Till Death Do Us -- Unite
Sermon
From This Day Forward
First Lesson Sermons For Lent/Easter
Pastor: Christ is risen!
People: He is risen, indeed!
Pastor: Death is a disgrace!
People: Not any more!
Pastor: Jesus lives and conquered death!
People: I will never die.
Pastor: No more tears!
People: No more fears!
All: Praise be to the Death Conqueror!
God had done miraculous things for her and her family through the Prophet Elijah. Enough flour and oil to live on through a drought. Then this widow's son became sick. He eventually died. "Why, O prophet, have you let this happen?" she asked. But God wasn't done bestowing miracles on this family. Elijah, harboring the same question for God, stretched himself on the boy three times -- and he became a fence-climbing, dog-chasing son again!
A second widow had heard about all the miracles the Prophet Jesus was doing. But it didn't do her any good. Her only son died. She was alone. That is, until Jesus crashed their funeral procession and told the boy to get up off the funeral bier -- and he ran to give his mother a hug!
Two sisters couldn't believe that this miracle-working friend, who claimed to be God, had delayed coming to them when their brother was sick. But now it was too late. He'd been in the rock-hewn tomb three days. Who could help them now? Smelly, decomposing, hidden-in-the-earth problems didn't phase Jesus -- and Lazarus lived again!
Can you imagine talking to the two nameless widows' sons and Lazarus, who received new leases on life? What did they see? How did it feel really to die and then to have your brain start waving again? Were they glad they were back? Did they see God? What exactly happens when you die, Lazarus and sons?
We don't know the answers to those questions, but we do understand this: all three of these guys have one thing in common. They died again -- and any questions they still had in their second life about death were answered. There is only one person who died and came back to life again, never to die again!
He will remain the only person, that is, until our Easter text is fulfilled in all Christians' lives someday.
When the Old Testament people heard this Scripture read in their worship services, all they could think of was some abstract eternity with God somewhere. All their hope was future-oriented. A mountain banquet. No more death. No more fear. Salvation. When they heard about a mountain with a banquet for all peoples, they envisioned a heavenly Mount Zion, a holy happy place where the buffet lines never end. When they heard about no more death and no more tears, they could only imagine their eternity as that wonderful. And when they were called to "rejoice and be glad in his salvation" (v. 9), they only pondered his ultimate salvation: their gift of heaven -- someday! All future. No immediate fulfillment. Only something to look forward to.
As New Testament Christians, especially on Easter, we have more than just something to look forward to, but something to celebrate now! Today! This passage has been fulfilled already. It has present power and future promises! The mountain God spoke of was not just Mount Zion, but Friday's Mount Calvary. As a result of what happened there, we can rejoice and party and banquet today on Christ's body and blood as a foretaste of the feast to come! The blood shed on that mountain doesn't just guarantee us eternal life, but a life free from the fear of death now! The wiping away of all tears is not just at heaven's gate ("check all your tears over there -- next to the coat check!"), but now. If Jesus can conquer death, he can handle our problems too! And our salvation is present tense, today, already fulfilled because the Savior walks by our side!
This exhilarating text has been and will be fulfilled in our life and death and life again!
In the popular comic strip Crankshaft, one box-strip has Crankshaft carrying a shovel and walking with his grandson after burying their pet dog. The grandson asks, "Where do we go when we die, Gramps?" All Crankshaft answers is, "Away." "How far away?" "Depends â" "On what?" "Lots of things." The grandson replies, "Thanks, Gramps â" "No problem." Too bad the comic sketcher didn't talk about the cross he drew sticking out of the mound of dirt! I guess it wouldn't make a good comic strip to show the cross as the bar across the door of hell. "Sorry, Jesus closed hell." Now the grave is the open door to heaven!
Death Is A Disgrace -- If That's All There Is!
Death is a disgrace because it is the ultimate vulnerability. In front of people. Before God. What can a dead person do? Nothing. Think about a person lying in a casket with everyone parading by. Finally the CEO is not in charge anymore; he can't make decisions any more. Others will make decisions for him. Everyone sees him as he really is, no matter what the undertaker's makeup tries to cover. At death there's no more bamboozling about the real faults of the person, no more lying to oneself about his rough edges. If there is ever a moment of weakness, it's at death -- if that's all there is!
That's why Isaiah calls death "the shroud that enfolds all people, the sheet that covers all nations" (v. 7). No one escapes, all nations will die, and we are covered up. The shroud refers to what the executioner puts over the condemned man's face before the rope is pulled or the switch flipped. We are all condemned people, "for the wages of sin is death." Death was a disgrace for Jesus, too, hanging naked on the cross. That's why they had to get him off before the Sabbath sundown.
But death isn't all there is. Death for the Christian, though unpleasant to go through, is really just that, a "going through" to the other side. A bank in Binghamton, New York, had some flowers sent to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mix-up at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, "With our deepest sympathy."
The florist, who was greatly embarrassed, apologized. But he was even more embarrassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home in honor of a deceased person. That card read, "Congratulations on your new location!" Ah, how appropriate for Christians who die.
Jesus Collects Your Tears
There was once a contest held to find out who the most caring child was. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly man who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
We cry when a loved one dies. And rightly so. Can you name all of the people who were crying and grieving when Jesus died? The women ran to the tomb crying. Peter wept bitterly for his denial and the fact that Jesus would die. The two men on the road to Emmaus, if not shedding physical tears, surely had their hearts broken. And perhaps you today are crying -- if not outside, then inside. Jesus cares about your tears and promises one day to wipe them all away (v. 8). But for now, hear Psalm 56:8: "Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll -- are they not in your record?" God collects our tears in a bottle. He counts and knows all your sorrows. Jesus' resurrection is the Divine Handkerchief today, because we know that those who die in Christ we will see again, and until then God wipes our tears!
Death Will Be No More
Nothing is ever final on this earth. Satan thought he had vanquished the Son of God when he breathed his last, but nothing was over -- except Satan's reign of terror with death as his ultimate weapon. When Jesus died he killed death. Yes, death still bites (we die physically), but Jesus took away its sting and the venom of its hopelessness and the bitterness of hell. Because our Redeemer lives, we will stand on the earth. Jesus has freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Death is only the message that calls us home, not a prison warden that drags us to doom. No, heaven is a party!
The sound of Sarah's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought a smile to Pastor Neal's face. This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words, "Pastor, could you stop by this afternoon? I need to talk with you." "Of course, I'll be there around three. Is that okay?"
It didn't take long for Pastor Neal to discover the reason for what he had only sensed in her voice earlier. Sarah shared the news that her doctor had discovered a previously undetected tumor. "He says I probably have about six months to live." Sarah's words were naturally serious, yet there was a definite calm about her. "I'm so sorry ..." but before the pastor could finish, Sarah interrupted. "Don't be. Jesus has been good. I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go."
"I know," Pastor Neal whispered with a reassuring nod.
"But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it and there are things that I know I want." The two talked quietly for a long time. When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Sarah paused, looked up at her pastor with a twinkle in her eye, and then added, "One more thing. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other."
"A fork?" Neal was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise. "Why do you want to be buried with a fork?"
"I have been thinking about all the church dinners that I attended through the years," she explained. "Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, 'You can keep your fork.' And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! And not a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come!
"That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Sure they can talk about all the good times we had. That would be nice. But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork?'
"That's when I want you to tell them that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!"
The best is yet to come. We'll get to talk with Lazarus and the two boys. We'll see our family members who have died knowing Jesus. Best of all, we'll meet our Savior face to face and he will serve us at the never-ending feast. A blessed Easter to you! Come, Lord Jesus, come!
People: He is risen, indeed!
Pastor: Death is a disgrace!
People: Not any more!
Pastor: Jesus lives and conquered death!
People: I will never die.
Pastor: No more tears!
People: No more fears!
All: Praise be to the Death Conqueror!
God had done miraculous things for her and her family through the Prophet Elijah. Enough flour and oil to live on through a drought. Then this widow's son became sick. He eventually died. "Why, O prophet, have you let this happen?" she asked. But God wasn't done bestowing miracles on this family. Elijah, harboring the same question for God, stretched himself on the boy three times -- and he became a fence-climbing, dog-chasing son again!
A second widow had heard about all the miracles the Prophet Jesus was doing. But it didn't do her any good. Her only son died. She was alone. That is, until Jesus crashed their funeral procession and told the boy to get up off the funeral bier -- and he ran to give his mother a hug!
Two sisters couldn't believe that this miracle-working friend, who claimed to be God, had delayed coming to them when their brother was sick. But now it was too late. He'd been in the rock-hewn tomb three days. Who could help them now? Smelly, decomposing, hidden-in-the-earth problems didn't phase Jesus -- and Lazarus lived again!
Can you imagine talking to the two nameless widows' sons and Lazarus, who received new leases on life? What did they see? How did it feel really to die and then to have your brain start waving again? Were they glad they were back? Did they see God? What exactly happens when you die, Lazarus and sons?
We don't know the answers to those questions, but we do understand this: all three of these guys have one thing in common. They died again -- and any questions they still had in their second life about death were answered. There is only one person who died and came back to life again, never to die again!
He will remain the only person, that is, until our Easter text is fulfilled in all Christians' lives someday.
When the Old Testament people heard this Scripture read in their worship services, all they could think of was some abstract eternity with God somewhere. All their hope was future-oriented. A mountain banquet. No more death. No more fear. Salvation. When they heard about a mountain with a banquet for all peoples, they envisioned a heavenly Mount Zion, a holy happy place where the buffet lines never end. When they heard about no more death and no more tears, they could only imagine their eternity as that wonderful. And when they were called to "rejoice and be glad in his salvation" (v. 9), they only pondered his ultimate salvation: their gift of heaven -- someday! All future. No immediate fulfillment. Only something to look forward to.
As New Testament Christians, especially on Easter, we have more than just something to look forward to, but something to celebrate now! Today! This passage has been fulfilled already. It has present power and future promises! The mountain God spoke of was not just Mount Zion, but Friday's Mount Calvary. As a result of what happened there, we can rejoice and party and banquet today on Christ's body and blood as a foretaste of the feast to come! The blood shed on that mountain doesn't just guarantee us eternal life, but a life free from the fear of death now! The wiping away of all tears is not just at heaven's gate ("check all your tears over there -- next to the coat check!"), but now. If Jesus can conquer death, he can handle our problems too! And our salvation is present tense, today, already fulfilled because the Savior walks by our side!
This exhilarating text has been and will be fulfilled in our life and death and life again!
In the popular comic strip Crankshaft, one box-strip has Crankshaft carrying a shovel and walking with his grandson after burying their pet dog. The grandson asks, "Where do we go when we die, Gramps?" All Crankshaft answers is, "Away." "How far away?" "Depends â" "On what?" "Lots of things." The grandson replies, "Thanks, Gramps â" "No problem." Too bad the comic sketcher didn't talk about the cross he drew sticking out of the mound of dirt! I guess it wouldn't make a good comic strip to show the cross as the bar across the door of hell. "Sorry, Jesus closed hell." Now the grave is the open door to heaven!
Death Is A Disgrace -- If That's All There Is!
Death is a disgrace because it is the ultimate vulnerability. In front of people. Before God. What can a dead person do? Nothing. Think about a person lying in a casket with everyone parading by. Finally the CEO is not in charge anymore; he can't make decisions any more. Others will make decisions for him. Everyone sees him as he really is, no matter what the undertaker's makeup tries to cover. At death there's no more bamboozling about the real faults of the person, no more lying to oneself about his rough edges. If there is ever a moment of weakness, it's at death -- if that's all there is!
That's why Isaiah calls death "the shroud that enfolds all people, the sheet that covers all nations" (v. 7). No one escapes, all nations will die, and we are covered up. The shroud refers to what the executioner puts over the condemned man's face before the rope is pulled or the switch flipped. We are all condemned people, "for the wages of sin is death." Death was a disgrace for Jesus, too, hanging naked on the cross. That's why they had to get him off before the Sabbath sundown.
But death isn't all there is. Death for the Christian, though unpleasant to go through, is really just that, a "going through" to the other side. A bank in Binghamton, New York, had some flowers sent to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mix-up at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, "With our deepest sympathy."
The florist, who was greatly embarrassed, apologized. But he was even more embarrassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home in honor of a deceased person. That card read, "Congratulations on your new location!" Ah, how appropriate for Christians who die.
Jesus Collects Your Tears
There was once a contest held to find out who the most caring child was. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly man who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
We cry when a loved one dies. And rightly so. Can you name all of the people who were crying and grieving when Jesus died? The women ran to the tomb crying. Peter wept bitterly for his denial and the fact that Jesus would die. The two men on the road to Emmaus, if not shedding physical tears, surely had their hearts broken. And perhaps you today are crying -- if not outside, then inside. Jesus cares about your tears and promises one day to wipe them all away (v. 8). But for now, hear Psalm 56:8: "Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll -- are they not in your record?" God collects our tears in a bottle. He counts and knows all your sorrows. Jesus' resurrection is the Divine Handkerchief today, because we know that those who die in Christ we will see again, and until then God wipes our tears!
Death Will Be No More
Nothing is ever final on this earth. Satan thought he had vanquished the Son of God when he breathed his last, but nothing was over -- except Satan's reign of terror with death as his ultimate weapon. When Jesus died he killed death. Yes, death still bites (we die physically), but Jesus took away its sting and the venom of its hopelessness and the bitterness of hell. Because our Redeemer lives, we will stand on the earth. Jesus has freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Death is only the message that calls us home, not a prison warden that drags us to doom. No, heaven is a party!
The sound of Sarah's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought a smile to Pastor Neal's face. This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words, "Pastor, could you stop by this afternoon? I need to talk with you." "Of course, I'll be there around three. Is that okay?"
It didn't take long for Pastor Neal to discover the reason for what he had only sensed in her voice earlier. Sarah shared the news that her doctor had discovered a previously undetected tumor. "He says I probably have about six months to live." Sarah's words were naturally serious, yet there was a definite calm about her. "I'm so sorry ..." but before the pastor could finish, Sarah interrupted. "Don't be. Jesus has been good. I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go."
"I know," Pastor Neal whispered with a reassuring nod.
"But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it and there are things that I know I want." The two talked quietly for a long time. When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Sarah paused, looked up at her pastor with a twinkle in her eye, and then added, "One more thing. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other."
"A fork?" Neal was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise. "Why do you want to be buried with a fork?"
"I have been thinking about all the church dinners that I attended through the years," she explained. "Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, 'You can keep your fork.' And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! And not a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come!
"That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Sure they can talk about all the good times we had. That would be nice. But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork?'
"That's when I want you to tell them that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!"
The best is yet to come. We'll get to talk with Lazarus and the two boys. We'll see our family members who have died knowing Jesus. Best of all, we'll meet our Savior face to face and he will serve us at the never-ending feast. A blessed Easter to you! Come, Lord Jesus, come!
