Sermon for
Easter 5, Cantate, May 3, 2026
Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Amen.
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)
Encourage
each other in the risen Lord Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus,
How
do you know when you’ve had a really good sleep? Many of us might say that after a really good
night’s sleep, we wake up completely refreshed, pain free, and ready for
anything. Now that I am somewhat older,
I am glad when I wake up. Yet, I often
do so with stiffness and aches I didn’t remember having the day before, and I
can only get a good night’s sleep when conditions are perfect. So, I have always been amazed at how little
children can fall asleep in any position, anywhere, and on any kind of surface
and still wake up like no time has passed and everything is good.
In the Apostles’ Creed, we
confess our confidence in Jesus when we say, “the third day He rose again from the dead.” That phrase comes in the middle of the creed,
so we might sometimes be tempted to say those words without much concentration,
but it is such a very important point.
Everything we believe hangs on this truth that “the third day He rose
again from the dead.” Therefore, as we
consider this text, let us, Encourage each other in the risen Lord Jesus.
St. 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.” Now, Paul had no delusions about physical
death. At the same time, the Holy Spirit
has Paul explain how the Christian’s death is different than that of the
unbeliever. Physically, they are the
same, but the outcome is far different.
Paul describes the death
of the believer as a falling asleep. The
reference indicates that while in that state of death, the body rests without
any knowledge of time passing or the events going on around it, with no pain,
no suffering, no fear. Still, the main
point for us is this: that when we are awakened at Jesus’ return on Judgment
Day, we will wake up renewed and very much like we described a good night’s
sleep: completely refreshed, pain free, and ready for anything.
This is where Jesus’
resurrection from the dead has so much importance, because it is the sure and
certain proof that His promises are true, and since He has promised to return
and take us to live with Him in heaven, our sorrow concerning death is transformed. Unlike the pagan, atheist, agnostic, or any
other non-Christian, we have a future hope of life and glory. “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.”
Because God is always faithful, Jesus rose from the grave just as He
had promised, and likewise, we can be sure that all His promises for us are
true as well.
Because we have sure
confidence in Jesus’ promise to bring us into the new creation and renewed life
in heaven, when we face our own death, or when we grieve the death of loved
ones, we continue to have full possession of those sure promises of life,
peace, joy, and glory. Therefore, even
through our tears, we may rejoice in the Lord Jesus for He has rescued us from
the curse of sin. Thus, we praise Him
saying, “You turned
my mourning into dancing. You removed my
sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my whole being may make music to you
and not be silent.”
(Psalm 30:11-30)
In all of our lives, there
are times when hope feels far away, slim, and very weak. Yes, on a day when all is going well, it is
easy for me to stand up here and say we have nothing to grieve, and nothing to
fear. Yet, we know that in this world
cursed by sin, and knowing that we daily sin much, as Luther wrote, death will
be continually surrounding us with sorrow and pain.
Because of this corruption,
our media thrives on reporting tragedies and scary things, so it becomes normal
to live with a measure of fear concerning our immediate futures. Plus, we each have undeniable trepidations
about what the curse of death will bring into our lives. Many of our loved ones have already faced
challenges like cancer and a host of diseases that kill or maim. We look at the open grave and tremble a
little as we wonder how soon it will be calling our names. We commit the bodies of our loved ones to the
grave with weeping for our loss of their kindness to us for a time.
Sin is a part of our lives
here on earth, and that sin leads to death certainly. At the same time, by His holy life, His
sacrifice on the cross, and ultimately, His resurrection on Easter Sunday,
Jesus has conquered death on our behalf.
Thus, the gates of every tomb are blown open before the Lord Jesus. The grave can no longer hold us for more than
a temporary rest. Therefore, while we
grieve our losses, we also rejoice for the entrance of our fellow believers
into rest that ends in the joy and peace of heaven.
Now, there are some church
bodies in our world that seem to thrive on making people afraid of a supposed
rapture and seven-year tribulation. They
talk a big game of people being left behind at Jesus’ return to judge the
world. None of those things line up with
the Scriptures our Lord has given us.
Here, Paul tells us what the Holy Spirit had been given from the Father
and the Son to assure us:
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 is why we may Encourage
each other in the risen Lord Jesus.
Death is not our end, but rather, it is merely a time of rest for the
body until Jesus returns and reunites the body with the soul for life
everlasting in the glory of heaven. At
the same time, for those Christians who may still be alive when Jesus returns,
we won’t miss out on the restoration of our bodies, nor do those who have
fallen asleep in Jesus before He returns miss out on anything. All those who throughout the history of the
world have believed in Jesus will be awakened completely renewed, then gathered
together in a moment into the company of heaven with our Savior leading us home.
Furthermore, knowing that
Jesus died for us and rose in victory over sin, Satan, and the grave, we have
sure confidence in what Jesus Himself has told us of how Judgment Day will go
when He returns. “They will see the
Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from
one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31)
In chapter 25 of Matthew’s
Gospel, Jesus compares that day to a shepherd separating the sheep from the
goats. Having raised sheep and goats
when I was farming, I can tell you confidently that there is not a real
shepherd anywhere who doesn’t know exactly which animal before him is a sheep
or a goat; he knows that long before the day he does the sorting. Therefore, we don’t have to wonder or worry
about which we might be or what we might do to change our status before
God. Our Good Shepherd, who gave His life
for the sheep already knows those who are His.
Thus, our future is secure for the Good Shepherd declares, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish. No one will snatch them out of
my hand.” (John
10:27-28)
Those who have heard the
Good News of all Jesus has done for us, and have believed it, can be certain
that they are His, for it is the power of His Word that made us His sheep, so
that believing in Him as our Savior, we now have forgiveness of sins, life and
salvation. Consequently, whether we be
called out of this life at some point, or we remain alive until the moment
Jesus returns to judge the world, “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. Therefore, encourage one another with these
words.” Because of Jesus, the
forgiveness He won for us on the cross, and the holiness He lived for us while
here on earth, we can comfort each other always for in Jesus we have peace with
God and the sure and certain hope that He has prepared a home for us in heaven.
We can also encourage each
other, because when the Lord calls us out of our graves, we will like those
little children I spoke of earlier, having been made fully renewed, we will be completely
refreshed, pain free, wide awake, and ready to praise our Savior and God
forever. And, in that new creation, we
will never again experience sorrow, illness, sin, or death. Therefore, dear friends, Encourage each
other in the risen Lord Jesus. Amen.
The
one who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.
Amen.
