The Great Harvest Begins!
1 Corinthians 15:19-26

 † I.N.R.I †

May the Grace and Peace of God our Father and the Risen Lord Jesus Christ fill your heart, mind and soul, as you realize the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work IN YOU!

I will never get tired of saying this…

Pastor:                                         Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Congregation                             He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Deacon:                                       And therefore,
Congregation:                            We have risen indeed! Alleluia!

 The Apostle Paul wrote, “Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”

As I was thinking about this idea of a great harvest, and how to explain it, my memory went on a weird trip. It took me back to my childhood, as we were visiting a church. I don’t remember which one, probably Salem First Baptist, or the Pentecostal church my dad’s friend Pastor Brazil led. I don’t remember much of the service, except one strange hymn.

They sang it with a lot of energy and incredible joy, which is what impressed me, because I had no idea what they were singing about!

I mean, what in the world is a sheave?

They kept using that word, and being that the church was not in a farming community,  I am not sure they knew what it meant either, but they were singing about bringing them in, with great joy!

Bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves,
We will come rejoicing,
Bringing in the sheaves!

Did they mean sword-sheaths? Sheets? Sieves? Sleeves? Steves?

What in the world is a sheave?

And why were people so excited about bringing them in?

And what does that have to do with Easter?

How many times is our reaction to the resurrection there, because we hear everyone else’s conviction, because we see the joy and we want to be part of it, but  we don’t get that we are part of the harvest?

1.   Death in Adam

I don’t remember how many times they sung that chorus, but it seemed like for forever! And the first 4 or 5 times through, it was cool to see them all excited and singing loudly. It obviously meant something to a lot of these people!

But after a while it got old…and I disconnected from the singing, and focused on the musicians, then, looked around the church, then started to daydream, and maybe escaped to the restroom.

There was nothing there for me, and I don’t think anyone would have noticed I wasn’t there.

That is what sin is like, the sin that entered the world from Adam. It kills us off, separating us from the Lord, and from others. It’s as if they are speaking another language, and what is enjoyable to them, is empty to us. That frustrates us even more, and we wander off, separated from all that is good…

And that death is a foretaste of eternal death—the empty, hollow life that is hell….

It’s like being out in the low desert in the midst of summer, as wind sweeps blazing hot sand across the land, creating an unquenchable thirst in land and beast and man. For life is not capable of being sustained, never mind gathered and harvested.

There is no hope to escape that emptiness, that loneliness, or so it seems…

2.  The New Life

In another lifeless situation, God provided life where it could not have been.

This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. Romans 4:17 (NLT2)

And that is what happened the morning of the Resurrection, where there was no life in the crucified, spear pierced body of Jesus, from death came life.

He power of the grave, of death was shattered.

The separation thought to be permanent was made erased with the flash of light, as Jesus defeated death. As Jesus lived, but had already paid for our separation. His life would give a way for us to come to life, to know the joy, to be able to sing with meaning.

Only God can erase all that spiritually kills us, and wiukd end with our physical and eternal death as well. Only God can bring us to life again. Only God can include us in the great harvest of souls that have risen from the dead, both spiritually, and one day physically.

He did this by uniting us to Christ’s death and His resurrection…We are made new, complete, and in God’s eyes are His children, without sin. We become part of those “sheaves”, a part of the people of God, all who trust in Him and depend on His promise.

This is why we come to church, to celebrate this work of God, it is why we sing and pray and read the Bible, It is why we ask questions when we don’t know what a word means, or how a song fits in…. for it all testifies to the work God is doing in us.

And knowing that, that the power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead is at work in us, we enter into God’s peace, a peace far beyond our Logic and reason, for we dwell in our risen Lord, Jesus the Messiah! Amen!