Where, O Death, Is Your Sting?

As an upfront warning, this post will be a bit longer than is my custom, so thanks for your patience.

My father passed away at about 3:00 am on Saturday, July 20th, 2002. I had known it was coming, so when the phone rang at that wee hour, I was prepared. My mom had been with him, and after getting to the correct hospital in only two tries, I picked up my mom, took her home and talked with her a bit, and then got home around 4:30 am. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, and I also knew that I had a ton of work ahead of me and that I was going to be a physical wreck by about noon.

I was thinking ahead to the funeral and the potential verses, so I just started bopping around in the epistles. What I was looking for was 1 Corinthians 15:55, which states:

“Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?”

Somewhere in our Easter liturgy, we say these words (we sometimes replace the second "death" with "grave," which I prefer), but what I hadn't realized until that night was that Paul, being the Biblical scholar that he was, was quoting Hosea, specifically Hosea 13:14:

“I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
   I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
   Where, O grave, is your destruction?

Paul changed the words a bit, but that was probably my first true introduction to Hosea. These words are vitally important in the context of our reading today, since Hosea, like most prophecy, is split in two--warnings of punishment, and the promise of redemption when they repent of their sins. The promise of redemption begins in chapter 11, and culminates in this promise, which is that even in the darkest future that can be contemplated (which would be the Assyrian exile that will commence in tomorrow's reading), a future that will culminate in the end of Israel as a nation, there will be redemption. Not only the people, but a NATION, will die, and God promises to redeem them from that death.

Brave words on an Easter Sunday have to become a commitment to action for every other day. As I've stressed much this week, I have no clue if the people of Israel understood this as Messianic prophecy at the time, but we certainly do today. God tells us explicitly though Hosea, and by extension Paul, that through his redemption, there is no death. As such, our responsibility each and every day is to spread this simple but life-changing message. As a last thought, consider this--WITHOUT God's redemption, death DOES have victory and sting. That should be all the impetus we need propel ourselves forward and spread the message of comfort and joy that only a life in Christ can provide.

Scott