“Hope”
Text:
John 11:17-39a, 43-44;
1
Corinthians 15:20-26, 51-57; Genesis 37:29-35
James, Gordana, and David, Friends of Tony and Tony’s family . . .
Your minds are filled
with questions. Your hearts are filled with grief. But God’s Word is filled
with hope.
You wonder what you could
have done. God’s Word tells us what Jesus has done for us, to rescue and save
us.
Perhaps you are also filled
with guilt. Were there signs you missed? Indications that
something was wrong that you should have noticed? God’s Word tells us
that there is forgiveness.
So that’s what we turn to
on a day like this. Questions without answers provide no comfort. God’s Word
gives us hope, and shows us the one greater than our sin, our grief, and our
helplessness.
That doesn’t make today
easy, of course. Grief and healing take time. But it points us in the right
direction. To go to our Saviour
with our every need. Our Saviour
who grieves with us. Our Saviour
who before the tomb of His friend Lazarus, wept like we do today. But
who also said this: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me shall never die. Words
of hope.
You see, we live in a
world gone horribly wrong. This is not the way things are supposed to be. God
did not create us to die. Death was never part of the plan. Death is not a part
of life, as some like to say today. Death is an instrusion.
Death, as we heard, is the enemy. And especially children are not
supposed to die before their parents. But in this world gone horribly wrong,
this world turned upside down by sin and death, that happens. And not just today, but from the beginning. Adam and Eve
lost their son Abel. We heard today of Jacob mourning for his son Joseph who he
thought had been killed by a wild beast - more on that in a moment. King David
mourned for his son Absalom. And then there was Mary, who lost her son, too -
Jesus - on a cross. But that wasn’t just Mary’s son who died there, but God’s
Son. God knows what it’s like to lose a son, too.
But that loss is our gain.
For God sent His Son into this world gone horribly wrong and give us hope. Into
this world turned upside down and set it right again. To take
our sin and guilt and provide forgiveness and hope. To
die our death and provide life. That’s God’s plan. Sin
and death, NO. Forgiveness and life, YES. Separation and grief, NO. Reunion and
hope, YES.
And that’s what Jesus did
for us. Jesus died our death on the cross, to provide a way out of death. He
entered into death to crack it open and give us hope. So that He could say
those words to Mary and Martha: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me shall never die. Words
of hope. Words of life.
Sometimes, though, we
think there is no hope. That my sadness, my trouble, my trial, my sin is too
much. That there is no love greater than these, that
could overcome these. But Jesus shows us there is. His love.
And He showed it to us on the cross. That He would rather die than we die.
You see, while He was
hanging there, many made fun of Him. They mocked Him and told Him to jump down
and prove that He was who He said He was. That He really was God and not just a
mere criminal getting what He deserved. That He really was strong and not weak.
But He did not jump down. But not because He was weak, but
because His love for us was strong. Because had He
jumped down He would have saved Himself but lost us. So He stayed. To take our sin and give us forgiveness. To
take our death and give us life. So while our hands turn against each
other and maybe even turn against ourselves, His hands on the cross turned
toward us; reached out to us, in love. That we see that He
really is the way, the truth, and the life.
Our sorrow and grief may
make it hard to see that, as it did for Jesus’ disciples - themselves wracked
with sorrow and guilt - those days after Jesus died and lay in His tomb. But
the disciples would see it. When Jesus rose from the dead, breaking its
grip, gaining the victory over it, and showing Himself
to them alive. Death is too strong for us, but not for Him.
And now He promises that
victory to us. That just as He called Lazarus out of the
grave with just His Word, so He would on the Last Day do that same for
us. That sin let us go. That death let us go. That these enemies be defeated, and there be only life. Life
with Him. Life forever. With no more sadness,
fear, guilt, loneliness, tragedy, suffering, or tears. Right now, death looks
victorious, and it stings. But it will not always be so. But, as we heard, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Thanks be
to God. Tony said those words with us in church week after
week. He rejoiced in His Lord’s forgiveness and Word and promises and gifts. As
he told his mother, it was the way he wanted - he needed - to start every week.
I also studied God’s Word with him during the week. He was a good student and
asked good questions and looked forward to our time together. Which is all to
say: Tony knew and loved His Saviour. So while the
last hours of Tony’s life are shouded in mystery to
us, that’s the Tony I knew.
And that gives me hope.
That like Jacob, who mourned his son but later saw him again, that so will I
see Tony, together with all who depart this life with faith in Jesus - even if
that faith is small as a mustard seed. For it is not the size of our faith that
makes the difference, but the size and power of the one our faith is in. And
who made, fulfilled, and will keep all His promises to us. Promises like the
one we heard today: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me shall never die.
I cannot answer why
things happen as they do in this world. I do not even know why God would love
us so much to give His Son for us! For who am I that
God should do that for me? For you? And
for Tony? But He did. We have a Saviour whose
love is far greater than we could ever imagine. A Saviour
we can trust.
So I included a little
hymn in your bulletin for us to sing today. A children’s
hymn. For at times like this, we look to our heavenly Father as His
children, with child-like faith. We look to Him for hope, for forgiveness, for
comfort and strength. And He will not let us down.
So let us sing . . . (Hymn LSB #729: I Am Trusting Thee, Lord
Jesus)
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.