What to Expect

 

Jesu Juva

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18                                   

 November 12, 2023

Proper 27A                                                     

 Dear saints of our Savior~

        Last Sunday we observed All Saints’ Day.  And we were treated to a wonderful preview of heaven.  We caught a glimpse of what awaits us in the life of the world to come, when we take our place among those who have come out of the great tribulation, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

        Today we consider what has to happen between now and then. For before the endless day of heaven, comes the Last Day—the Day of Resurrection—the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We ask the Lord to hurry and hasten His second coming every time we pray that littlest petition:  Thy Kingdom Come.  We’re longing for—and looking for—that day.  A few moments from now we will confess in the creed:  I look for the resurrection of the dead.  I was surprised to learn some years ago that the English words “look for” are a translation of the Latin word expecto.  It therefore wouldn’t be off-base to say that we Christians expect the resurrection of the dead.  We’re not just waiting and watching; we’re expecting!  This is our sure and certain expectation.  This is the beating heart of all our hope and joy.

        And today’s epistle from 1 Thessalonians tells you exactly and precisely what to expect on the day when our King returns.  St. Paul had the end times in mind when he wrote this epistle.  The Thessalonians were just “baby” Christians—nearly all were new converts who had left behind a pagan life.  They knew that Jesus was coming back; but they were concerned for those from their fellowship who died before the return of Jesus.  What about them?

        We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep.  We live in the information age.  Your computer connects you to limitless facts and information (and now even artificial intelligence).  But, of course, you have to watch out for the mis-information and the dis-information and the filtered information and the censored information.  But when it comes to the end of this old world the Lord wants you “in the know.”  He wants you to know what to expect concerning those who have already died in Christ.  Paul says they are “asleep.”  Unbelievers will also describe death as “sleep” just to soften the harsh reality.  But Paul means that death is merely a sleep—just a slumber from which we shall awaken on the day of resurrection.  You can count on this.  You can expect it.

        Paul proclaims this clarity concerning death because he doesn’t want us to grieve as others do who have no hope.  We can and should grieve the death of loved ones.  Jesus said, Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.  But Christian grief is different.  For we have hope.  We have a sure and certain resurrection expectation.

        With Jesus there is hope; without Jesus there is no hope.  It’s that simple, really.  And that fact explains much of the trouble in the world today.  I’ll say it again:  With Jesus there is hope; without Jesus there is no hope.

        In our culture today we are living through a crisis of hopelessness.  Hope cannot be had outside of the church.  So, many unbelievers are forced to manufacture false hope.  They just make it up.  They pretend.  Sometimes even Christians fall into this pseudo-hope.  You often hear this false hope expressed at the funeral home:  He was always such a good man.  She’ll always be in our hearts.  He lives on in our memory.  Stay strong.  I’ll be rootin’ for you.  Come on, people!  Christ is risen!  Death is defeated!  Why settle for shallow, hopeless sentimentality?

        Without Christ—without faith in Christ—there is no hope.  And “no hope” can be a dangerous thing.  Hopelessness breeds desperation.  And this desperation—this despair—can become an open door for the devil.  He will fill that vacuum with an assortment of hateful and violent ideologies.  How many mass shootings can be explained by this?  How much crime can be explained by this?  How many angry, protesting partisans who take to the streets have the hope we have in Christ?  Not many, I suspect.  We see the effects of hopelessness all around us:  The promotion of anarchy and the destruction of authority.  No grace.  No mercy.  No forgiveness. No peace.  No hope.  No Jesus.  Hope hinges on Him.

        All of Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians hinges on Jesus.  He writes, “For . . . we believe that Jesus died and rose again . . .”  Jesus died; Jesus rose again.  I’m reminded of one of the great theological minds of the last century.  He was a brilliant scholar in many respects.  And near the end of his earthly life, as death drew near, all of his theology came down to this:  If Christ is risen from the dead, then nothing else matters.  And if Christ is NOT risen from the dead, then nothing else matters.  In other words, either the resurrection hope we have in Jesus draws us into the future with faith and confidence, OR there is ultimately nothing but darkness and despair.

        Jesus Christ died and rose again to rescue the world from that darkness and despair.  His death was the death we deserve for our sin.  And His resurrection is the guarantee that we shall rise just as He is risen.  Jesus’ resurrection was a bodily resurrection—a resurrection of flesh and blood.  And this bodily resurrection is our hope.  This is the hope Paul preached to the Thessalonians when he wrote:  The dead in Christ will rise first.  Your body with all of its aches and pains and frailties and weaknesses—your body is destined to be raised on the day of our Lord’s return. 

        By the way, today’s text reminds us that there’s always the outside chance that you might not die.  Paul makes it clear that when Jesus returns, those Christians who are still alive will not experience death, but will be changed and outfitted for eternal life.  Both the quick and the dead will be transformed to follow Jesus together into the life of the world to come.   

        Beloved in the Lord, don’t let go of your hope.  Hold onto this Jesus who died and rose again, for He is holding onto you—the Jesus who comes among us here and now in the preaching of His Word and in the bread that is His body and wine that is His blood—the Jesus who will come again in glory.  Encourage one another—comfort one another—build one another up—with these words and with this hope.  At the funeral home, say: Christ is risen! Death is defeated!  He departed in peace and joy.  She is with the Lord—where we will all one day be gathered.

        No one knows when.  No one knows the day nor the hour when these things will come to pass.  But when it happens, you know what to expect.  This is the hope we have in Jesus.  This is the hope that sustains us even when evil ideologies and violent people threaten us.  We know that, in the end, Jesus wins.  Faith wins.  Hope wins.

        In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.