If Christ Is Not Central, What Are We Doing?

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

 In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthian Christians that what he delivered to them was of first importance: 

“That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” 

Now, pay attention: when Paul says, “first importance,” he means first priority, first in rank, and first in time. That is to say, the most important thing in the church is the message of Christ crucified for sinners and raised from the dead. Indeed, you heard that correctly: that message of the Gospel is the most important thing that you can hear in this church. It is the most important thing that you can hear as a Christian.

This is why we say that the Gospel must predominate. The Gospel must predominate in the church, in the Christian faith, in our sermons, in our music, in our liturgy, and in our conversations. Now, yes, we preach the Law. We preach the Ten Commandments. We preach God’s good and holy will. But mark this carefully: the preaching of the Law ultimately serves the preaching of the Gospel. You see, the Law exposes sin. The Law accuses and condemns us. The Law demolishes our excuses and crushes our pride. It awakens us to our sin and shows us that we cannot rescue ourselves. The Law makes us thirsty.  And then? Then comes the sweet, refreshing comfort of the Gospel. IN other words, the Law must strip away every place where we might hide so that the Gospel may place Christ before us as our only refuge.

Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul says boldly, 

“I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 

Now, Paul does not mean that he literally spoke about nothing else. Rather, Paul means that Christ crucified and risen was the marrow, substance, and center of everything he preached. Christ was the golden thread running through it all. Everything moved toward Christ. Everything found its center in Christ. Everything was finally about Christ for sinners. Again, the Gospel must predominate in the Christian faith.

And notice something else in our Epistle reading. When Paul speaks about the Gospel, he puts it at the very top. But when Paul speaks about himself, where does he put himself? Je puts himself at the bottom. Paul calls himself the least of the apostles – one who is untimely born. 

Do you see what is happening? Jesus is very, very, very big, and Paul is very, very, very small. Paul is not trying to impress the Corinthians with Paul. He is not trying to build a ministry around his personality, accomplishments, or spiritual résumé. No. Paul gets smaller because the grace of God in Christ is enormous. It is of first importance. 

Now, let me make this very applicable with an example from about eighty years ago. During World War II, the German city of Stuttgart was devastated by Allied bombing. Buildings were torn apart, homes were destroyed, churches were damaged, people died, and families grieved. The city was shaken by violence, destruction, and death. And in the aftermath of that devastation, Pastor Helmut Thielicke stood before his congregation and opened his sermon with a remarkable thought: 

“[Today] We shall continue our study of the Lord’s Prayer.”

Think about that for a moment. Pastor Thielicke did not say,

“Today, the bombing is so important that it must now become the center of the sermon.” 

He did not say, 

“Due to the bombing this last week, we are going to take some time off and make a topical sermon series in the Divine Service based on the current events of the war.” 

Now, to be clear, Pastor Thielicke was not putting his head in the sand.  Instead, he was refusing to let the bombing become bigger than Christ.  Instead, Pastor Thielicke interrupted the shell-shocked grief of his people with Christ. Let me repeat all of this: the bombing did not interrupt the church’s message; the church’s message of Christ interrupted the bombing. The war, destruction, and bombing did not get the center stage; Christ did.    

And that’s the point!  

Pastor Thielicke knew that Christ crucified for sins and raised from the dead for justification was of first importance, especially during the bombing, destruction, grief, and death of his town. Again, the bombing did not displace the Gospel as the center of the sermon.  Instead, the bombing revealed how desperately the people needed the Gospel. The church did not gather to live through the trauma, and the trauma was not repeated in the sermon. Instead, the church gathered to proclaim something into that trauma that the world could not give: Christ crucified and risen for sinners.

Dear friends, that is what the church does. The church does not merely echo the world's noise back to you. The church does not gather each week simply to tell you what happened on television, in Washington, in the economy, or in the culture. You can get that everywhere else. Instead, the church gives you what the world cannot give you - Christ.

Over the last twenty-plus years, I have received plenty of pushback as a pastor over this. 

“Pastor Richard, why didn’t we have a Father’s Day sermon today – after all it's Father’s Day?” 

“Pastor Richard, it is Mother’s Day. Why wasn’t the sermon about mothers?” 

“Pastor Richard, it is the Fourth of July. Why wasn’t the sermon about American Patriotism?” 

“Pastor Richard, it is Valentine’s Day. Shouldn’t we hear a sermon about marriage and relationships?” 

“Pastor Richard, it is Veterans Day. Why wasn’t the sermon about veterans?” 

Dear friends, we do not refrain from preaching sermons about fathers, mothers, America, marriage, or veterans because we are against these things. Not at all. Rather, we preach: 

Christ for fathers. 

Christ for mothers. 

Christ for husbands and wives. 

Christ for veterans. 

Christ for citizens. 

Christ for sinners. 

We do this because the Gospel is of first importance in this church. The Gospel is of first importance in this church because the Gospel is the power of God for your salvation. 

Furthermore, in this vale of tears, there are very few places where the Gospel will be proclaimed to you. The world will give you plenty of Law. Do more. Try harder. Be better. Fix yourself. Prove yourself. Make something of yourself. 

Listen up! 

The world takes. The world measures. The world compares. The world pressures. And when you fail, the world accuses and condemns. And so, you do not need the church merely to give you another motivational speech. You do not need another program telling you how to become impressive. You do not need a political commentary from this pulpit.  You do not need Jesus reduced to a life coach standing nearby, waiting for you to invite Him into your plans.

No. You need a Savior. And that is who God has given you. Christ died for your sins. Christ rose from the grave for your justification. Christ has defeated death for you. Christ has borne the wrath of God for you. Christ has washed you in Holy Baptism. Christ gives you His body and blood in His Supper for your forgiveness and the strengthening of your faith. 

Listen up! 

When the headlines change, Christ remains. When kingdoms rise and fall, Christ remains. When your strength fails, Christ remains. When your conscience accuses, Christ remains. When death comes knocking at your door, Christ remains. And this is why the Gospel must remain of first importance among us. 

Baptized Saints, the church will continue to put this message before you again and again and again, because nothing else can give what this Gospel gives.  Furthermore, we will not open the door to secondary items dominating the message of the church’s pulpit, liturgy, music, and conversations, for that is the path to true irrelevance and liberalism.   

So let the world have its noise. Let the culture have its outrage. Let the calendar have its special days. Let the politicians have their speeches. And let the motivational speakers have their advice. But here, in Christ’s Church, the Gospel will predominate. In this church, you will hear what is of first importance: 

that Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 

This is not merely an important message. This is your comfort. This is your hope. This is your salvation. This is your foundation. It is the message of first importance. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.