Sermon for Last Sunday, November 26, 2023
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13We do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve in the
same way as the others, who have no hope. 14Indeed,
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same way we also
believe that God
will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15In fact, we tell you this by the
word of the Lord: We who are alive and left until the coming of the Lord will
certainly not go on ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come
down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with
the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are
left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in
the air. And so we will always be
with the Lord. 18Therefore,
encourage one another with these words. (EHV)
Our end is without end in the living Jesus.
Dear living saints, brothers and sisters of Jesus
Christ,
Did
you ever watch a movie and wish that the director had given it a different ending? We have reached the end of the Church year,
so the topic of the day is our end. Are
you relying on the story you have written in your life, or are you hoping for a
different ending? Are you certain of
what your end holds for you, or do you worry about what is to come?
The Thessalonian Christians were worried
that believers who died before Jesus returned would miss out on His
salvation. Surprisingly, that fear is
with us still today; it just comes out in more subtle ways. For instance, when a child dies, people weep assuming
that the child has missed out on a full life.
A mother dies young, and people lament because she didn’t get to see her
children grow up, get married, and have children. A father dies too soon, and his neighbors
mourn because he didn’t get to see his children’s success in sports or
business. In all these things, people
often act like those who have no hope, who view the exit from this world as the
end. However, for the Christian
believer, physical death is merely the entrance into eternal joy, so St. Paul explains
that, Our end is
without end in the living Jesus.
Paul wrote, “We do not want you to
be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not
grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope.” Please notice
that Paul never said we shouldn’t grieve.
We will feel sorrow at the loss of a dear friend or relative. We love to be with those who have loved us,
comforted us, nurtured us, and taught us about Jesus. We love being with the children God has
placed in our arms. So, it isn’t wrong
to grieve for our loss when a loved one is taken from us. That is natural. Jesus too was moved with compassion at the
sight of a widow burying her only son.
He wept with friends who had lost a beloved brother. Not grieving would be an indication that we
didn’t love or care. The opposite of
love isn’t hate, but apathy.
However, we shouldn’t grieve like the
world grieves—like those who view physical death as the end. Death, to a non-Christian, is the end of any
good thing, because they have nothing to look forward to. We Christians, on the other hand, have an ending
far more glorious than anything the human mind can imagine, and it’s guaranteed
to believers in Christ Jesus.
Here is the main comfort we have in
Jesus: when the Christian believer’s body gives up its life, that is not the
end. His body dies, yes, but physical
death is merely the separation of the soul from the body, while the soul lives
on with the Lord. We hear Paul’s words
again, “Indeed, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same
way we also believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep
through Jesus.” When Paul
talks about those who sleep in Jesus, he isn’t using a euphemism for physical
death. Rather, he contrasts real eternal
death, the death that Jesus suffered for you and me on the cross, with the
reality that because of Jesus’ death, the soul of the believer lives on. The body lies in rest while the soul lives
and rejoices in heaven, and just as Jesus rose bodily from the grave, so God
will raise the resting body of every believer to a glorified, living body reunited
with its soul to enjoy the bliss of eternal paradise.
Therefore, the child who dies in
infancy hasn’t missed out on anything if he or she had been brought to faith in
Jesus by baptism. The only thing the
child has truly missed is a lifetime of trouble and pain here on earth. My uncle stood at his daughter’s grave with
the complaint that she jumped ahead in line to live with Jesus. Certainly, he felt great grief at his loss of
a beloved daughter, but he also understood that she hadn’t lost a thing but had
gained the glory of heaven.
A mother, father, husband, or wife who
is called out of this world doesn’t miss out on any of the joys of this
life. Even the best of these things can’t
compare to the incomparable joys of heaven.
Deceased Christians don’t miss out on seeing children grow. They celebrate in timeless joy, giving thanks
to God for the salvation Jesus has won for them and for their children. Then, when we get to join them, there won’t
be any lost moments to make up for; we will all be praising God around His
throne of glory. The things of this
broken world will be forgotten in the past.
In fact, Isaiah tells us, “The
righteous one is being spared from evil. He will enter into peace.” (Isaiah 57:1-2) For the believers
who are called out of this world, all the earthly troubles and sorrows we know
so well are a thing of the past, never to concern them again.
Therefore, Our end is without
end in the living Jesus, because
God will bring with
him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.
In fact, we tell you this by the word of the Lord: We who are alive and
left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not go on ahead of those who
have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself
will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be
caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
This message
wasn’t something new Paul invented.
Jesus told His disciples to be watching for the signs of His triumphant
return, and He told them, "When these things begin to happen,
stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near." (Luke 21:28)
When Jesus returns in all His glory, this world will end, but every
believer still alive on earth will be re-united with his sainted loved ones to
live with our Savior forever.
The believers who preceded us in
leaving this world haven’t missed out on salvation; rather, they’ve been
enjoying it, and they will return with Jesus at the judgment to be re-united
with their glorified bodies. At that
same time, you and I, if still alive here on earth, will also be
transformed. The mortal bodies that,
today, cause so much trouble and pain will be made immortal, and we will meet
the Lord and our believing brothers and sisters in the air. We read in the first letter to the
Corinthians,
Look, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be
changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal
body must put on immortality. But once
this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put
on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up
in victory.’” (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
Paul wrote,
“We will always be with the
Lord. Therefore, encourage one another
with these words.” Do we sometimes forget that Jesus is with us
right now, and always? It’s true, isn’t
it? Jesus is with us every day of our
believing lives. He promised us before
He ascended to heaven that we would never be alone, for He said, “Surely I am with you always until the end
of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
So how do we
encourage each other in all this? Do we
encourage only when things are going great?
Do we encourage only when everyone we love is healthy, happy, and
whole? Do we thank God only when we are
not facing cancer, surgery, prison, or pain?
That would be the way of the world, wouldn’t it?
No, as
believers, we will face each day trusting that “All things work together for
the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his
purpose.” (Romans 8:28) We have these two promises from our Savior
(and many more, of course): Jesus will never leave us alone to face the sorrows
and pains of this world, and He will work everything, even the truly awful for
our eternal good.
Thus, when
we stand at the grave of a believing loved one, we may shed tears just as any
other person might, but at the very same time, we will be rejoicing, for we
will know that that dear child, or spouse, or friend, is walking hand in hand
with Jesus in glory. And, when you and I
face our own graves, we can do so rejoicing: “Thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians
15:57)
Likewise, if
some believing friend should face cancer, or need surgery for some physical
ailment, or if our bodies are breaking down from age or accident, or we be
stuck in prison (whether we did something to deserve the sentence or not), we
will not despair because God has allowed us to be in that condition. Rather, we will encourage each other with the
knowledge that Jesus is with us at all times to help, heal, comfort and protect
us, and to carry us home to heaven when our time comes.
And should
we stumble—when we stumble—we will rely on Jesus, again and again, for the
assurance that all our sins are forgiven and God has made us His dear children
through Baptism and by faith. We will encourage
each other with His Word and rely on the forgiveness given in His body and
blood in the Sacrament to assure us that we have a home in heaven waiting for
us, because Jesus lived and died to make us right with His Father in heaven,
because not only did Jesus live and die for us, but He took up His life again
and rose from that cold grave on Easter morning, so that you and I can have
full confidence that we and all believers will likewise be raised.
And when
that moment of glory arrives, we will never again have to worry about cancer,
or Alzheimer’s, or plague, or persecution, or any kind of pain, or worry, or
death, because those things will all be over and done. From that moment on, we will walk in glory,
praising God for His salvation, forever with the Lamb who gave His life to make
us whole, who lived, died, and rose again to live forever in heaven, so that Our
end is without end in the living Jesus. Amen.
Now to him who is able to strengthen you—according
to the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, . . . to God, who alone is
wise, be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment