“Life and Hope, Now and Forever, in
Jesus”
Text: Luke 20:27-40
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
What’s heaven like? How old will I be
there? If I die old will I be old, or if I die young will I be young? Will I
have gray hair? Will I have hair? What about babies who are aborted, or those
people who die in horrible ways? Where are we all going to live? What will we
be doing? Aren’t I
going to get bored? Will I know everybody? What will I remember
from this life? What is heaven going to be like?
You know
people who have asked questions like that. You have asked such
questions. Sometimes those questions are asked because we’d really like to know the answers.
But sometimes questions like those are asked not for an answer, but to
mock belief in heaven. To try to show how ridiculous it is to believe that
there is a life after this one. To try to mock our belief in something we know,
really, so little about.
So it
was with the Sadducees, who came up to Jesus that day and asked him a question
about heaven and the resurrection. They weren’t really looking for an answer because they didn’t believe that there is a
resurrection. This was their latest attempt to trick Jesus, mock Jesus,
discredit Jesus, and eventually kill Jesus. So, a
resurrection, huh Jesus? What’s it going to be
like, in this life after death? What about in a case like this, this woman who
had seven husbands . . . that’s kind of a stickler isn’t it Jesus? Maybe
this “life
after death” is
not all its cracked up to be.
Well, it’s not a stickler for Jesus, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
First,
though, think about these Sadducees for a moment. They denied that there is a
resurrection, which means that for them, this life is all there is. Long life,
short life, rich life, poor life, hard life, easy life, this is it. This
is it. And even though the Sadducees as a group disappeared a few years after
Jesus did in fact rise from the dead, there are many today who follow in their
footsteps and believe that there is no resurrection. This life is all there is.
Whether it’s those who believe evolution, those who
believe in reincarnation, or those who don’t believe anything at
all. You live for a while, you die, and that’s it. So eat, drink, and be merry.
But I’m not really concerned about those
people today. I mean, I am concerned about them; we should be concerned about them - but they’re not who I’m talking to today. They’re not who I’m preaching to today. I’m preaching to you, who
confess yourselves Christians; who confess that you do, in fact, believe in the
holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting (Apostles
Creed). I’m concerned with you who confess this with your lips, but
live like a Sadducee. Who live as if this life is all there is.
And we
do, don’t we? I’m afraid
more than we’d like
to admit. We do when we get so busy and so wrapped up with the things of this
world and life that we give little thought to the bigger picture, that there’s more to life than this. It’s why we get so upset when something
is taken away from us here, or when we think we’re not getting what we deserve. It’s why we hold on so tightly to what
we have, even when there are so many in need. It’s why in our world today, suffering and doing without and
discipline have become anathema, and pleasure and fulfilling your every dream
and desire have become the highest good. And woe to those who get in the way of
this highest good, who get in the way of the dreams, desires, or pleasures of
anyone.
But
today Jesus says to the Sadducees and us who live like them: you’re wrong. And you couldn’t be more wrong. There’s more to this life, and more life after this life.
This world and this life is ending, that is true. But
that’s not
the end. There’s more.
And Jesus proved that when not too many days after He spoke these words, He
Himself rose from the dead. After He had taken all our misguided “this life is all there is” sins and died for them and with them,
and then rose to a new life. And then said: this is for you too. To
start to live a life now that not even death will be able to end. To start to live a life now that’s more than just
a rush to fulfill every dream, pleasure, and desire. To start to live a
life now like there is a tomorrow, and an
eternity of tomorrows after that. In Jesus.
So Jesus
tells the Sadducees: you’re not
thinking right. You’re
trying to imagine heaven through the lens of how things are on earth. But it’s different than that. It’s more than that. It’s better than that. Marriage
is an earthly thing, for companionship and for children to populate the earth.
In the resurrection, however, there is no more death and everyone is a brother
or sister in Christ - and so earthly marriage won’t be needed anymore. It will be better. Husbands won’t bury their wives or wives their
husbands. Children won’t bury
their parents or parents their children. No more separation or divorce. No more
loneliness, no more need. There will be not many families, but one
family around our one Father. Jesus’ Father. Who in Jesus we call Our Father.
One
Father, one family, which includes Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who Jesus says
are still living - just no longer in this life. One Father, one family, which
includes Moses, who led the people of Israel out of Egypt as God said, and who,
though he could not enter the Promised Land of Canaan, nevertheless entered the
Promised Land of heaven where he lives still. And one Father,
one family, which includes you. You who have been
baptized into this family and have a seat at the family table with your
brothers and sisters in Christ. Your brothers and
sisters here in this life, and your brothers and sisters in the next life.
One Father, one family, one table. And we are
taught, we are reminded, as we eat this feast with them, that there is more
- more to this life, more than this life. Much
more.
And so
taught and reminded, we repent. For when we have lived as if this is all there
is. For when we have lived as if this world and life was all important. For
when dreams, desires, and pleasures have become our gods and what guides and
controls us in this life. And much more. We repent,
for our Lord is here to restore us to life again. That life which starts now
and never ends. That life which He gives to us in forgiveness
when He places that forgiveness into our hearts, minds, and souls through our
ears and our mouths, through His Gospel and His Supper. And He says to
us: you are not now what you were before. Or as I rather like to say: you
are no longer living a life that will end in death; you now die a death that ends
in life.
And that’s really what repentance is: a little
death that ends in the life-giving forgiveness of Jesus given to you. Practice,
as it were, for the real thing. But also now so taught and reminded and
forgiven, we live. We live the new life given to us in Christ, by
Christ. A new life in an old life world. An old life
world filled with folks like the Sadducees’ hypothetical widow. Put yourself in her sandals for a
moment. She’s
married (joy!) but has no children (sadness). Then her husband dies (grief).
Many of you know what she went through - that sadness of wanting but having no
children, or of standing by the grave of your spouse. But then it happens to
her again and again and again and again. Seven times.
And what
other sadness and grief is there like that in our old world today? And that so
often happens again and again and again and again. The situations change, the
stories change, but the sadness and grief is the same. What is the message for
them? Too bad! So Sad! This life is all there is and you got dealt a bad
hand. Of course not. We speak of hope and live
a hope that there’s more
to life than this. That even in the most desperate times and places, we have a Saviour. A Saviour
who’s been through it and who gives life. A
Saviour who has come to provide more than just what
we see here and now.
A Saviour who brings light into
darkness, hope into struggle, and life into death. And who assures us that after the cross is the
resurrection. To a life far better than we could ever
imagine.
So dear brothers and sisters in Christ, live that life and
hope. And take that new life here given
out into our old life world - to the widows, to the dying, to the hurting, the
wounded, the struggling, the desperate, and give them hope. Your
hope. Give them Jesus. The Jesus who came once in the
flesh to ascend the cross, and who is coming again in glory to raise us from
death to ascend with Him into heaven. For yes, Sadducees, there is a
resurrection and a life that never ends.
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
[The idea and direction of this sermon taken from Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 23, Part 4 (Sept 1 - Nov 24, 2013), p. 48-50.]