March Madness is upon us. And with the outcome of the NCAA basketball tournament thus far, some of us are mad—because our team lost. Raise your hand if that’s you. Some of us are glad—because our team is still in the hunt. Raise your hand if that’s you.
This basketball tournament reminds me of my short-lived basketball career. I played Junior Varsity and Varsity basketball for the Cloudcroft Bears. My Junior Varsity days were especially dark. We wore the hand-me-down uniforms from the Varsity team of years gone by. The white was now a sweat-stained-beige. The green was now a faded-lime-green. And our team’s record was about as ugly as our uniforms.
I recall one particular low point. Late one evening our boy’s team and girl’s team were returning from games at an out-of-town school. The girl’s yellow mini-bus pulled up to our school building. Then the boy’s white mini-bus pulled up. We boys plodded off. Frowns on our faces. Shoulders slumped. We had lost yet another game to another team. It seemed we would never overcome our foes. The girls bounced out. Smiles on their faces. Heads held high. They had brought home yet another victory. In fact, they had been celebrating on the bus by playing music from the 80’s band Journey.
And I remember Charlotte Griffin, one of the stars of the girl’s J.V. team, walking over to me. She put her arm around my shoulders. And sensing the need to spur me on, to encourage me not to give up, she started singing. She sang a tune, one of the Journey songs they had been listening to:
Some will win, some will lose; Some were born to sing the blues; Oh, the movie never ends; It goes on and on and on and on; Don’t stop believin’; Hold on to the feelin’; Don’t stop believin’
And though there was something cheesy about it, I still remember that moment. It made a difference that night. It made me feel like not quitting. And even today, thirty years later, that song still inspires me. It’s a tune that keeps me going.
This morning, Easter Sunday, a follower of Jesus named Paul has a tune for us. There’s music Paul wants us to hear as we consider the resurrection: 50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:50-57 ESV)
Perhaps the shoulders of those to whom Paul wrote were slumped. Perhaps their faces carried frowns. Perhaps it seemed to them that they’d never overcome their foe of death.
So, Paul walks over to them. He puts his arm around them. And he plays a tune: 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor. 15:51-52) Paul plays the sound of a trumpet.
Jesus mentions this trumpet in Matt. 24:31 when he speaks about his return. Paul plays the tune of this trumpet in 1 Thess. 4:16 when writing about Jesus’ return. And a follower of Jesus named John writes about trumpets in his collection of letters called Revelation as he describes the return of Jesus.
There is much we don’t know about the return of the risen Jesus and his raising of us from the dead. But one thing we do know—it will be accompanied by the tune of a trumpet.
And perhaps to Christians who are feeling defeated by death Paul plays the tune of that trumpet: 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
A few days ago, some of us from Highland shared lunch with a friend named Ken. Ken walked into our lunch with shoulder slumped and a frown on his face. He shared with us the tragic tale of a friend of his named Steve. Steve had lost his love. He and his wife went through a difficult divorce. Because of the toll of the divorce, Steve not only lost his love. He lost his livelihood. He was unable to give his business the attention it needed during the divorce and the business faltered. The business finally went belly-up. Worse, Steve had lost not only his love and his livelihood. Now, it appeared, he was about to lose his life. A deadly cancer was attacking his body. And as Ken shared the tragedy of Steve, our shoulders slumped. Our faces frowned. But then, we heard a sound. It was the tune of a trumpet. And we remembered that there will come a moment when the risen Jesus will raise Steve. Steve will be changed. His mortal body will put on immortality. Death will be swallowed up in victory. Death will lose its sting. And we’ll be thanking God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We heard the tune of that trumpet and suddenly we no longer felt like giving up.
Some of us this morning are facing serious health issues. People we love are suffering. Family or friends have passed away. And we need this tune of the trumpet. We need the reminder that there will come a moment when the risen Jesus will raise us and those we love. We and they will be changed. Our mortal bodies will put on immortality. Death will be swallowed up in victory. Death will lose its sting. And we’ll be thanking God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But Paul believes this music is not merely for hospitals and funerals. Paul believes this tune needs to be played elsewhere. Listen to the way in which Paul ends this Easter text: 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58 ESV)
The word “Therefore” ties this verse to what came before it. What came before it was the tune of that resurrection trumpet. And Paul is saying “Because of the tune of that trumpet, you can be steadfast, immovable and always abounding as you do the work of the Lord.” Well, what is this “work of the Lord” and how does the tune of the resurrection trumpet keep us going in that work?
“The work of the Lord” certainly describes what Paul’s been doing–preaching in Jewish synagogues and pagan temples; planting churches in major cities; and writing Christian literature. But notice that Paul applies this phrase to the “ordinary” Christians in the church in Corinth. He sees what they’ve been doing as the work of the Lord. He’s not writing to professional ministers and missionaries. He’s writing to the mother of three just trying to keep the diaper genie empty. He’s writing to the accountant stuck at the office—again. He’s writing to the teen trying to get on the basketball team at school. Paul’s writing to ordinary Christians who are doing the “the work of the Lord.”
A friend of mine helped me understand one way of looking at this recently. I was in his office. And he was describing how he viewed his work in insurance as a ministry. It was one of the ways he was able to put his faith into action, helping others in some of their most difficult moments. And that’s really what “the work of the Lord” is. It’s anything a person does for others because of his/her faith. It’s teens handing out sandwiches to the poor downtown. It’s doctors healing the wounded and sick. It’s teachers investing in the lives of kids. It’s parents sacrificing to raise their children. It’s civic leaders striving to benefit others. It’s neighbors cutting grass for neighbors. It’s anything you do for others because of your faith in Christ.
We recently asked Mayor Keith MacDonald of Bartlett to share how his faith in Christ prompts him to help make the world a better place for others: [VIDEO] Things like this are the work of the Lord.
And the thing about that kind of work is that it can be tough. There are a lot of foes to overcome. It can feel sometimes like the whole world is against your effort to make the world a better place. For example I received a long email from a friend recently. She was sharing the struggle she and her Dad are going through as they care for her ailing mother/ his ailing wife. She wrote this: This week has meant comforting when he fell apart sobbing, hearing that he has slept less, sympathizing with his very understandable anger at the hospital, and just hearing him sound exhausted and close to hopeless. Out of their faith, they were striving to minister to her mom/ his wife, but it was getting so hard. They felt like giving up.
And that seems to be what’s going on with those to whom Paul writes. They’re trying to make the world a better place. But they’re facing so many foes. The fact that Paul has to tell them to be steadfast in that work, immovable in that work, and abounding in that work suggests that they are not. Their shoulders are slumped. Their faces have frowns.
So, Paul walks over to them. He puts his arm around them. And he plays for them this tune of the trumpet. He believes that if they will listen to that trumpet, they will become steadfast. They will become immovable. He believes that if we will listen to the tune of that trumpet, we will leave here ready to take on whatever foes we face in making this community, this city, and this world a better place.
How does this resurrection trumpet stir us to keep working for the good of others? In Bible times, the trumpet was used for many things. One of its uses was to announce the coronation of a king. For example at the coronation of David’s son Solomon, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him. Then the trumpet is blown and the people shout, “Long live King Solomon!” (1 Kings 1:34ESV)
This Old Testament practice made its way into contemporary coronations. One of the last acts of King George I of Great Britain was to commission George Frideric Handel to write the coronation anthem for his son George II. Handel looked back to this Old Testament passage about the coronation of Solomon. He wrote a piece called “Zadok the Priest” which was played at the coronation of George II. It has been played at every British coronation since 1772. And trumpets play the dominant part in the piece.
This is what Paul is describing with the trumpet in our text this morning. He’s picturing that moment when the risen Lord will return. There will be the blast of a trumpet. It’s the signal of Jesus’ coronation. It’s a signal that his reign is supreme. It’s a signal that his work endures forever. It’s the sound of every foe falling before him.
Therefore, we can abound in the work of the Lord. Because we know that every orphan we house for the name of Jesus is a work that’s on the winning side. We know that every neighbor whose fence we repair for the name of Jesus is a work that’s on the winning side. We know that every discouraged person we speak to about hope and comfort is a work that’s on the winning side. Every retirement center we visit, every short term mission we sacrifice for, every Sunday School class we teach, is on the winning side. We can abound in our work of the Lord because we can hear the trumpet of the Lord. And that trumpet announces his reign, his rule and his victory.
Right now it may seem that poverty is too strong to overcome. Racism is too strong to overcome. Political oppression is too strong to overcome. It may seem that wealth reigns. That diseases reigns. That injustice reigns. But while they may enjoy power now, that power is temporary. Because we work to the tune of a trumpet. We work with the promise that one day the risen Lord returns. One day his trumpet blares. And it signals the end of every foe and every power that wears us down and makes us want to quit. We work to the tune of the trumpet. And as we listen to it, we become steadfast. We become immovable. And we abound in the work of the Lord.
How do we carry this with us as we leave here today? Here at Highland we talk about how each person is meant for more. And we envision four areas in which people are meant for more: worship, growing with others, serving and sharing. I want to close with an application of this text in the area of serving others. Take time today or tomorrow morning to identify just one work which your faith might prompt you to do for one specific person this week. Then, pray for God to help you do that work to the tune of the trumpet—knowing that work is on the winning side; and anything that stands against that work will fall when that trumpet blares.
