely different. That is how different heavenly bodies are from earthly bodies. (Verses 35-44)

The resurrection of the dead is not as unpleasant as the people in the church of Corinth feared.

And the teachings of the resurrection of the dead are not as impractical as we the people in this church in Toronto may fear. The Resurrection will be physical, it will be embodied. Therefore, our faith is also embodied. The Resurrection has physical, carnal realities. Therefore, our faith is relevant in addressing physical carnal realities and concerns. Faith is not just about good thoughts, good hopes, abstract ethereal positive energy; Faith is also about good works, good choices, physical concrete positive actions.

Our faith is not just about saving souls; because the resurrection is not just about resurrecting souls. Faith is practical and of physical significance because the resurrection is physical. In another letter, James says, "Faith without works is dead". It could also be said that Faith in the resurrection requires works from the living.

Because the Resurrection is Physical - our Salvation is Physical. Because our Salvation is Physical - the Living out of our Faith has Physical Manifestations. Our "heavenly minded" faith must also do "earthly good".

Dr. Virginia Ramey Mollenkott sums up this link between physical and spiritual realities of our faith this way: "I do derive peace from knowing that I am an eternal being who is currently having human experiences. What seems to be my material body is valuable as a vehicle of communication but not at all the solid reality it appears to be. ... I do not agree that these realizations (of being part of God's consciousness) entitles me to float through life with no concern for what is happening to my apparent body, the bodies of others, and the planetary body we share." (Omnigender: a Trans-religious Approach, p. 58)

The apostle Paul himself resolves chapter 15 by stating himself the importance of the physicality of the resurrection this way:
"Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain." (Verse 58)

Our faith is not merely ethereal. Our work is not in vain. Our hope in the resurrection is not impractical.