Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost
Death Holds No Fear For Those Who Have Died
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ! Amen. Toward the end of today's Epistle from Philippians
chapter 2, St. Paul speaks rather audaciously about his own death: "Even if
I am to be poured out as a drink offering," he writes, "I am glad and
rejoice with you all." These words not only refuse to shrink back in fear of
death, but these words almost seem to mock the thought of death. Paul is
just as happy to die as to live. He is equally content to be away from his
body as he is to remain in his body. Paul believes, as you heard from last
week's Epistle, "For me, to live is Christ but to die is gain." In short,
Paul lives and dies as though he has nothing to lose.
Paul's attitude toward his own death is very beneficial for all of
you, even for those of younger ones among you who think yourselves still to
be very far away from death. Paul's attitude is very important for you for
this reason: whether death is near or far, your attitude toward your death
will chart for you the way you live your life.
Do Not Test God
We Christians are not in the habit of jumping out in front of
speeding trains, just to see what will happen. To be sure, we have many
promises from God our heavenly Father, assuring us that our lives are-now
and forever-fully in His care. These promises from God include:
· Psalm 91:11-12 - "He will command His angels concerning you, to
guard you in all your ways."
· Luke 12:4 - "I tell you , My friends, do not fear those who [harm
and] kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do."
· Hebrews 13:6 - "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear, what can
man do to me?"
On the value of these promises, and many other promises like them in God's
Bible, we Christians that our God our heavenly Father shall yet guard and
preserve us in everything. We remain convinced of this protection from God
no matter what violence or what evil may befall us at the hands of this
godless world.
Yet still we do not jump out in front of speeding trains, just to
see if God will act. We are forbidden to put the Lord our God to the test
(Matthew 4:7). For this reason we do nothing to take our lives into our own
hands by needlessly exposing our bodies to harm and danger. For example:
· If you will not accept the fact that God has given your government
to you, and through this government God requires you to wear a seatbelt in
your car, then at least look at your seatbelt as a good gift from God, given
to you for the preservation of your body and your life.
· More significantly, if you look into the mirror and if you so
dislike what you see that you wish no longer to live, then force yourself to
take a second look! Look into the mirror and see yourself the way God your
heavenly Father sees you: carefully created by His loving care (Psalm
139:13-14), fully redeemed and washed free of every sin and blemish by the
blood of Jesus His Son (1 John 1:7); sanctified and holy by the indwelling
Spirit of God, the Spirit of your Baptism! (Galatians 3:27-4:5).
Regard Yourself as Dead - And Alive - In Christ Alone
In today's Epistle, Paul speaks about his eventual death: "Even if I am to
be poured out as a drink offering," he writes, "I am glad and rejoice with
you all." With these words, Paul is by no means tempting God or entertaining
suicidal thoughts or hoping to throw his life away. To the contrary, Paul is
living and dying on the certainty of his salvation through Jesus Christ.
Paul believes that, because he was baptized into Christ, he has died and his
life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Paul believes that,
though Baptism, he was crucified with Christ, that is, nailed to the cross
with Jesus and placed into the tomb with Jesus. "It is no longer I who
live," he declares, "but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me" (Galatians 2:20).
"Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering. I am glad and rejoice
with you all." Here is what makes Paul's words about his death so important
for you, both for your life and for your death:
· You have the same gracious heavenly Father, the same redeeming
Christ, and the same indwelling Holy Spirit of your Baptism. Stated another
way, you and Paul have in common "one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God
and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Ephesians
4:5).
· You also share with Paul the same divine gift of faith, given to
you through God's miraculous Word and through His sacrament of Baptism. Paul's
faith is not superior to yours because he was a hand-selected apostle. By no
means! You have been given a faith of equal value to that of Paul, Peter,
Mary, and all the saints of the Old and New Testaments.
· The same Christ who forgave Paul's sins likewise forgives yours.
The same Christ who defeated death and the grave for Paul likewise defeated
these enemies for you. The same Christ who shall raise Paul bodily from the
grave on the Last Day shall likewise raise your body, together with all the
bodies of all the saints.
Those Who Have Died No Longer Fear Death
What does all this mean for you, in light of today's Epistle? Simply this:
If you have the same God, the same faith, and the same salvation as Paul
has, you also can have the same audacious attitude toward death as Paul
expresses here: "Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering. I am
glad and rejoice with you all." These words are also your words, given to
you by the life and salvation Christ won for you on His cross. You also can
boldly say to yourself, to your friends and to your loved ones, "Even if I
am to be poured out as a drink offering. I am glad and rejoice with you
all." You also can look your fears dead in the eye and beat them back with
the confession of faith, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer
I who live but Christ who lives in me."
With this bold attitude that God's Word gives you toward death, how much
more boldly shall you live your life? Asked another way, if death has lost
its grip and power over you-as it certainly has by the resurrection of your
Lord-how much more powerless are the other things that cause you to fear? It
has been written in God's Bible for you, "Whether we love or whether we die,
we are the Lord's. For this end Christ died and lived again, that He might
be Lord of both the dead and of the living" (Romans 14:8b-9).
"Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering. I am glad and rejoice
with you all." None of this gives you the right or the permission to go out
and jump in front of a train, just to see if God will act. All of this
promises you freedom from your fears, so that nothing in life or in death
may ever again hold you in bondage.
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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