August 23

NT -- 1st Corinthians 15:1-28
This is passage is the very crux of our gospel. Can you believe in Jesus and not in the resurrection? It will not come as any surprise to anyone who has read me for very long that I waffle around on this one. I know. I should be certain. But I am not.
That being said, I currently am in one of those stages where I DO believe. Maybe at some point, these will cease being stages and will be permanent. This is to be hoped for. For now, I will just muddle on through.

But when YOU read these words of Paul, "But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, 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."
what do you think about?
Is this a comfort to you or a conundrum? I actually have one friend who says she puts this and all others just like it, including the actual resurrection scene with Mary Magdalene in her box, lids it, and moves on to 'better church work'.

Clearly, Paul had both kinds -- the ones who were certain and the 'losers' like me who aren't in the church in Corinth. Nowadays, the uncertain among us keep quiet if we go to church. Apparently, this was not the case in Corinth. And apparently, they were vocal in their opposition to this 'spiritual truth' of the resurrection.
Paul gives them the body slam "For he (Jesus) must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet," and then pulls out all the stops about why he is willing to give up his life for Jesus (that is in tomorrow's scripture. I cheated.).

Go check out this website and see what this lady's answers are to the truth of the resurrection.


As for me and my fellow doubters, have compassion on us. Most of us long for certainty, yes, even the certainty of Paul. And if you are like me in that arena, know you are not alone.

OT -- Job 8:1-11:20
Oh, oh, oh, poor Job. He is trying so hard to die. And to say that he has no rights to question and/or stand before God with his questions. I have no idea what his friends were trying to convince Job of, because they should have sympathized with him. JOb is in deep distress. You don't point and prod at folks who have lost everything. You sit with them. Hold their hand. Don't tell them that they MUST have done something wrong. Who cares why? Job is a broken, beaten man.
This section of Job really gets to me. As someone who has sat by the dying or the chronic pain sufferer, I tell you, I could not say anything like this. Could you?
Well, I will say, when Nathan died, more than one "friend" told me and I am sure they also told this to my parents, that God just wanted one more angel. Or 'this is God's will'. Now, both of those may be true, although it would be a hard stretch to call Nathan an angel. But no matter what. Those statements are not helpful.
And that is what his friends are -- not helpful. Don't worry. They get zapped in the end.

And our Psalm today (38) speaks to the sufferer as well. And just like in the Job situation, really, the only one to help, to heal, to care, is God.

May we always know that God is there for us, in suffering and in joy.