So,

Do any of you know what exactly a Dad bod is?

I have heard it is the physical condition of a man who has gone from the rough and rugged physical specimen of his youth, to the huggable wonder of his grandfather years!

“Oh Dad! You are such a teddy bear!”

Translation: Have you ever seen a teddy bear without a pot belly?

We all know about the amazing transformation of moms go through as they experience the crazy physical process of pregnancy.

Growing another human being inside your body has to be one of God’s greatest miracles, although when an overly pregnant mom-to-be yells out, “oh God, delivery me of this child!” one has to wonder.

In fact, as a male observer of the process, I have always wondered what insanity must overtake a person, and by person I means moms, to want to go through the whole craziness of the birthing process a second and sometimes a third time.

Ashley, you are amazing! All moms, you are amazing! Just saying.

Human bodies are fascinating, aren’t they? They can do amazing things.

Sue and I were watching Running Wild with Bear Grylls the other night as he led Danny Trejo in the Mojave Dessert. Danny is 76! It was 100 degrees in the dessert and the terrain was challenging. They had to stop a lot and get into shade and drink water, but at 76 years old, his body kept going!

It was a bit dicey a few times, but the human body is amazing! Made inside her mother’s body a child is knit into a miracle of flesh, muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels and all the rest!

I just heard that a whole of folks going up Mount Everest had to stop. First off, do you have any idea what kind of physical shape you have to be in to summit Everest? Amazing people!

They had prepared, planned, were in tip top shape. You know what stopped them? Covid.

We humans are so wonderfully made. But…

No matter how good of shape you are in, life someday will come to its end.

You can avoid going early. Drink your water, get plenty of rest. Resist stress, it will save your life.

Do what you need to do to keep it going for your four score and ten. Get your immunizations including that much maligned Covid shot. No point taking a chance of dying early.

But, even if you do it all right, remember, this life will conclude.

And that is the starting point for Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15. Life ends, but after life comes resurrection life! Hallelujah and amen.

We rejoice in the good news that Jesus is alive forever more, and because he lives we will live also It is the best “good news” ever.

But some folks, it turns out, wanted to know “exactly” what resurrection meant.

In particular some of the Greek Christians in Corinth wanted to make sure that resurrection wasn’t resuscitation. They didn’t want to come back in this mortal frame, this slowly dying body, this presence that often requires patch after patch like a Microsoft computer.
They wanted to come back as spiritual beings: more ethereal and much less substantial. And Paul would have none of it.

No, he goes directly after that notion of wispy, happy little floating ghosts with completely unsubstantial bodies. And he makes clear that we are not coming back simple as resuscitated corpses with all of our human frailties, illnesses and deformities.

Instead, he says, we will have what he calls spiritual bodies, like the resurrected Christ himself. Material bodies made not like Adam’s, the first human (or Eve’s for those of you wondering) but like Jesus resurrected body. Bodies not animated by a human soul, but animated by God’s spirit.

Resurrection means coming back - or as Paul points out for some, changing in the twinkling of an eye - to the kind of heavenly body that will allow us to stay in God’s presence for all eternity!

No more bad knees! No more cancer! No more love handles. No more quadruple bypass surgeries! No more freshman 15 or Covid 30!

No more suffering because of bodies that because of wear and tear or abuse or sin, or just some amazing design challenges will hold us back! Instead we will have bodies that work all the time, just as they were made to, with no need for replacement parts or a warrantee.

Resurrection you understand changes everything!

It means that no matter what, this lifetime is not the end, but rather a beginning. Yes, death will intervene for a moment. But what is ahead of that is an eternity to love and enjoy God and all of God’s people.

So, it turns out a dad bod is not so bad, especially when everyone wants a hug, including those boney little grandchildren. Plenty of padding helps. It is all miraculous, birth, moms of all kinds, life. But even better – resurrection.

Happy Mother’s Day! Amen.