8 August 2005

Today we skip over conversations about tongues in 1 Corinthians and move on to chapter 15.

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you - unless you have come to believe in vain. (1 Cor. 15:1-2)

After a long section in which Paul talks about the building of the community and the various uses of gifts and how each one is so vital for the life of the whole body, he now pauses and steps back. This step is not into another community issue, it is back to the base - the foundation. It is as though he say "having said all this...now let me carry on with what is most essential." It is and it will always be - the good news. The story that brings life. The story that is not held back until we act correctly. The story that is for fools and losers and...everyone...simply everyone. Without going any further it is as though we are once again being wrapped up with the news that is to be our life. Not only was this good news announced...it was taken in...it became the way of seeing and hearing that shapes all the rest of the seeing and hearing of those who follow Jesus. Then to press the point of what this good news has to do with real life we are invited to consider if this trust we have placed in the good news is of no worth...in vain. We should read an emphatic NO here. It is the news that makes our lives what they are and what they will be and we can count on how this story will never leave us without a storyline that will take us from here to...anywhere and everywhere.

Connection: Sometimes, it is so very important to simply stop in the day and remember the promise and the story that we have come to call the good news and the fact that it is news that can and does change all things among us...forever.

Lord of the Promise, as we move here and there and often wonder what is way of life we are to travel, your Spirit continues to keep us steadfast in your word of promise that is so good it is like a banquet feast ready to be enjoyed. Amen.