WEEKLY SERMON

Saints Triumphant – November 15, 20091
Thessalonians 4:13-18   - “It’s Okay to Cry”
Pastor Thomas Kneser

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

            In our Bible classes last week on John’s gospel we studied how Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead.  In that section is the shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept.  They may be two short words, but they say a lot.  Here was Jesus crying at the death of his good friend, but as the all-powerful Son of God he knew what he was going to do.  As he looked into the faces of Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, John tells us that Jesus was deeply moved, that he was filled with compassion for the sisters.  But he also knew that very soon he would bring them great joy.  It also says that Jesus was troubled in spirit when he was shown Lazarus’ tomb.  He wept because of the ache in his heart over the effects of sin and death.  But the sinless Lamb of God, in just a few short weeks, would shatter the power of Satan and of death.  So there were mixed emotions for our Savior on that occasion, displaying for us the comforting fact that he was a real human being, and so he is able to sympathize with us in our weakness, even in the time of death.

            So we come to a funeral and we weep.  And, depending on how close we were to the person, we may weep again and again in the weeks, months and years that follow.  We have the memories, we miss our friend or loved one.  But when that person is a believer at that funeral we will have mixed emotions.  On the one hand there is the fact that there may be a big void in our lives for awhile because our loved one is gone.  But on the other hand, because of our faith in Jesus and their faith in that Savior, we are confident that we will see them again.  That’s not just empty psychology meant to calm our fears and keep us functioning in life.  Today we want to look at the basis for what I call our ‘resurrection’ faith, the faith that sustains us even in the face of death.  Such a resurrection faith is very much different from the attitudes and philosophies of the unbelieving world.  So I can say to you fellow believers, when you face death…

IT’S OKAY TO CRY

It’s okay because we know what will happen on the Last Day.  And it’s okay because we know who’s in charge on that Last Day.

      I.      This Sunday in our church year we label “Saints Triumphant.”  How do we know that?  How can we be so confident that we indeed are triumphant?  It’s because we know what will happen on the last day, the day we die and the day this world comes to an end.  The people to whom Paul wrote these words, they didn’t know.  They had some big holes in their faith and knowledge.  That’s why he says here, Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 

            The lack of knowledge was caused by Paul’s sudden departure from their city.  He had only been able to spend about a month there preaching and teaching about Jesus as Savior.  The Holy Spirit had blessed those efforts as many were brought to faith, especially among the non-Jews.  But then a persecution against the Christians had broken out and Paul was forced to flee.  Thus, he and his fellow missionaries hadn’t had time to finish teaching the Thessalonians everything they needed to know.  And here it seems one of those areas still to be covered was teaching them about the resurrection from the dead and the last day.  That was one of the reasons he wrote this letter, four or five months after he fled, to fill in some of those gaps.

            During the time since he had been there, some of the believers had died, probably as a result of the persecution.  Their fellow believers were in the dark, had lost hope, didn’t know how to handle it.  From their pagan Greek background all they knew about was Hades.  That was the realm of the dead according to Greek mythology and it wasn’t at all a place of joy or happiness.  It’s described as dark and gloomy, where you were assigned a task by the gods that fit with your level of goodness or evil in life.  But the over-riding feeling was one of dreariness and depression, an existence that hardly fostered hope and confidence.  So, if that’s all the Christians had to look forward to, what was the advantage of believing in Jesus, especially if you were a target of persecution?

            Are there the same kinds of ignorance and false teaching surrounding death and the end times still out there today?  Sure there are.  I’ve had conversations with those who are terrified when death enters their lives, either facing their own death or that of a loved one.  There are the terrors of conscience that torment them because of the sins they have committed in this life.  They realize that they are accountable to God and they don’t know the love and forgiveness that can be theirs through faith in Jesus.  I’ve seen people at funerals whose idea of death is that it’s the end of existence, that it’s a total and final loss.  They may prattle on about the good things the person did in this life and trot out a tally of their accomplishments.  But then that’s it.  And really, what else can they talk about?  Is it any wonder that they wail and sob and grieve, because they have absolutely no hope for a new and better life in heaven?  And sadly, they may have every reason to think that way if the person who died showed no faith in Jesus as their Savior.           

            But here Paul reassures the believers that there is something far better to look forward to, that there is absolutely no reason for hopeless grieving and sobbing, at least not at the death of a Christian.  Rather, it’s okay to cry because we know what’s happening to our friend or loved one if they are believers in Jesus.  Paul gives us a lot of the details here, and the rest of Scripture, both Old and New Testament, helps us too.

            In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon wrote, the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.  That tells us that our bodies simply decay back into their natural elements.  God had told Adam right after he had been created that he was simply dust and that he would return to dust after he had died.  But that’s not the end of our existence like some believe.  We also have a soul and it is that soul which continues on.  For the believer that soul goes immediately to be with the Savior.  The soul of the unbeliever goes immediately to hell.  Jesus made that clear in his parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.  There’s no middle ground, no place of temporary punishment called purgatory or limbo.  Nor do any souls spend time hanging around here on earth, haunting a house or a woods or a cemetery.  And there’s no changing from one place to the other.  Once you die, your fate is sealed, heaven for believers, hell for unbelievers.

            What our level of consciousness is after we die, that is somewhat of a mystery.  Here and elsewhere the Bible calls it sleeping.  For our bodies, that’s what it’s like – going to bed at night.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not afraid of that because the next thing I’m aware of is that it’s several hours later and the radio alarm is going off and it’s time to get up.  Whether our souls in heaven are aware of what’s going on here on earth, or how much time is passing, that we don’t know.  But we do know that our souls are in heaven enjoying the bliss of being in the presence of Jesus, safe and secure in the arms of our Savior.

            And then comes the Last Day.  The Bible doesn’t tell us when that will be, that only God himself knows what day it will take place.  All we know is that it will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night, like labor pains on pregnant woman.  But everyone will know that it’s happening.  The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Jesus’ return will be announced emphatically and triumphantly.  What the shout and command will be, we don’t know the exact words.  But my guess is that they will be similar to what Jesus said when he raised Lazarus from the dead, that he will call on all the dead to come out of their graves to meet him.  That’s when our bodies will be brought back to life and transformed.  The Bible tells us that they will be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.  No longer will they be perishable bodies, subject to the ravages of sin and illness, disease and death.  No more arthritis or eye trouble, hearing aids or wheel chairs.  We will have new and glorified bodies that will be imperishable, able to last for all eternity.  It’s almost too wonderful for us to imagine what that will be like.

            Paul really emphasizes that here, because the misconception among the Thessalonians was that those who died before Jesus returned would miss out on being taken to heaven.  Not at all, he says!  Those who are alive when Jesus comes back, they will receive those glorified bodies as well, and then we will all be gathered before the Lord for his judgment.  That will be his public announcement about those who will be going to heaven because they lived their faith in him as Lord and Savior, and about those who rejected his love and forgiveness and so will be destined for hell.  Then we will be caught up in the air to be taken to heaven where we will be with the Lord forever.  We will enjoy the triumph of Jesus over sin, death, Satan and hell.  We will be reunited forever with all our loved ones who have died with faith in Jesus.  We will indeed be part of the Saints Triumphant.  What a day that will be for us as people of God!

            So if you are looking ahead to your own death, or if you are mourning the death of a believing loved one, whether recently or many years ago, it’s okay to cry because we know what happens to those who die in the Lord.  And we know what will happen in the future, when our Lord brings this world to an end.  We have hope.  We have trust and confidence in the promises of our Savior.  It’s okay to cry because we know who’s in charge at the time of our death and on that Last Day.

            Our resurrection faith is all about Jesus, the one who, Paul says here, died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  That’s what Paul had taught the Thessalonians.  That was their sure faith and hope.  They knew and we know that it is because of sin that there is death in the world.  From the time our first parents disobeyed God in the garden, sin has had a stranglehold on humanity.  And with sin comes death.  That is the wage it earns, the curse it carries.  We will all die.

            But God in his love devised and carried out the perfect plan to deal with sin, to break that stranglehold and take away the fear.  In love for us lost sinners He sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ.  Because he was the Son of God, Jesus could live the perfect life none of us can.  And yet he still allowed himself to be put to death, taking our sins on his shoulders, paying the penalty that should have been ours.  On Calvary’s cross he endured the agony of hell in our place so that now, through faith in him we can look forward to eternity in heaven.  On that cross, he died to crush Satan’s power over us.  Through faith in Jesus we can now escape the eternal torment of hell. The peace and comfort we have, even in the face of death, it all comes because of Jesus.  He’s the one in charge and he showed it by raising himself from the grave on that first Easter morning.  That’s what makes Christianity unique, the one true religion in all the world.  We have a living Savior, one who promises to use that same power on behalf of his followers, a power we will see and feel in our bodies come the last day.

            That is what gives us hope.  This is more than just a “pie-in-the-sky” kind of hope, the kind of hope a child might express when making out a Christmas list, “I hope I get this; I hope I get that.”  This is real.  This is solid.  This hope we have as Christians is based on a living Savior who is God himself, who demonstrated his power over death by his resurrection from the death.

            So it’s okay to cry at a funeral of a believing loved one.  And maybe some tears will be shed later on today when we read the names of our fellow Woodlawn members who have died this past year.  They will be tears of sorrow and loss.  But they will be mingled with feelings of hope and joy.  That’s because we and they will be part of the victory parade into heaven.  We will be part of that vast array of believers from every generation and nation, the parade of Saints Triumphant.  AMEN.