Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
Christ is risen from the dead. He died and rose to new life. This is fine for him, but what about us? We live in dangerous times and could be shot down in the streets or killed in a hit and run accident. We could be coming to the end of our lives, looking for something better and finding nothing. This seems to have been the attitude with some of the Corinthians.
What is Paul’s response? If we believe that Christ rose, then we must believe that we likewise shall rise from the dead. If we won’t, Christ has not risen either. If Christ has not risen, then we are no better off than the pagans and are still wallowing in our sins. On the other hand, Christ has risen and have risen with him. We therefore have more coming to us than we can imagine.
This reminds me of what Paul had written earlier. The weakness and foolishness of God are wiser and stronger than this world. The human spirit cannot understand the Spirit of God, and we have the Spirit of God. The resurrection of Jesus, and our resurrection with him, flows from God’s foolishness and weakness, which has conquered the world’s power and wisdom. Our constant system of belief and the entire basis of our moral living flows from the foolish wisdom and powerful weakness of Christ’s death and resurrection.
What, then, about us? The same holds true. If Christ has not been raised, then we are the most pitiable of people because we are still in our sins and the resurrection that we hope for will never happen. You and I must profess our faith by the way we live. Christ’s resurrection permeates our personality, our interactions with nature and others, our sexuality, and our maturity.