“God Refuses to Allow Death the Final Word”
John 11:1-3, 17-27, 32-44
Revelation 21:1-6a
There is a school of thought in some Christian circles that almost views death as so much of a blessing that you are not even allowed to cry…
But in the Bible, death is an enemy, and it can be a fierce one.
Death is ugly.
It destroys relationships.
It is repulsive.
Several years ago, a friend of mine, who spoke to his brother on the phone every week had been unable to “get a hold of him.”
By buddy’s brother had some form of autism, and lived in some kind of public assisted apartment building about an hour from where my friend lived.
After not being able to reach his brother, my friend drove to his brother’s apartment, opened the door only to find his brother dead on the floor.
He had been lying there for about a week.
Later, my friend said to me, “Ken, death is ugly.”
And so it is.
There is no getting around it.
My dad, at age 87, is getting pretty feeble.
And a few weeks ago, my mother and father were sitting at the breakfast table, when my dad suddenly cried out to my mom, “I need help.”
After that, I am told that his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp.
My mother didn’t call 9-11 because they do not want to have their lives prolonged at this point.
She was sure he was dying, and it scared her terribly.
When I found out about it, I sobbed and sobbed.
It made the inevitable very real.
I’m gonna miss my dad.
I love him beyond words.
What will life be like without him?
I can’t imagine.
Death breaks up families.
People miss those loved ones who have gone ahead of them.
Death is odious.
We can’t pretend otherwise.
But death does not have the last word!!!
And we can thank God for that.
We can thank God for our Savior Who promises, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.
Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
On All Saints’ Day, we, the Church of the Risen Savior, turn our attention to those saints of our past, people whose lives bear witness to our hope, rooted in the Gospel, that proclaims God’s victory over death.
And as we celebrate this day, we do well to keep in mind that, as the passage from Hebrews, which we used as our Call to Worship, promises that we are “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” who are cheering us on, who are waiting for us on the other side.
Therefore, we are called to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and…fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…”
This is the Only Way!!!
In an age of war, famine, natural disasters like hurricane Sandy, epidemics, genocide, God offers us the faith that can move mountains—it’s the “countertestimony” to all manner of evil, brokenness, strife and the claims of the devil.
As we see in our Gospel Lesson, God steadfastly refuses to allow death the final word.
For “the resurrection and the life” enters into our suffering, into the world that God so loves!!!
And God Himself makes it clear that death is ugly, repulsive and it is the enemy.
Mary, Martha and Lazarus had been some of Jesus’ best friends.
It is believed that Jesus spent much time at their home, even after Lazarus was raised from the dead: eating, drinking, and relaxing.
It was a place where Jesus where was accepted.
It was, for Jesus, “a home away from home.”
Anyhow, when Jesus saw His dear friend, Mary of Bethany, crying “and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled.
He asked, ‘Where have you laid him?’
They replied, ‘Lord, come and see.’”
And we are told in what has been referred to the shortest verse in the Bible that Jesus “began to cry,” or “Jesus wept.”
Jesus weeps for the death of Lazarus and for the pain of those who loved him.
And Jesus weeps with us when we are mourning, hurting and sad.
Death is the enemy.
Death is ugly.
Death was not the original intent.
And death does not have the final say!!!
Because of the Fall of humankind, death entered our world, but because of Jesus Christ and His love for us—where we are originally from and where we are headed—is the same: it is God.
In our Scripture Reading from Revelation which Jean read earlier, there is a vision of “a new heaven and a new earth.”
The “holy city” comes “down out of heaven from God.”
It’s a vision of the Church at the end of time…which is really only the beginning.
And because it is eternal, it is present and available to us now.
Remember, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.
Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
And so, because of the vision we are given in Revelation Chapter 21, we are able to be lifted out of our everyday lives to a heavenly realm where we can view earthly existence from heaven’s perspective.
We can be put in the position of suddenly seeing our own day to day lives from God’s point of view.
And when we see this or get a glimpse of it, it transforms our understanding of our own reality.
How puny do some of the things we stress over seem when we view them through the lens of Revelation Chapter 21?
We get so stressed out about the things of this world…
…trying to get rich…
…competing with our neighbors…
…forsaking our families and church for the almighty buck and the American dream…
…when all this stuff is just a flash in the pan.
There is a heaven and it is eternal.
There is a God Who loves us beyond all imagination!!!
You and I will be literally be the “Bride of Christ.”
And while on this earth, we are to be getting ready for that wedding day; going out to the street corners inviting all who will come so that the Lord’s House will be full!!!
What could possibly be more important?
This should put things in perspective and enable us to get our priorities straight.
We should be excited with an urgency to share the love of God in Jesus Christ with those who don’t know Him.
We should be eager to share our resources in order to help bring other human beings into the Kingdom!!!
How eager are we?
Listen to these words of hope and promise, “I heard a loud voice from the throne say, ‘Look God’s dwelling is here with humankind.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples.
God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more.
There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Jesus is “the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”
The vision of the “heavenly Jerusalem” in Revelation 21 shows God and human beings dwelling together, just as we did before the Fall.
It’s no surprise then, that the description of that new city includes a garden with the tree of life, which is endlessly fruitful, with leaves that heal the nations.
A little girl was taking a walk with her father.
She looked up at the stars and exclaimed: “Oh, Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is this beautiful, what must the right side be like?”
As Christians…as those who have decided to follow Jesus…we have a hope and a future.
And in many ways, that future is now!!!
Because, before we lie down to die, Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.
God has defeated death by Jesus’ work on the Cross.
In the midst of our sorrow and grief over those who have gone before us—these real people are called saints.
And saints are simply, people who have decided to follow Jesus.
People who have given their lives to the King of Kings.
They are those who realize while on this earth that neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come, can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
And if you believe this, that is you as well!!!
Therefore, may we live as though the eternal is now.
May we live as though death has no power over our lives.
May we live as though we belong, in life and death to the God Who loves us and is always with us: in good times and bad.
Death is an enemy.
Death is ugly.
But because of Jesus, death does not have the last word!!!
Thank God for the Savior who is “the resurrection and the life.”
Amen.
