November, 13, 2011

Daniel Waldschmidt

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
St. Jacobi Lutheran Church
11/9/2011

¹³ Brothers, 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. ¹⁴ We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Grace and peace to you from the God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last week, we heard Pastor Spaude say that Judgment Day will be one of the happiest days in a believer’s life. The Christians in Thessalonica would have definitely concurred with that. “How awesome will it be,” they thought “to see Jesus appear in glorious majesty!” They were so looking forward to the Last Day. But they had a problem. Something was bothering them. “What about believers who die before Jesus comes back? Does that mean that they will miss out on the happy events of the Last Day?”
The apostle Paul heard about this problem and wrote to them, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep” (4:13). They had apparently taken a “snooze, you lose” mentality toward death. They were afraid that if you didn’t make it until the Last Day that you would miss out on the party.
That’s a thought that has probably never bothered you. But what does bother you about those who fall asleep? Maybe what bothers you is not that they will miss out on the Last Day, but that they are missing out on weddings, birthday parties, graduations. Are they missing out? Is it true that if you snooze, you lose?
Sometimes it bothers us that believers who die very young miss out on what could have been the best years of their life. College, hanging out with friends, getting married, having children, aren’t they missing out on all those things? Don’t believers who die at 40 or 50 miss out on the chance to enjoy the things that they have worked so hard for? You establish a home for yourself, you build up a bank account and you finally work your way out of debt, and you die before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Or believers who die right after they’ve retired. You work your whole life and you don’t get the chance to enjoy the golf courses of America. Isn’t it true that if you snooze you lose?
Worst of all (if we dare to think any further about this), you miss out on family events: weddings, birthday parties, graduations. The Thessalonians struggled with the thought, “This person that died was persecuted for his faith in Jesus. He endured it. He kept strong in the faith looking forward to that Last Day, but then the Lord took him away before he could see the Last Day!” We are struggling with the thought, “A man has such a promising future. He has so many good things left to experience in this life but then the Lord takes him away!”
But where does the Lord take him to? We have been looking at this all wrong! We have been thinking about all the things that those who have fallen asleep in Christ miss out on. What we should be thinking about is what they are experiencing. Today is Saint’s Triumphant Sunday. This is the Sunday when we remember that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are right now enjoying eternal glory, bliss and happiness in heaven! A bliss won for them by Jesus: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again” (4:14). Jesus wanted so badly for us to experience heaven forever with him that he came down as man and experienced death in our place. He took all of our sins on himself and paid for them all with his death. But he didn’t stay dead. He rose to life three days later to guarantee that everyone who believes in him would have life too. And when you fall asleep Jesus will take you to enjoy the bliss that he has won for you.
It’s still very sad and tragic when a person dies before they have lived a good long life, I don’t want to minimize that at all. But the fact is those who have fallen asleep in Christ, no matter what age they were, are not feeling sorry for themselves. They are not thinking about all the rounds of golf that they never got to play or the money they never got to spend or the sights they never got to see. They are thinking about the beauty of Christ, because they see his face. Paul said “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”

So then why do Christians grieve? It’s a perfectly legitimate thing to do. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus. Abraham grieved for Sarah. King David grieved for his best friend Jonathan. Christians cry at funerals and many go through a deep grieving process. They know that their loved one is in heaven. They don’t “grieve as those who have no hope” but they still grieve. Why? You tell them that their loved one is in heaven and that helps but it doesn’t take all the sadness away. Why? Because even though they know that their loved one is in heaven. They are still missing them. As we think about it we discover that those who have fallen asleep are not the ones who are missing out. We are. We are missing them.

All the more reason to look forward to the Last Day; and ask Jesus to come quickly. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (4:14). When Jesus comes back he is not coming alone. He is bringing our loved ones back with him. The Thessalonians didn’t need to be afraid that their loved ones would miss the Last Day. Paul says, “They’ll be there; they’ll just be on the other side.”
And then Jesus will raise their bodies to life. “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep” (4:15). It’s hard to tell exactly what Paul means when he says those who are still alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep. It could mean that Jesus is not going to come and take us to heaven with him and leave their bodies in the ground. Or it could simply mean that there is no advantage to being alive on the Last Day. Jesus is going to bring dead believers back with him and he is going to raise them from the dead.
Paul describes what will happen on the Last Day, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (4:16). Maybe when your loved one died, you pleaded with the Lord to give her back to you. Or maybe if you didn’t say those exact words it was certainly the desire of your heart. You wanted your child back. You wanted your mother back. On the Last Day Jesus is going to answer that prayer with an emphatic “Yes.” You will have your loved one back. Fully alive.
Maybe your believing-loved one who died had a battle with Alzheimer’s. And at the end he just wasn’t himself. When Jesus raises him up at the Last Day his mind will be fully restored in a glorified resurrection body.
One reason the Last Day will be such a happy day is because it will be a great reunion with all the believers who went before us. “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds” (4:17). But the focal point of this reunion will not be ourselves. It will be Jesus. “Caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (4:17). No matter what your family didn’t get to experience together in this life because you were separated by busy schedules or geography or even death, one thing that you will for sure get to experience together is this meeting with the Lord in the air.
And remember from last week this is when Jesus will say, “I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” If your grandfather did not get to hear your name called at graduation, he will get to hear Jesus call your name and say, “well done, good and faithful servant,” and your grandfather will say “that’s my girl!”
“And so we will be with the Lord forever” (4:17). The story of the Christian life is the only one that is truly happily ever after. When I served as a vicar last year there was a shut-in in our congregation whom I would visit regularly. Even though she was in a lot of pain because of neuropathy and a host of other things, she was one of the most joyful people I had ever met. And what really made her light up was thinking about Jesus coming back on the Last Day. Whenever someone mentioned Jesus coming back she would exclaim, “Won’t that just be wonderful! I just can’t wait to see him.” It will be a happy day when Jesus comes back. You will be reunited with your fellow believers and we will all be with Jesus in life never-ending.
“Therefore comfort each other with these words” (4:18). You might want to mark this section of Scripture as a great one to turn to when you are with someone who has just experienced a loss. Of course, we want to be careful not to run roughshod over their grief. We want to mourn with those who mourn even as Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. But at the appropriate time we do have real hope to offer them. The sure hope that their loved ones are enjoying bliss with Jesus and that when Jesus comes back he will bring their loved ones back with him and they will be reunited and they will enjoy the Lord’s presence together forever. And so we joyfully pray come quickly Lord Jesus, and bring our loved ones with you. Amen.