Sermon: “Children of the Resurrection” “To dwell above, with saints we love – that will be glory;To dwell below, with saints we know – that’s another story” Each week in our Creed we confess our faith in “the communion of the saints” – and this communion of course includes the saints we love. I say those words and think about my grandparents, and many saints I have known in the congregations I’ve served. But then there are some other saints, the saints below, some of whom we know all to well - and we wonder. John Newton, the man behind the hymn “Amazing Grace,” once said that when we get to heaven, there will be three wonders: 1. Who is there, 2. Who is not there, and 3. The fact that I'm there! In today’s gospel lesson from Luke, Jesus is asked a question about life in heaven, about what life will be like “dwelling above with saints we love” – but as we learn right away, those who ask Jesus have an ulterior motive. They are like some of those saints we know, who dwell below.” Nevertheless, Jesus – as he so often does – outwits his critics and in the process teaches us something about our faith. Here it’s about “the communion of the saints, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” Remember in these last weeks as we’ve been reading in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and to the cross, and the resurrection. By now Jesus has reached the city – and he goes to the Temple and begins teaching there. When he first arrives he finds the money changers and the merchants in the Temple. You may remember that story – Jesus overturns their tables and drives them out of the Temple court. This did not please the temple leadership – the Temple Session Elders – the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. Luke says, just a bit before today’s reading: “The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.” They still tried, mightily, to entrap Jesus – questioning him about his authority, and sending some Roman spies to question Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus outsmarts them all – and finally the Sadducees come to give it a try. I’ve already told you why the Sadducees are sad, yes? These are the very rich, ultra-conservative sect of Jewish people who follow only the first 5 books of Moses – Genesis through Deuteronomy – never mind the rest of the prophets, or the psalms – just Moses. After the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD – 40 or so years after these events in the gospel, they disappear from history. Since there is, in their view, no explicit mention of the resurrection in the first 5 books of the Bible, the Sadducees don’t believe in it. And they know that Jesus does believe in resurrection. Jesus, in another gospel account, even says, “I am the resurrection and the life” – something they don’t believe at all. For them, after a person dies, the person’s “life” is continued on only in their children. Perhaps we should note, for the record, that the Sadducees are not alone in this belief, certainly not in our day. Sadly, others belief this is all that there is for us. So the Sadducees come and confront Jesus – attempting to make him look stupid, and hopefully lose some of his credibility with the spellbound crowds of people. They ask a question, based on an obscure law in Leviticus, about marriage and not having children – one wife, seven husbands, and no children – everyone died. Thinking themselves to be O so very clever, they ask, “In the ‘resurrection’ – (“which isn’t even true har, har har”) “In the resurrection, whose wife will she be – since all seven had married her?” Pretty clever question – absurd, but clever. Someone said it sounds like an Elizabeth Taylor question – all those husbands. “Whose wife will she be?” Jesus answers - first by exposing the irrelevance of the Sadducees' position – and in the process teaching us something about the resurrection – and about God – and something about us. The resurrection life, Jesus says, is really not so much an extension of the life of this age. The resurrection is a whole other dimension of life; it is radically different, and so is outside and beyond the limitations of this life. So the categories of getting married and being married – in order to produce children so that ‘life’ is carried forward – this does not apply to the resurrection life. “And while we’re on the subject,” Jesus says, “You sad Sadducees – who think the first 5 books of Moses have all the answers – remember that burning bush story – with that big guy Moses? What does God say to Moses? “I am the God of Abraham, I am the God of Isaac - I am the God of Jacob.” Now God is not God of the dead, but of the living; for to God all of them are alive.” Abraham and Isaac and Jacob – and their wives Sarah and Rebekah and Leah and Rachel – and: “All those considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead – they neither marry nor are given in marriage.” “Indeed,” Jesus says, “Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God; they are children of the resurrection.” They are – Jesus says – children of the resurrection. And friends – by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – all of those who have gone before us – they too are “children of the resurrection.” And by that same grace, the promise of “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting” is for you and for me as well. This promise - says the Christian writer Francis Schaeffer, “this promise is to reliable that we Christians should live our lives as if we have already died and gone to heaven - and now have come back to this life, to live and work for God’s love and justice in the world.” It is a promise we can count on, come what may. As some of you may know, I have officiated at three funerals in the last three weeks (actually a bit less than three weeks) – one for a man in the Fern Creek community whose name is Charlie Robbins, then two for Beulah family members – Doug Anderson, and this past Thursday, Mary Rittenhouse. This is, I should say – thankfully - more than my normal schedule for funerals. And as some of you know from your own experience with the death of the loved one, this means that I have meet with the family members – in their homes, sometimes at the hospital - and at the funeral home - to pray with them, to share memories and stories of their loved ones, which I then use in my sermon preparation, and to share in this time of loss and grief. For Funerals I prepare the liturgy for the service, selecting the scripture lessons to be read – some, the traditional ones used in these services, and then one or two that I feel led to read while I am thinking about that person and their life. There is also a brief liturgy to be prepared for the committal service. Then there is some follow up time with the family - sometimes right away, and almost always later on. In my preparation I spend a good bit of time working on the sermon. I try to make it very personal, telling stories of the person’s life that I know and that I’ve learned from the family – as a way to celebrate their life. I talk about the person’s family life, their work and community life, and their faith – if that was a part of their life. And then I always share the good news of the Gospel – the promise of the resurrection – as we see in today’s lesson from Luke – that we are “children of the resurrection.” I share the promise of this faith that we proclaim each week - our belief in “the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” For me as the pastor – I will confess to you that this part of my work takes a lot of time – and a lot of energy. It takes physical and emotional and spiritual stamina. But over the years of preparing and leading these services, I can attest to you all that there is an infusion of strength and vigor that I have felt – surely by presence of the Holy Spirit – giving me what I need to do this work. It is, quite truthfully, beyond me. I really do count it a privilege to be with families in these difficult times - a time of loss and separation to be sure – but also a time of celebration of that person’s life – and I time to share, genuinely, this faith that I have come to believe. Looking out over this congregation this morning, I can recall “being there” with so many of you in these times. And if the future is anything like the past, I know that I will likely be with some more of you in times like these. In our Book of Order, in the section titled “Services on the Occasion of Death,” there are these powerful words: “The resurrection is a central doctrine of the Christian faith and shapes Christians' attitudes and responses to the event of death. Death brings loss, sorrow, and grief to all. In the face of death Christians affirm with tears and joy the hope of the gospel. Christians do not bear bereavement in isolation but are sustained by the power of the Spirit and the community of faith.” May we all know this sustaining power of the Spirit – and sustaining presence of this community of faith – as we face death – and as we face life – knowing that we are all children of the resurrection – and knowing always that in life and in death, we belong to God. And all God’s people said. Amen. |