Show and Tell
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | February 9, 2025
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Read 1 Corinthians 15:1 – 11(NIV)
Today’s New Testament lesson comes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church... and depending on which version of the Bible you may be reading from, the heading that appears before this passage may be “The Resurrection of Christ” (NIV), “The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality” (NKJV), “Christ Was Raised to Life” (CEV), or simply “Resurrection” (MSG)... but for our time together this morning, I want to invite us to think on the subject: SHOW AND TELL.
Perhaps you may remember the classroom exercise from elementary school when a child would bring in an item and have to stand up in front of the rest of the class and tell everyone about that item. Although the exact origins of this practice cannot be confirmed, a quick Google search gives us an indication that it was first written about in the journal, “Childhood Education” back in 1954.
This activity was designed to help students develop their storytelling ability and enhance their communication skills. It provides an opportunity for those in the listening audience to learn about different subjects.
Now, in the passage that calls for our attention this morning, Paul was doing what could be described as his own version of SHOW AND TELL... showing the Corinthians that Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection were in alignment with what was written in the Scriptures about the Messiah... and then telling them how after His resurrection, Christ showed Himself to Peter and the other disciples as well as more than five hundred of His followers, including Paul himself.
Then Paul engaged in a little more SHOW AND TELL... standing before the Corinthians, showing his audience his true colors... letting them see who he was... a former zealot and persecutor of Christians turned committed apostle of Jesus... all while telling them about what God’s grace had done for him... explaining to them how his life had been transformed and he had been made new.
And that is the lesson that I believe Paul would want us to take away from this text today... that our lives ought to be a SHOW AND TELL for others to see and hear about Jesus... through not only what we say... but also in what we do.
In James 1:22, we read, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Or as it reads in the Contemporary English Version, “Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it.” After all, it has been said that actions do speak louder than words.
Now, I do know that today is Super Bowl Sunday and millions of people will be glued to their television sets and other devices watching the game this evening... eagerly anticipating the outcome of the matchup that will determine who is the best team in the NFL... at least for this year.
As some sports enthusiasts will tell you... a team is only as good as the coaching they receive... and the key to a team’s success is generally based on how well they follow the playbook in executing the coach’s strategy.
However, this morning, I want to suggest that God has given us His Word as our personal playbook for how we are to live our lives... and He has given us His Holy Spirit to coach us and provide us with the strategy we need... so that when all is said and done... we will have victory through our Savior, Jesus the Christ.
But all of this is incumbent upon us being true team players... recognizing that we cannot do this on our own... and understanding that God has given all of us a role to play... a position on the team so to speak... so that collectively we can execute on God’s plan to ensure the Good News is shared with everyone... fulfilling the Great Commission to:
...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19 – 20).Effectively doing our own version of SHOW AND TELL about Jesus.
Now taking a look back at our text for today, we discover that Paul was writing to a church that is not unlike many churches that still exist today. While we may acknowledge that the church is not simply the physical building but is actually the people... the body of believers that comprise the church... the reality is that within any given church, there may still be people who are not yet believers... people who are still seeking to find the truth about God... as well as some folk who are just putting on a good act.
The reality is that someone sitting in a church does not make them a Christian any more than sitting in a garage would make them a car. It takes more than just being present in the building, taking up space in the pews. It requires more than that for us to receive the gift of salvation and become true Christians.
As we read in Romans 10 (9 – 13):
If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’And yet, as far back as we can look throughout history, there have always been those who, for whatever reason, have chosen not to believe and who have decided not to call on the name of the Lord.
But make no mistake, God has not given up on them. In fact, the scriptures tell us that God desires that none should be lost (see 2 Peter 3:9). That is why Jesus came to give His life for us. Just look at what we find in John 3:16 – 17:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.And while that certainly sounds like good news to me, there are still some who may remain unconvinced... just as some of the folks were within the Corinthian Church that we read about in our text.
But as part of his SHOW AND TELL, Paul presented his case to the Corinthians regarding Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. And it is the same case that we should feel confident in making as well when we do our own SHOW AND TELL.
The first point that Paul makes is that according to the scriptures, Christ died for our sins.
The prophet Isaiah (53:5 – 6) wrote:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.Christ went to the cross at Calvary, not because of anything He had done wrong. On the contrary, Jesus gave His life for us because of everything we have done (and ever will do) wrong.
Christ’s death on the cross was not simply an accident or a case of bad luck... nor was it a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Christ’s death was part of God’s plan to bring about salvation for all who believe. It was undeniably 100% by design. Jesus was at the right place, at the right time.
Now the second point Paul used in making his case is that Jesus was buried.
In each of the four Gospels – Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19 – we read about a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea who was a respected leader within the Jewish council... the same council that was responsible for Jesus being crucified.
What is so remarkable about Joseph is that although he was a prominent leader within the Jewish council, Mark and Luke both say that “He was waiting for the kingdom of God” -- while Matthew and John, both describe him as being an actual disciple of Jesus, meaning he was someone who followed Jesus.
So, Joseph went to Pilate and requested permission to take Jesus’ body. And when Pilate granted permission, the scriptures tell us that Joseph took the body and laid it in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. And after he put Jesus’ body in the tomb, the scriptures go on to tell us that he rolled a big stone in front of the entrance and went away.
So, Jesus died for our sins and Jesus was buried, which brings us to the third point Paul made: Jesus was raised on the third day, just like He said He would be.
Now, there may be some people who get hung up on how the three days were counted; however, we need to keep in mind that it was based on the Jewish system of counting days which goes from sundown to sundown.
And throughout the Gospels, we read about Jesus’ declaration that He would be delivered into the hands of men, be killed and then rise again after three days.
He even made a comparison to the Old Testament story of Jonah saying, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
As Paul continues making his case, he provides a list of the many people who saw Jesus after His resurrection... after the three days... and that list includes Peter and the rest of the original Twelve Disciples and James (the brother of Jesus), as well as more than 500 other believers... and of course, Paul, himself.
So, based on the testimony of all those witnesses Paul named, there should be little to no room to doubt Paul’s claims about Jesus.
But there are still many who doubt... many who do not believe that what the Bible says is true... many who contend that it is just a fictional story contained within a book of fairy tales.
Over the years, I have tried to figure out why people are so hesitant to accept that Jesus’ birth, death, burial and resurrection are in fact true.
When you think about all the things we have read and been taught about people like Aristotle, Shakespeare, Joan of Arc, George Washington, etc. -- no one questions their existence or the veracity of their place and importance in history.
So, why is it so different when it comes to Jesus?
Perhaps it is because none of those other “historical figures” was able to do what Jesus did. They lived, and they died... but they did not rise again on the third day.
And regardless of their extremely significant contributions to the world... none of those other people has the authority to command us to live our lives in accountability to God. None of them can compel us to love one another and to forgive one another. And none of them has the power to move us outside our comfort zones so we can spread the Good News about Jesus.
Believing those other people lived and died does not require us to “do” anything differently... to live our lives in a different way. But believing that Christ died for our sins, was buried and was raised again on the third day -- well that makes all the difference in the world.
Because when we “confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead,” the scriptures say that we shall be saved... we will receive the gift of salvation and the promise of eternal life.
But what are we supposed to do once we have received such a precious gift?
It’s simple. We are to tell others about it so that they can receive the gift as well. We show love to others as we have been shown love. We forgive as we have been forgiven. In short, we live our lives in such a way that others want to know what they need to do to get what we have.
And let’s be clear... the gift of salvation is not something that we should hoard and keep to ourselves. It is something that we should share freely and joyfully.
And what better time is there than today to show the world what God’s love in action looks like by telling a dark and dying world about a living Savior who is Christ the Lord...
And who better is there to do that than you and me?
It all comes back to what the Prophet Isaiah wrote in our Old Testament reading for this morning, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
So, if you have a desire to be used by God like the Prophet Isaiah or the Apostle Paul and engage in a little SHOW AND TELL so that others will hear the good news about Jesus... then I want to invite you to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Here I Am, Lord #452.
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