Death Is Dead

Text: Mark 16:1-8

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

The women who came to the tomb of Jesus that Sunday morning long ago, left with a combination of emotions.  They were trembling; that is to say, physically shaking with fear and amazement.  In other words, they were trembling in ecstasy and their mind was thrown out of its normal state.  Their whole disposition was one of being alarmed and in terror, so much that they fled the tomb with a combination of reverence and awe.   

Now, this may strike us as a bit odd, but if you and I put ourselves in their shoes, it makes sense. 

You see, two days earlier the women had just witnessed death devour and chew upon Jesus Christ in a most horrific way.  He was flogged.  He was beaten.  The sky turned black.  He was crucified.  He was pierced.  The earth shook.  And then after all of the events of Good Friday, Jesus was put into a peaceful tomb.  That is, until they came that Easter morning.  When they came to the tomb, the large stone had been rolled back.  And they encountered an Angel of the Lord with the news that Jesus had risen.  Then in that instant, they were faced with the reality that all the harshness of death was undone.  The nails, the flogging, the cross, the crown of thorns, the beatings – all of these tools of death were undone and rendered useless, for Jesus was raised from the dead.  The news of the resurrection along with the angel and the empty tomb and the reality of death’s undoing were such an extreme change and such a great adjustment to their eyes and minds that it drove them to an overwhelming terror mixed with amazement and awe.

We must keep in mind this day that overcoming death is no small matter.  Death is a big deal.  Death devours people in this world one by one and enjoys the fear that it produces.  Death bites into children, men, women, grandmas, grandpas, healthy and unhealthy people alike.  Death shows no mercy; it shows no favoritism.  And when it bites down, it does not let go.  It tears into mankind; laughing while it destroys and smiling at the grief that it causes. 

Death is a sure thing in this life.  We all know what happens when it strikes.  There is finality.  There is an end.  Death is the great period of life.  There is no surviving death.  There is no escape from death.  There is no reversing death in this life under the sun.   

BUT!  Things are different with Jesus Christ and that is what the women were confronted with when they came to the tomb that Easter Sunday long ago.  In other words, as we heard on Good Friday when death bit into Jesus, it thought that Jesus was just like anyone else; however, little did death know that Jesus was sent into the world to destroy death.  Yes, Jesus was sent to undo the power of death – to change everything forever.  

So how did Jesus change death forever?  He changed everything forever by offering Himself up to death.  He gave up His spirit.  He gave Himself into the jaws of death.  And so, death took Jesus.  Death chomped down hard on Christ.  However, never had death bitten down on such a deadly person though.  You see, Jesus was no ordinary man.  He was not just some ordinary religious teacher, but He was the God-Man.  That means that death bit down on not just a mere mortal, but death bit down on the God-Man Jesus Christ and then it tried to swallow and digest the God-Man Jesus.

Sometime on Saturday night, though, death began to feel unsettled.  This Jesus whom death devoured was different.  He did not sit quite right in the belly of death.  Indeed, things were certainly not right.  The gut pains increased for death.  The aches and grumbling in death’s stomach got worse and worse until death grabbed its stomach and yelled out in pain, for there in death’s stomach ruptured a large hole.  Yes, death’s stomach ruptured; it ripped open. And from that hole in death’s stomach, Jesus Christ came forth – alive, victorious, and as the victor! 

Dear friends, today we hear that the stone was rolled away and that the tomb was empty.  We hear with the women of that Easter Sunday long ago that Jesus is not in the stomach of death!  Jesus is not dead.  Jesus rose.  Jesus defeated death.  Jesus is alive.  Death does not have the final word.  Life is the final word! 

There has never been a better announcement in the history of the world than this news: Jesus Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!  He is not dead, but alive!   

Take a moment and consider this news. 

Let this news come into your ears and consider what it means. 

Hear this news that Jesus has been raised from the dead – hear it with the women who heard it that Easter Sunday for the first time long ago.

Do not just let it slide over your mind… but pause… and consider the ramifications of this news.  Jesus died on the cross, but death could not keep Him.  Death was powerless to keep Jesus. 

Dear friends, because your Jesus is risen, your death is undone! 

Because your Jesus is risen, death has a huge hole in its stomach. 

Because your Jesus is risen, death’s jaws are fractured. 

Because your Jesus is risen, you and I can confess with boldness today:

Death has been swallowed up in victory![1] 

Oh, and it gets better!  We can also taunt death!  Yes, we can taunt and mock death.  No, we must taunt and mock death this Easter Sunday! Because Jesus is risen we can ask of death:

“O death, where is your victory; death, where is your sting?”[2] Christ is risen and you are abolished, where is your power now!  Christ is risen and the demons are cast down, where are your fans O death?  Christ is risen and the angels rejoice.  Christ is risen, and life is freed, what are you going to do about that O pathetic death?    

We can even laugh at death! Yes, we can laugh at death!  Because Jesus is risen, we can laugh at death saying: 

O Death, "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall also be!”[3]  You’ve got nothin’ on me, for I am baptized into Christ!

Blessed Baptized Saints, because Jesus is risen, we do not have to be afraid of death anymore.  Even though we return to ashes when we die, we know that because of Jesus, we have the sure and certain hope that we will be resurrected to eternal life.  The Lord Jesus Christ “will change our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body!”[4]  You and I can count on that!    

And so this day, we rejoice that our Lord Jesus is risen.  We rejoice that the tomb is empty.  We rejoice that Jesus has defeated death and we even mock and laugh at death this day. 

All of this is the sure confidence of a Christian – this is your sure confidence!  Because our Jesus is risen, we know that nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic; nothing today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s steadfast and sure love.  

Blessed Baptized Saints, Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia! 

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[1] The Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)

[2] Ibid.

[3] Martin Luther quote.

[4] Pastoral Care Companion (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2007), 134.


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Into The Darkness On Good Friday

Text:  John 19:1-42

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Tonight we travel into the darkness.  The altar was stripped last night.  Black has been laid upon our altar.  The pastor is wearing all black.  We will soon hear the jarring noise of the Strepitus – the loud bang that symbolizes the earthquake that followed Christ’s death.  Indeed, tonight we enter into the darkness of death; we hear the hammer slamming down upon the nails, and we hear about the blood and the agony and the groans and the pain of Jesus Christ. 

Now, it would be easy to think that we are somehow trying to recreate a funeral for Jesus in our service tonight; however, Jesus died some two-thousand years ago.  No funeral is needed or necessary.  Indeed, His death was long ago, but your death and my death is much closer, it is not too far away.  Yes, darkness will soon come to each and every one of us.  Darkness will come, and it will cast its heavy shadow over top of us; enveloping us and pulling us into the cold grave.   

And so, tonight we remember that death is our enemy.  Death is our problem.  Death is the great enemy of humanity.  There is no stopping powerful death.  Modern medicine has not found a solution to death.  Anti-aging creams can only prolong the effects of death.  Plastic surgery only conceals death.  We can run from death, but we cannot hide from death, for the older we get, the darker the shadow of death becomes.  And the darker the shadow of death becomes, the uglier and meaner death seems to be.  And the more death snarls at us, the more we feel powerless and even fearful of death. 

And just when we think that the shadow of death is as dark as it may be, from the shadows of death emerges sin.  Yes, sin creeps out of the shadows.  Dear friends, never forget that beneath death is sin.  When sin is fully grown is brings forth death.[1] Sin consumes and destroys.  Sin brings spiritual death, it brings forth diseases and miseries, and it brings forth eternal death.  So, when the shadow of death descends heavily upon you, realize that it is strangling the life out of you not merely from the outside, but from within because we all are infected by the virus of sin.

To make things worse, the Devil rejoices and parades around in the shadows of death.  He is the ruler of darkness.  And so when death presses upon us, the Devil is eager to press down upon us with accusations and scorn, and laughter as well.  The Devil digs out every sin that we have ever committed and casts it before our eyes and presses these sins upon our souls.  The Devil shows no mercy when the shadow of death comes.  He attacks, and he slanders, and he oppresses for he is the sly evil foe.  Even though he masquerades around as an agent of light, he is of darkness and is evil to the core.    

There is no doubt about it; death is indeed the biggest struggle that humanity knows.  There is nothing more powerful than death in this life under the sun.  And tonight we come face to face with this great power.  In fact, tonight we do not merely stare into the darkness of death, but we travel into the darkness of death in this Good Friday Service.  Yes, we travel into the darkness of death this evening because we know that the only way to make it through the darkness and not succumb to the despair of death is that we walk into it and through it with the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Dear friends, we must never forget that the death of Jesus Christ is our death.  Jesus, the righteous and innocent Man, “had to tremble and fear like a poor, condemned sinner and in His tender, innocent heart had to feel God’s wrath and judgment over sin, taste for us eternal death and damnation, and, in short, suffer all that a condemned sinner has deserved and must suffer eternally.”[2]  On that cross, Jesus had to experience hell’s fire and terror, the Devil’s fiery darts, and the painful bite of the jaws of death.  He experienced all of this for you and me – in our place and on our behalf. 

It is like this, for one time and only one time in the whole history of our race, there was a death of one whom sin had no hold – no hold whatsoever.  Death had no right to Jesus, yet as we celebrate this holy evening, Jesus gave Himself up into death.  And He did this, so that He could bring you out of it!

Are you beginning to see just how brilliant this is?  How masterful this plan of salvation is?  Into the darkness of this night, death swallowed down another apparent victim; however, Jesus was unlike all the others that death had eating before.   Indeed, Jesus was true human flesh.  He was nailed to the cross.  He bled.  He suffered.  He cried out.  From the perspective of death, Jesus seemed to act and die like ever else.  However, hidden under the flesh of Jesus was a light that no darkness could overcome.  Hidden under the flesh was no mere mortal, but the Divine Son of God.  And so, when the Son of God gave Himself over to death and when death licked its lips and devoured down the Son of God, it may have seemed that it was all over, that death had consumed another helpless victim.  However, this could not be further from the truth.  For into the dense darkness of death, Jesus let loose light, light that darkness could not overcome.    

Blessed Baptized Saints, your Jesus goes into the darkness that you will have to go into.  And because you will go into the darkness with Him, you have nothing to fear from the devil and his lies.  As the darkness could not hold your Jesus, so it will not hold you.  As the darkness had no claim on Jesus, so by the innocent shedding of His blood, darkness has lost all claims on you.  His blood has covered all your sins forever.  You are HIS.  Surely, your sins put you into the grave, but your baptism joins you to Jesus’ grave, a grave leading to the resurrection and new life.

Tonight we enter into the darkness; tonight we remember that Jesus went into the darkness before us and with us.   And so we go into the darkness of Good Friday, and we travel towards the darkness of our own death, knowing that we will go through darkness with Jesus.  We will go through the shadows of death fearing no evil.  We will walk into death and through it and out of it, for Jesus has overcome the devil, sin, and death. 

Tonight we remember the death of the Son of God, but we also remember the destruction of death itself.  We remember forgiveness of sins accomplished for us.  We remember all of this, and by faith, we confess,

“I shall not be afraid, for the Lord Jesus Christ is for me in His life and in His death.” 

Yes, we have gone into the darkness of Good Friday, and tonight we will arise from our pews and go forward towards Sunday where we will hear about so much more. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] James 1:15.

[2] Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics: Volume II (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1951), 312. 

Portions of this sermon are indebted to Rev. William Weedon’s Good Friday Tenebrae Sermon.

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Communion: What It Is And What It Is Not

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

There are a lot of different views on Communion among well-intentioned Christians these days.  Some believe that Communion is nothing more than a symbolic meal that simply symbolizes Jesus’ blood and body – it helps us remember Jesus.  Others will say that Communion is all about a personal one-on-one spiritual connection within the heart where we connect with Jesus in our own special way; therefore, if one wants to use grape soda and potato chips for Communion, then that is totally fine.  And then there are others who believe that Communion is some reward for holiness as if only super holy and super perfect people can receive Communion – that Communion is some reward meal for being good. And then there are those who say that Communion is some celebration that is to be done to strive towards unity – some religious huddle where we gather together and interlock our arms to show that we are all on the same team.  For these people, the more people we can get to the altar, the better, regardless of their religious views.    

There are also a lot of different opinions on who Communion is for these days.  Is Communion for all ages?  For example, some well-intentioned Christians give it to babies, whereas, others give Communion to toddlers and children with relatively no teaching on what it is; therefore, Communion turns into nothing more than a snack break midway through the church service.  There are also well-intentioned Christians that believe that Communion should be for everyone, even those who do not profess to be Christians.  Muslims and Buddhists and Pagans – sure, they should take Communion because it would be rude and unloving to make them feel excluded!  Tragically, this inclusive mentality has even led to some Christians giving Communion to their pets – yes to their dogs and cats.

Indeed, there are a lot of different views on Communion in our culture these days; however, there seems to be very little discernment or thought put into these views.  I do not share this to come across as an arrogant jerk or a religious know-it-all, but rather, I share this because we have a very clear confession and understanding of what Communion is and what it is not, based upon God’s Word.  Yes, here at Zion Lutheran Church and in our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, we have a very clear confession and understanding of what Communion is and what it is not. This is based not on our own opinions or the opinions of the culture or pious religious sentiments,  but upon the testimony of Scripture – that is the Bible. 

Considering all of this, we actually hear tonight about Communion from our readings in the Old and New Testament. We hear that Communion is not some flippant snack bar and it is not some rallying point where we gather as many people together to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy, and it is not some vacuous symbolic meal where our hearts are to be wooed along in religious feelings.  No, it is none of this nonsense.  But rather, we hear that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus Christ on that Maundy Thursday some two-thousand years ago.  We hear that the bread and wine are the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We hear that Communion is a meal that is for Christians to eat and to drink.[1]  We hear that it is a holy meal – yes – a holy meal because Jesus is present.  It is food and drink for the body and soul. It nourishes us and strengthens our faith.  It is for the forgiveness of our sins.

We also hear in our Gospel reading from this evening that the disciples did not wash Jesus’ feet, but it was Jesus washing their feet.  In other words, the mission and work of Jesus are about you and me being served by Him.  Christ did not come to be served, but to serve and give ‘His life’ as a ransom for many.  It is the same with Communion.  It is a holy meal – a meal that the Lord serves to us, a meal that the Lord grants us forgiveness of sins.  We come to the Lord’s Table in faith and with open hands to be served.  Communion is for feeding and tending to sheep, not entertaining or coddling goats.     

But back to who should come to the altar for Communion?  Martin Luther clearly states,

“We will not and cannot give communion to anyone unless he is first examined regarding what he has learned from the Catechism and whether he intends to forsake the sins which he has again committed. For we do not want to make Christ's church into a pig pen, letting each one come unexamined to the Sacrament as a pig to its trough. Such a church we leave to the Enthusiasts!"[2]

So what this means is that people who think they are good should not commune at the altar.  Why should they?  Those who do not want their feet washed, those who do not think that they are sinners… they have no need for Jesus and His Holy Supper. 

And those who deny Jesus and the Christian faith, should not communion at the altar as well.  A person who denies Jesus or mocks Jesus by ascribing to a non-Christian religion should not be pressured or coerced to the altar to pretend that there is unity when there clearly is not!

Dear friends, keep in mind that this holy meal of communion is for the forgiveness of sins which means that it is only for sinners, sinners who are in need of forgiveness. Those who do not see themselves as sin-sick sinners really have no use for the Lord Jesus Christ and have no business being at the Lord’s Table or in the church.  The church is a hospital for sinners, not a country club for the self-righteous and the self-sufficient.  In fact, the Scriptures go so far to say that a pagan or a non-Christian or a goody-two-shoe person taking the Lord’s Supper in a flippant way without faith is actually unworthily of the body and blood of Christ and is taking Communion unto judgment, not life.  In other words, if a person rejects the idea that they are a sinner or loves sin more than grace or rejects the real presence of Jesus in the Supper, they should be warned not to take the Lord’s Supper – they should fear the table of the Lord.  That is why it is so important for pastors to be able to work with people new to the church one-on-one before they receive the Lord’s Supper.  Out of love, we must guard them against potentially taking the Lord’s Supper unto their condemnation – yes that mean even denying them the Lord’s Supper in love if they are approaching the Lord’s Supper unworthily.  To the point; to be worthy of the Lord’s body and blood is to realize that one is unworthy, yet believe upon Jesus’ words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” 

So, what this means is that  when you joined this church and when you came to this Divine Service and when you will come to this altar this evening, you are not only declaring that you are in agreement with Christ’s church located here in this location, but also declaring that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness.  Yes, when you and I come forward to receive the body and blood of Christ, we are confessing that we are not a goody-two-shoe, but a failing Christian in need of Jesus Christ.  Communion is not like an eloquent country club buffet in which we are only admitted if we are dressed properly, have the right name, and have paid the proper dues.  It is not about some sort of religious huddle where we 'strive' towards doctrinal unity.  It is not some individualized spiritual one-on-one connection in the heart apart from the Lord’s Church and apart from His Word.   It is none of this malarkey.  But rather, it is about the Lord preparing the table to serve poor miserable sinners – it is about failing Christians like you and me beating our breast and going to the altar with our sins to receive complete and total forgiveness.  It is about failing Christians coming to a holy meal to receive everlasting life and salvation upon our tongues and into our bellies. 

Blessed Baptized Saints of Zion, tonight, you should not be scared away from the Lord.  The Lord did not give His life and shed His blood to hurt you, but He gave Himself unto death, for your benefit, to your comfort and strengthening, for the redemption of your bodies and souls.  Furthermore, you should not be scared away from the Lord’s Table, for the Lord does not give you His body and blood in and under the bread and wine to hurt or destroy you, but to give you new life.[3] 

The Lord meets sinful mankind – failing Christians and failing Pastors – at the altar with forgiveness, life, and salvation at the Altar.  The Lord is the one who sits down with sinners to eat.  He is the one who came for the sin-sick.   He is the one that forgives sinners in the Holy Meal of Communion.

 

Therefore, as Christians we approach the Lord’s Supper with joy, confidence, and comfort, this evening, knowing what it is and what it is not while saying,

I am a poor sinner; I need help and comfort.  I wish to attend the Lord’s Supper, and I believe Christ and His word that the Supper is “given and shed for the forgiveness of sins!”

You, who are hungry, and you, who are thirsty, come to the Lord’s Supper this night which has been prepared for you.  For in this Lord’s Supper, you will be nourished and refreshed.  You, who feel the weight of sin, the guilt of your failures, and the sting of death, come to the Lord’s Supper, for here at the altar you receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Come and receive; the Lord does not hold back; He meets you because He is for you. 

Come and receive the body and blood of Christ this evening in the Lord’s Supper – a holy meal instituted for you that Maundy Thursday long ago. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism: The Sacrament of the Altar.

[2] Martin Luther, “Open Letter” (para. 25), 343; WA 30/III:567.3-15.

[3] Martin Luther, The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther: Volume 5 ed. Eugene Klug (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 459.

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And So We Shout...

Text: Zechariah 9:9-12

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

It is tough to shout for joy when we have not had much to rejoice over lately.  As you already know, we have come through several very difficult sermons in the Season of Lent.  Furthermore, since Ash Wednesday, we have had Lent with its theme of sorrow, repentance, and somberness hovering over top of us.  Besides this, as you know, mankind is at war with God.  God is our natural enemy.  Our sin and guilt make us hate Him, and He is utterly offended by us and by our sin.  He is HOLY, and we are not.  That is why we look over our shoulder when we are engaged in activities of which we are clear that we ought not to be involved, and we silently blame God when things seem to go wrong one after the other.  When trouble comes, we often feel that we have done a particular sin for which God is now dealing harshly with us. 

Indeed, our sins are an awful offense to the righteousness which is the very nature of God.  We deserve anything and everything that God can throw at us!  We deserve pain and misfortune in this life and eternal condemnation in the next.  Our guilty consciences know that!  So much for joy; so much for shouting for joy!   

And yet, Zechariah calls for us to shout aloud in joy in our Old Testament reading.  And in our Gospel reading, we hear the people going out to meet Jesus and shouting! 

Now, all of this shouting may catch you and me a bit off guard today since we have seemed to be in the quietness of Lent for the last six weeks.  Indeed, since Ash Wednesday we have been in the spirit of Lent with its theme of sorrow, repentance, and somberness.  But today, it is as if we have switched the light on and we have gone from sorrow, repentance, and somberness to shouting and joy! 

To make sense of all of this, we need to understand why our Old Testament reading calls for great rejoicing and shouting!  And that reason is that the King comes with salvation.  Indeed, the calling is to shout and to rejoice for the King comes with peace and freedom and double restoration.  In other words, this Old Testament prophet spoke some 500 years before Jesus about the Messiah that would come upon a donkey.  And that King is none other than Jesus Christ entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where people went out to meet Him and shouted out,

  

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”   

What all of this means is that because of King Jesus riding into Jerusalem, we can know that all the sin that was uncovered, all the guilt that we confessed, all the tough sermons that exposed our sin during the Season of Lent – all of this – is what Jesus came to deal with upon the cross of Calvary.

Dear friends, Jesus did not leave humanity in the pit of sin and the prison of death – He did not leave you.  Indeed, like Jeremiah, Daniel, and Joseph of the Old Testament, we need to be rescued out of pits of our choosing.  We have dug our pits and from these pits, there is no escaping.  We hear that the Messiah comes to us.  He comes to set us free.  He comes to grant us peace.  He comes to release us from these hopeless pits of sin, death, and the devil.  He comes to give us everything we have lost twice over. . . . And so we rejoice this day, and we cheer, we may even shout because the King comes to us. 

We are not left to fend for ourselves!

We are not alone!

He comes for those of us who have tilted halos; He comes for sin-sick people such as ourselves.  He comes to sinners – to die for sinners – so that we might be forgiven.  And this is why we shout and rejoice this day! 

Please keep in mind, though, that this Palm Sunday is not just some emotional exercise where we are to get worked up into an emotional frenzy.  No, that is not the point.  I am not interested in trying to manipulate your emotions or in trying to go the way of theatrics. I also do not mean to create the impression that today we must rejoice and shout because somehow this Palm Sunday makes our Christian lives become blissful walks on the beach.  I am not calling you to rejoice and shout aloud because somehow marriages are going to blossom or health is going to flourish, or careers are suddenly going to soar.  This shift from sorrow, repentance, and somberness, to shouting and rejoicing, is not because miracles and conversions and victory are about to happen in your lives.  But rather, the point is that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday long ago, the church would forever remember Jesus’ faithfulness and Jesus’ triumph.  The church would forever remember and recall like we are doing right now, that the great King Jesus rode into Jerusalem bringing not temporary victory, but eternal victory of salvation, peace, freedom, and double restoration. 

And so, today we rejoice, and we shout aloud!  We rejoice and shout aloud because the King of the Palm Sunday coronation ride endured the fear, the sorrow, the pain, and that horrid death in our place.  He took our sin so that we might share in His righteousness.  Indeed, Jesus ended the war – He silenced the sounds of battle and laid the apparatuses of war to rest. 

Dear Blessed Saints, God is no longer angry with us, and we are to be terrified of Him no longer!  God has reconciled us to Himself by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ - shed for us on the cross.  Therefore, this day rejoice with me and shout aloud,

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the Lord Jesus Christ who comes to redeem and forgive a poor miserable sinner like me!” 

There is more too this as well.  There is another aspect.  As we heard from Zechariah about the King coming and as we heard from the Gospel of Matthew about the King coming into Jerusalem, we also think about the great truth that this Jesus Christ has promised to come again.   

Christ Jesus went to the cross to conquer sin, death, and the devil – to bring down the forces of evil to unconditional surrender.  He rose again from the tomb – which we will hear about next Sunday – and He promises to come again for you and for me.  But when He comes again in His second coming He will not come quietly on a donkey.  He will not come in meekness!  Oh, no, He will come upon the clouds of heaven to claim His undisputed rule.  He will come again and stand upon the earth in which every knee will bow to His authority. 

And so, we will cheer on that day as well.  All Christians will rise that day when the Lord comes for His people.  We will rise and shout ourselves hoarse in exploding enthusiasm, for our Lord God – Jesus Christ – will have resurrected us from the dead and will usher us into the new heaven and the new earth.       

Indeed, we will shout until our voices become hoarse.  Just like we shout at sporting events when that last second buzzer shot is made or when that Hail Mary Pass is caught, we will shout in joy because we will be in the presence of the resurrected Jesus – freed from sin, death, and the devil.  Yes, there will be shouting and rejoicing.  It won’t be contained. 

Christ Jesus rode into Jerusalem to conquer sin, death, and the devil, so we shout aloud and rejoice this day with all the people that Palm Sunday, saying,

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”   

And we will shout with joy someday with all the saints in glory,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our

God, the Almighty, reigns.”

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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Giggling At Death, For We Are God's Own Children

The following 'Funeral Sermon' is posted with family permission.  May the Lord give to the family of Joyce McDaniel, and all who mourn, comfort in their grief and a sure confidence in the Lord's loving care. 

Text: Mark 10:13-16

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Well, dear friends, it appears that we are back to where we started.  At least that is true for Joyce.  Yes, with Joyce we are back to where she started.  You see, right before we came into the sanctuary, the family placed a white funeral pall on the casket, much like the white dress that was most likely put on Joyce when she was first baptized; a white pall and a white dress that represent the cleansing of baptism.  And then we had a prayer in the fellowship hall recalling the fact that Joyce was baptized.  And then as we entered the sanctuary, we sang a song focusing on the gift of baptism.  And then here in the sanctuary, we read from Romans chapter 6, in remembrance of baptism.  Indeed, it is almost as if we were intentionally returning to October 5^th of 1930 when Joyce received the gift of Holy Baptism.  It seems that we are making a full circle in today’s service going from 2017 back to 1930 when Joyce was baptized as a little baby.   It seems we are going back to where everything started for Joyce.

While it may seem like we are circling around – going back to 1930 – truth be told when Joyce was baptized there was never an immediate benediction after her baptism as if her baptism was some sort of event trapped in history.  In other words, after Joyce’s baptism, there was never a nice neat little bow placed at the end as if to communicate that the work and effects of baptism were done.  But rather, in Joyce’s baptism service things were left open.  What this all means is that today’s funeral service picks up right where things left off on October 5^th of 1930. It is almost as if all of this is intended to show that baptism runs all the way through a person’s life.  Dear friends this is the whole point that I wish to make, baptism does run through a person’s whole life, from the cradle to the grave. 

And so today we remember that the Lord God who saved and rescued Joyce from the condemnation of sin in that baptism in 1930 is the same Lord God who has held her for 86 years and rescues her now from the sting of death in 2017; all because He claimed her as a child in baptism and kept her as His child unto her last breath. 

Now, not only is this good news for Joyce, but it should grant all of us a tremendous amount of assurance this day.  Assurance that the Kingdom of God belongs to children, that is to say, it belongs to those who receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. 

Dear friends, Joyce is in the Kingdom of God, because she is a baptized child of God.  And to be a child of God is to know that we have absolutely nothing to offer God, but our sin. That is to say; to be a child of God is to have nothing but emptiness for God to fill.  To be a child of God is to be helpless, not to be able to do anything but to simply receive what is giving as a gift. 

I think Joyce’s favorite hymn – Rock of Ages – captures what this means best, what it means to be a helpless child. The 3^rd Stanza says,

          Nothing in my hand I bring;

          Simply to the cross I cling.

          Naked, come to Thee for dress;

          Helpless, look to Thee for grace;

          Foul, I to the fountain fly;

          Wash me, Savior, or I die.

Being a child of God is not about being innocent, but it is about being a helpless sinner who is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus.  It is about us knowing that there is nothing that any of us can do to inherit the Kingdom of God, but rather that we simply receive it like little children.  And as we know, little children have not done anything to earn the Kingdom of God. 

In case you might be worried, you should know that the Lord Jesus is well aware of the fact that we are helpless and inferior.  He is well aware of the reality that we sin in thought, word, and deed.  He is well aware that we are spiritually poor-oppressed-beggars.  He is well aware that we can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.  He is well aware that we are powerless to overcome the great sting of death.  However, because of His compassion, He looks at Joyce, He looks at me, and He looks at you, and in His eyes, sees children of extraordinary great value.  We are so valuable to Him that He dies for sinners like Joyce, He dies for sinners like me, and He dies for sinners like you… and considers it well worthwhile. 

Indeed, Jesus dies for us, and then during one of the times when we were most helpless, the Lord God places His name upon us in baptism.  Yes, when we were unable to do anything, as poor helpless babies, the Lord God snatches us from the kingdom of darkness and puts us into the Kingdom of His Son by washing us and clothing us in the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covers all of our sins.  

But as we have already heard, the Lord God does not stop there.  He abides with us and then before we know it, in the most dangerous times of our entire life – on our death beds – the Lord does not forsake us in our helplessness.  Oh no, He does not disqualify us from the Kingdom, but rather, because we are buried with Him in baptism and raised anew in Him, death cannot end our gladness.  Yes, because we are baptized into Christ sin can disturb our soul no longer.  Because we are baptized into Christ, when we die we inherit paradise.    

And so, today we can smile with assurance, not because we have lost Joyce, but we can smile because we know that baptism has the divine strength to give immortal life to Joyce and us.  We can even laugh and giggle like little children who have just won a championship game – we can laugh and giggle at the devil because his power has become unraveled.  We can stare into the deep cold grave and snarl our faces in a childish rebellion because we know that death does not have the final word, for we are God’s own children. 

God’s own children, we gladly say it, for we are baptized into Christ. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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