The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
November 10, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Exodus
3:1-15 Thessalonians
2:1-8, 13-17 Luke 20:27-40
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the Gospel and Old Testament lessons, especially
these words from Jesus, “Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. The past month, we have had 5
members of our parish pass away. Five
families who have wept and mourned, five days where we sorrowed at sin and its
dreadful consequence in our lives.
There’ve been many hospital visits, many hours in prayer, many tears cried,
and many hours in the cemetery in the last month. And as we think about this past month, and
even the past year with all 11 people who’ve died, our text today is such a
beautiful Gospel message. That God is
the God of the living, not of the dead.
When people die in
our world, so often we think they’re gone.
We think that death has swallowed them up and that nothing can connect
that loved one to us again, that they have ceased to exist. And that whatever they were has been lost to
the universe for all time. And we mourn
that idea, perhaps because we know what it means for us as well. One day we too will die. And we wonder what will happen to us at our
death. Where will we go? What will happen to us, will our spirit float
around this world forever, or will we too simply cease to exist.
It’s the same fear
the ancient Sadducees that were from Jesus day had. They didn’t believe in the resurrection, just
like so many in our world. They thought
that when your life came to its end, it was over for good. And that nothing, could change that. The Sadducees believed that when you died,
your end came forever and ever amen.
And in the face of
that belief of death, in our text today Jesus speaks a word of truth and a word
of promise. “Look at the great
patriarchs”, Jesus says, “look at the very word of God contained in the
scripture. It says that God is the God
of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. God
is the God of the living, not of the dead, and so if he is the God of Abraham,
then Abraham still lives somewhere with God.
If He’s the God of Isaac and Jacob, than somewhere they live with
God.
The ancient
Sadducees knew what that meant. They had
been to Machpelah the cave where Abraham, Issac and Jacob were buried, they had
seen the graves, they had perhaps even seen the bones. And yet Jesus claims that they are alive,
because God is the God of the living, not of the dead. That even though they have died in this
world, and been buried in this world, that God maintains their life somewhere
with his powerful word.
And because of
Jesus we know that’s the truth. Jesus
demonstrated that with his own life. He
went to the cross and died, giving up his life as a ransom for all who die, and
then he was buried in a cave, just as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were. Only Jesus’s body did not see decay. His body did not rot in that tomb, his
earthly remains are no longer there. For
he was raised into life everlasting. He
still, even today, is alive. The
disciples saw witnessed his resurrection with their own eyes. They touched his risen body, able to put
their fingers inside the nail marks.
Jesus is alive, and as he arose, so too did he promise the same to all
who believe in him.
And so all those
members of our congregation who have been taken away are now alive with
Jesus. Maybe not physically alive today,
but spiritually alive. And as their
souls rest with Jesus, so too have we cared for their bodies, lovingly storing
them in our cemetery. And on the last
day, Jesus will raise those bodies, reuniting body and soul so that those
people we love may live physically before God forever more. For God is a God of the living, not of the
dead.
And dear friends,
the same is true for you as well. One
day you will die. One day you will be
buried in the ground dead, and yet your soul will still be alive with God. Jesus will keep you with him in faith in his
sin sacrifice. You will live, for he
lived and rose before us. For our God is
not a God of the dead, but of the Living.
Dear friends, this
week, we bury another beloved member of our congregation. Just yesterday we had the funeral for another
lifelong member. And yet, I tell you
with confidence, that because of Jesus, the resurrection and the life, these
people are alive now in heaven before God.
And one day, sooner than we care to think, we will join them there, even
forevermore. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
