Festival
of All Saints
November
6, 2016
Revelation
21:4
Christ
Gives Us More Than a “Better Place”
In
the name of the Father and of the ☩
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
There
will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old
order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
These
are beloved words that we cling to when someone we know and
especially someone we love dies. This promise from Jesus is the
foundation for the words often spoken about the dearly departed to
the grieving survivors: “They are in a better place now.”
It's
better because they aren't dying anymore. They aren't sick anymore.
They aren't tired anymore.
But
to tell the whole truth, they also aren't grumpy anymore. They aren't
insensitive anymore. They aren't lazy anymore. In short, they aren't
sinners anymore.
This
sinfulness that afflicts the lives of every human being from the very
beginning of life must be talked about at the end of life. If it
isn't, than heaven is just a better place.
“Better
place” funeral sermons that don't explain why your grandfather or
mother or brother is dead is a bad sermon. And in a sermon like that,
if and when Jesus is mentioned, He is only making a cameo.
Our
loved ones are dead because they were born sinners. And they proved
it with empirical evidence that was their lives. They spent their
lives sinning in public and private ways. And these sins are very
close to home. They held grudges, just like you. They gossiped, just
like you. They were greedy, just like you. They lived most days
without stopping to examine their sin and the wages of their sin,
which is death.
However,
every now and again, they would. They didn't have a choice. These
days were days when they went to church on a Tuesday morning for a
funeral. And there they saw it: Death.
If
the preacher was bad, Death and Sin were never mentioned. The
preacher would try to flower over the stink of Death, and praise the
dead with their good deeds and their place in the community. But this
kind of preaching only kills us more. What good are our good deeds
before God? He demands perfect deeds with perfect intent and perfect
execution all the time, not good deeds once in a while and always
tainted with selfish interest. Preaching like this is like trying to
mask the stench of overflowing garbage filled with dirty diapers and
rotting fruit with a pumpkin candle. You can pretend for a while, but
the rot is always there.
So
to continue this smelly picture, you can't take out your trash. But
Jesus does. He goes through your whole house—your heart and
soul—and finds all the hidden garbage—your sin and your sins—and
picks it up and takes it all outside and dumps it on Himself. All
those dirty diapers, rotting food, and every other old and disgusting
thing. He is covered and smeared with our sin. On the cross Jesus was
our sin and He was punished for our filth by His heavenly Father. He
did this for you; He did this for your dearly departed.
Good
Christian funerals always are about our sin and Jesus' mercy. Good
funeral preaching is always about His sacrifice on the cross and His
washing of the sinners in Holy Baptism. In short, good preaching is
about God's deeds, not yours. And because Jesus' good deeds are
credited to you as though they are your own, your death will usher
you into heaven. So our dearly departed saints are saved by Jesus and
live and sing at this moment.
Indeed
in our liturgy it is rightly said that when we sing “Holy, holy,
holy Lord God of heavenly host: heaven and earth are full of Your
glory. Hosanna!” we are joining with all the saints on earth and
the hosts of heaven. The hosts of heaven are our sainted
grandfathers, grandmothers, aunt, uncles, mothers, fathers, brothers,
sisters, babies, cousins, friends, and others, sainted, made holy by
the blood of Christ. They are not in a better place, but they are in
the best place, because forever with Jesus is the best place to be.
For
even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to
Give His Life as a Ransom for Many.
Mark
10:45
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