Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

It’s that time of year once again, when I, along with many other amateur gardeners, disappear for short periods of time into the sanctuary of my greenhouse and in faith set out row upon row of pots, fill them with compost and then place little tiny seeds into the soil, water them, and then patiently, or not so patiently wait, in anticipation that something will happen, that by some small miracle, the seed, which to all appearances was lifeless, will spring into life, and ultimately produce a plant, which will go on to produce enough tomatoes, courgettes, butternut squashes, cucumbers, or whatever else has been sown, to keep us well fed with fresh vegetables for several months to come.

It is this image of the bare seed, that Paul uses in his letter to the Corinthians, to help people to understand what our resurrection bodies will be like, Paul says:

Someone will ask, ‘how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but the bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Paul tells us that our resurrection bodies will be so much more than our current physical bodies, just as the seed that we plant, becomes so much more, as from it grows the plant that is to be.

We have just celebrated Easter and, in the church, will be in the Easter season until the middle of May, as we remember Jesus’ resurrection following the crucifixion, and all that Jesus has done for us so that our sins might be forgiven, and so that we can have eternal life. We remember and celebrate, that we can live into our full potential, and inhabit our resurrection bodies.

As we emerge into spring, with the abundance of new life all around us, may we be filled with resurrection hope and the promise of new and eternal life in our saviour Jesus Christ.

May God Bless you this Easter time, Reverend Heather