My focus today is on Luke, chapter 20, with a special
emphasis on verses 35 and 36: ““Those who are considered worthy of taking
part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead … can no longer
die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are
children of the resurrection.”
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go
to the house of the Lord.’”[1]
Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word.
As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love
deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
On All Saints Day 2006, I watched my mother die. In an
instant, she transitioned from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant. When
I preached her funeral sermon, I spoke of Mom joining Dad in heaven, something
preachers say when a surviving spouse dies.
Mom taught me to avoid certain topics in polite
company: politics, religion and any pet peeves that would set off those joining
us for Sunday dinner. To this list, I would add death.
Today, death must be a topic of conversation in a
sermon entitled “Children of the Resurrection.” I cannot speak of death from
personal experience, but I can offer a few thoughts on death, resurrection, judgment
and evangelization.
However you phrase it – bought the farm, kicked the
bucket, or the polite passed away – death is medically defined as the end of
life of an organism or cell, manifested by the permanent cessation of vital
organic functions. Chances are we will die from cardiovascular disease, cancer,
Alzheimer's, diabetes, a lung infection or an accident.[2]
If you suffer from thanatophobia – the fear of death
or anything associated with death – you are in good company. Thanatophobia affects
millions. Writers and movie producers prey on our fears by promoting a steady
supply of murder mysteries and zombie flicks. Others try to comfort us by touting
heresy like The Shack.
Few people, such as Dr. Eben Alexander, the
neurosurgeon who had a near-death experience, offer anything positive. In his
book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s
Journey into the Afterlife, Alexander writes, “Science doesn’t contradict
what I learned up there. But far too many people believe it does, because
certain members of the scientific community, who are pledged to the
materialistic worldview, have insisted again and again that science and
spirituality cannot exist.”[3] … The
doctor offers a healthy dose of medicine for skeptics, and leads me to ask what
our Church and God’s Word say about death?
Genesis 3 tells us that according to the order of
creation, God did not subject humanity to death,[4] but
it is a chief effect of original sin. The real punishment of
death is not the physical termination of life but the psychic trauma and
emotion accompanying it.[5]
However traumatic it is, Jesus reminds us that
temporal death is not the end of the person. Speaking of the God of Abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob, Jesus told the Sadducees: “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are
alive.”[6]
On the cross, Jesus said to the thief, “Today
you will be with me in Paradise,”[7]
a reminder that in the moment of death the souls of the believers enter the joy
of heaven, and one’s personal identity is not destroyed.[8]
Christians suffer the consequences of sin and death
like everyone else, but there is a vast difference between the death of a
believer and a nonbeliever. 1st Corinthians 15 reminds Christians
that death lost its sting because we have the forgiveness of our sins. Death is
not punishment but deliverance.[9] By
faith we overcome the fear of death[10] and
depart in peace.[11]
Martin Luther said that one can prepare for death
through baptism, confession and absolution and partaking in the Lord’s Supper.
Luther asked, “Why should such a
person fear death?”[12]
It comforts me knowing mom prepared herself for death and resurrection.
Death and resurrection. Our Gospel shows the priestly-class
Sadducees understood and accepted death, but not resurrection. They derived
power from the first five books of the Bible, but did not comprehend them.
Jesus explained that while death is the end of physical life, it is not the
termination of existence. The dead, though separated from this life, continued
to exist. Jesus then refuted the Sadducees by citing God’s revelation to Moses:
“I am the God of your father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”[13]
As a Christian, belief in Christ’s Resurrection is the
guarantee of my resurrection. Incredibly, some people identify themselves as
Christians but doubt Christ’s Resurrection. If Jesus did not rise from the
dead, explain the phenomenon of Christian movement. Explain the Church’s rapid
expansion in its first centuries despite active opposition if believers were
not touched by an awesome force that empowered them to create a whole new way
of living. Explain what happened if that power was not from God.[14]
Another day, I’ll address doubters, but as we near the
end of the Church Year to begin another Advent, we turn our attention not only
to death and resurrection, but also to Judgment and Christ’s Second Coming.
Christ’s return is clearly taught in Scriptures. Acts
records the apostles looking into the sky as Jesus was ascending, when two men
dressed in white asked, “Men of Galilee,
why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken
from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into
heaven.”[15]
Like the apostles, we live in constant expectation of His return.
Christ comes to us now in Word and Sacrament, but His
return at the end of time will be visible, not veiled. Like lightning that
flashes across the sky, the Last Day will come on all those who live on the
face of the whole earth.[16] Christ
will come in power and glory, appearing in splendor and majesty, accompanied by
angels, and you will recognize Him.[17]
Of course, we have no idea when Judgment Day will
occur, but we do know that there will not be some rapture or some thousand-year
reign. Do not believe the left behind
literature any more than the DaVinci Code
because our Augsburg Confession condemns such ideas.[18]
As a believer, know that only God can and will raise
the dead. As St. John tells us, “All who
are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth.”[19]
God will judge all – believers, nonbelievers and fallen angels.[20]
God will not judge not according to the Law, for that
would render Christ’s work of redemption on the Cross and the work of the Holy
Spirit purposeless. God will judge individuals according to whether they
receive or reject the Gospel, that is, whether or not you believe that Jesus
Christ is your Savior.
You know, some say that there are many ways to heaven.
We disagree. There is only one Way into
heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. I know from your presence here
that you believe Jesus Christ is your Savior. Like my mom, none of you should
have any problem on Judgment Day. Body and soul, we shall enter into the full
glory of heaven. We will see beloved believers, but more importantly, we will behold
the Holy Trinity and be Children of the Resurrection.
Children of the Resurrection. I am certain you believe
that you are a Child of the Resurrection; however, I wonder … When did you last
share with a nonbeliever that Christians are Children of the Resurrection? Was
it last week? Last month? Within the last year?
Each of us has reasons for not sharing the Good News. I
fear sharing Faith more than I fear dying. I fear people’s rejection more than
I fear God’s rejection. I do not share because I know so little about my Faith.
I have not read the Bible enough to understand everything God revealed. I am ignorant
about our Synod’s history and teaching. … Folks, my last point, evangelization,
is simply sharing the Good News that I am a Child of the Resurrection. … But do
we share faith with nonbelievers? I would venture to say we do not simply
because we do not, despite a laundry list of flimsy reasons and poor excuses.
Evangelization is sharing good news. Here is some good
news. Cindy and I are expecting two grandchildren in 2014. Who would have thunk
it – 3 years of marriage and 2 grandchildren. … We are excited because we know
these will be the best grandchildren ever. We plan to spend lots of time and
money on them. I will personally teach them socially unacceptable habits that
will publicly embarrass their parents.
We also know they will be born into sin. Imagine that,
our two grandchildren will be born sinners. We want them to be Children of the
Resurrection. So, guess what we’re going to do? We’re gonna share the Gospel
with them!
Ain’t it great to share the Gospel with little ones? What
prompts us to do that? What drives us to share the Good News with children is
the same force that moves us to share it with nonbelievers – love.
As Children of the Resurrection, when we share the
Gospel with believers, borderline believers and nonbelievers, we simply tell
them we experienced God’s love personally and witnessed it historically – in
the Bible. God’s love prompts me to love God and neighbor. I don’t love God and
neighbor in the same way, but I do love them.
If I love God and neighbor, perhaps the reason I don’t
share the Gospel with nonbelievers is because I have predetermined their rejection
of the Gospel, and in God’s name I will be forced to sentence final judgment on
them. … But a nonbeliever’s no today may not be his final
answer; and it’s not for me to pronounce judgment or to choose who will hear
the Gospel. The Gospel is for all to hear – through me.
You know, the mystery of God is so immense, expansive
and overwhelming that if I sat down and contemplated what it might be like to
be a Child of the Resurrection, I would pen a prayer in the vein of St. Paul to
the Philippians. “For me, to live is
Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean
fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be
with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I
remain in the body.”[21]
What
kept Paul in the world is a desire of doing service. This cast the balance with
the apostle, and was the only enticing motive to keep him here a while. He
looked upon his abode in the flesh as an opportunity of service. Paul
was willing to die—yet content to live, so that he might be a factor for Christ
upon earth.[22]
Like Paul, may we be moved to love and serve Christ as
evangelists until God calls us to be Children of the Resurrection in heaven.
Until then, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.
[1]
Psalm 122
[2] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/death
- The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton
Mifflin Company.
[3]
Eben Alexander, M.D., Proof of Heaven: A
Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. New York: Simon and Schuster
Paperbacks, 2012. pp. 72-73.
[4]
Koehler 395
[5]
Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality 252
[6]
Koehler, 396.; Luke 20:38
[7]
Luke 23:43
[8] Koehler,
397
[9] 2
Tim 4:18
[10]
Heb 2:14-15
[11]
Ibid., 397; Luke 2:29
[12]
What Luther Says, #1086, p. 369.
[13]
Exodus 3:4-6
[14]
Luke Timothy Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament, Fortress Press:
Minneapolis, 2010. pp.89ff.
[15]
Acts 1:10-11
[16]
Luke 21:35
[17]
Matthew 24:30; 25:31
[18] Koehler,
403-406.
[19] Koehler,
409. John 5:28-29; Rev 20:12-13
[20]
Koehler, 412
[21]
Philippians 1:21-24
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