Title: When We Are Out of Here
Text: I Thessalonians 4:13-18
The Big Idea: Christians are people of hope.
Introduction
What happens when we die?
In most cultures it is customary to have a memorial service of some sort… over the years I have planned a few such services. When planning a service with the family of the deceased I often ask them what they would like remembered about their loved one. And on more than one occasion, I have gotten into conversations about what it is a person would like to have said at their funeral service.
One such storied conversation went something like this:
One friend said, “I would want people to say, ‘He was a great humanitarian who cared about his community.’”
A second friend said, “I would want people to say, ‘He was a great husband and father… a great example for us all.’”
The third friend said, “I would hope that someone will say, ‘Look, he’s moving!’”
The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes wrote, “God has made everything beautiful in its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
God has placed the concept of eternity in our hearts… God has placed within the heart of every living person a sense of the afterlife or life after death.
In 2004 Tyndale published Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven. He wrote of how the thought of an after life was an essential belief in every civilization in history. The Aborigines in Australia pictured heaven as a distant island beyond the western horizon. Early Finns thought such an island existed far to the east. Some South American and Island peoples believed the deceased went to the sun or the moon.
An ancient Babylonian legend refers to a resting place for heroes and hints at a tree of life. In the pyramids of Egypt, the embalmed bodies had maps placed next to them as guides to the future world. The Romans believed that the righteous would picnic in lush meadows with horses grazing nearby. The Roman philosopher wrote, “The day thou fearest as the last, is the birth of eternity.”
The author stated, “Anthropological evidence suggests that every culture has a God-given sense of the eternal – that this world is not all there is.” (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, Tyndale, 2004, PreachingToday.com)
One exception is noted by Philip Yancey who told of one African custom where family and friends silently circle the casket looking at the deceased. At some point a peppermint candy is give to each mourner. When the candy is gone, the person’s life is over. They believe life simply dissolves. (Philip Yancey, Where Is God When It Hurts?, Zondervan, 1997, PreachingToday.com)
There is no shortage of beliefs about death and the afterlife, so it is important for Christians to know what to believe.
There are two desired outcomes from this text… the first is stated in verse 13:
1. God wants us to be knowledgeable… God wants us to know truth.
• “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep...” 4:13
The NLT clarifies what is intended to be understood by the concept of falling asleep. It clearly states that Paul wants them to “know what happens to believers who have died.” The Message refers to not wanting them to “be in the dark” about the dead and buried.
Albert Einstein once quipped, “Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” It seems he had little confidence in our ability or the human will to rise above ignorance. Daniel Boorstin said, “The greatest obstacle to discovery [of truth] is not ignorance but the delusion of knowledge.” In other words, when we think we know it all… it is not likely that we will ever know it all.
However, when we are willing to admit our ignorance there is hope for knowledge.
The ignorance or lack of understanding or knowledge to which the writer speaks is directly related to the early Christians’ perception that the return of Christ was imminent and their concern that those who had died would miss the Second Coming of Christ… they were deeply concerned about what happens to the people who die before Christ returns?
Paul wants them to move beyond ignorance to understanding.
The second desired out come is alluded to in verse 13 and clearly stated in verse 18:
2. God wants knowledge and truth to be comforting.
• “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.” 4”13b
• “So, comfort and encourage one another with these words.” 4:18
Apparently people who live and die in a culture of hopelessness grieve differently than those who confront death with hope. Paul does not want the Christians in the faith community at Thessalonica to “carry on” in their grief like those who have no hope.
I’m sure you have seen photos of the flag-draped caskets of soldiers who died in Iraq as they have arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Since 1955, the Dover Mortuary has been the next-to-last stop for some 60,000 Americans, most of whom were killed in service to our country.
Robert Bauer is one of two full-time morticians on the staff at Dover. He says the hardest part of his job is dealing with anguished loved ones. He says no matter how horrific the death, it is easier to deal with the autopsy room that with the grief of those left behind. And then he adds, the business has taught him that all grief is not equal. “When a family comes in here with some kind of faith, some kind of belief in God, they hold up much better than those who have nothing to hold onto.” (Bob Jones, Dover Duty, World, 2/15/03, PreachingToday.com)
What we know and what we believe in the Christian faith is intended to comfort and encourage us so that when the time comes, we do not sorrow as those who have no hope.
Our knowledge of the truth and the comfort and encouragement we receive is based on a bedrock belief essential to our faith.
3. God wants us to understand that the resurrection is a bedrock belief essential to the hope of the Christian faith.
• “And this is the Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it… that Christ died for our sins. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.” I Corinthians 15:2-4
I like the story of two little boys watching an Easter pageant. When the crucifixion scene took place and Jesus was placed in the tomb. The room was silent until one of the little boys said to the other, “He’s dead now, but he’ll be back!” (Robert Russell, Resurrection Promises, Preaching Today, Tape #151)
The resurrection of Christ is essential to our faith and our hope.
These are things we need to know about the resurrection:
a. Not only was Christ resurrected, the dead in Christ will also be bodily resurrected.
“There is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised. After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God…” I Corinthians 15:23-24
If a person lives in Christ and dies in Christ, he remains still in Christ, and will be raised in Christ. In life and in death, the Christian is in Christ. (William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, The Daily Study Bible Series, P.23)
A second truth about the resurrection is this:
b. When Christians die, their earthly remains remain here on earth but their spirits live on.
“So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing… we are fully confident that we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” II Corinthians 5:6-8 (When we die, our spirits go to be with the Lord.)
Billy Graham said in a Newsweek interview a couple of years ago, “I have a certainty about eternity that is a wonderful thing… I do not fear death. I may fear a little bit about the process, but not death itself, because I think the moment that my spirit leaves this body, I will be in the presence of the Lord.” (Jon Meacham, “Pilgrim’s Progress,” Newsweek, 8/14/06, p. 43)
Simply stated, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!”
And third:
c. When Christ returns, the living spirits of the dead will return with him!
“…and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” I Thessalonians 4:14b
Other than that we know they are with the Lord… we do have a clue that they are in a place of eternal bliss. Jesus may have given us a peek into that place in the Luke 16:16-31 story about the Rich Man and Lazarus. In the story he described the place where Lazarus went after his death as a place of comfort, while the place the rich man went when he died was a place of torment. The place of the dead is neither heaven nor hell but a place where the dead in Christ live in the interim between now and the events described in Revelation 20 and 21.
And finally, God wants us to know that no follower of Christ, dead or alive at his coming, will miss the resurrection. I’m not sure it is a word but there is no missing the idea if we coin the phrase, “it will be unmissable.”
4. God wants us to know that no one, who is in Christ, will miss the resurrection. It will be a cosmic event!
It seems more and more people want to go out with a bang… Sally Anderson, one of the owners of Tributes, a company that plans elaborate “life celebrations,” says their company allows people to have more of an afterlife.
One of her clients, a former ice cream truck driver, had an ice cream truck lead his funeral procession. He went out of here with more of a jingle than a bang. But whatever your dying wishes may be, they provide services that cost as much as $200,000. I suspect that if I were to plan on spending $200,000 on my funeral arrangements, the only bang you would hear is the one when Bonnie shot me.
USA Today online reported on the “Posthumous Ride for a Fireworks-Loving Minister.” As part of the 4th of July fireworks celebration in St. Croix, Minnesota, the Reverend Gordon Bergin had his ashes fired several hundred feet into the air by a cannon where they exploded “in a fiery display of post-mortem pyrotechnics.”
However big a bang we might plan for when we are outta here… nothing compares to what God has planned for us when Christ returns.
It will be cosmic because it will be seen.
a. It will be a visible event! The world will see Christ coming down out of heaven.
• “The Lord himself will come down from heaven…” I Thessalonians 4:16a
On Wednesday evening, during Confirmation Class, we talked a bit about the ascension of Christ described in Acts 1:6-11 where Jesus was taken up into the sky. As the disciples
strained their eyes to see him as he disappeared into a cloud, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them and asked, “Why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. And someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!” Acts 1:11
This is the promised return and it will be cosmic!
It will be cosmic because Christ’s return will also be heard.
b. It will be a loud!
• “...with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.” I Thessalonians 4:16b
This verse describes Jesus descending with a “commanding shout” along with a “call” from the archangel, and the “trumpet call” of God.
One commentator says, “The purpose is to awaken “those who have fallen asleep.” (Robert L. Thomas, The Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11, P. 279) It has something of a military sound to it… a call to attention. It will be a commanding shout, a call, and the blasting of trumpets all signaling the moment when Christians will be caught up to be with the Lord forever.
The return of Christ will be cosmic because it will be a systematic and global event.
c. It will be orderly!
• “First, all the Christians who have died will raise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.” I Thessalonians 4:16-17
From all over and all around the world, simultaneously, first, the dead in Christ will rise from their graves reunited body and spirit. Then those who are still living will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. Those who are in Christ will not miss the resurrection… it is not something anyone will sleep through.
Conclusion
I want to conclude with two words.
The first is a word of challenge.
1. What happens when Christ returns depends on what happens before Christ returns.
Near the end of the 2005 football season, Tony Dungy, then coach of the Indianapolis Colts and his wife, lost their 18 year-old son to suicide. At the conclusion of an heartfelt eulogy Dungy said, “James was a good young man with a compassionate heart. We were glad to have him for 18 years. We are also glad that he accepted Christ as his savior, so that God has him now for the rest of eternity.” (Phil Richards, “Colts Convene in Tampa as Dungy Buries Son,” USA Today, 12/27/05)
What happens in this life… depending on whether a person accepts Christ as his or her savior in this life, determines where we spend the next. Having received Christ as one’s savior gives us the hope of resurrection at the return of Christ.
The second is a word of comfort and encouragement.
2. The Scripture may be understood as something of a blueprint for what happens to people when they die and how things are going to go down (or up) when Christ returns… but more than that, it is to be understood as a Word of assurance that both those who are dead in Christ and those who are alive when Christ returns, will be caught up to be with God and Christ forever.
This is the Word of the Lord.
