Saints Triumphant Sunday – November 15, 2015

Triumphant!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 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.

Everyone likes to be triumphant, and it starts at a very early age. Young boys dream about making a game-winning basket or hitting a home run. And of course, that desire doesn’t disappear when we grow up. We still play cards to win the game. We still get invested in sports teams because their victory is our victory. Whether we are talking about an argument, a business deal, reaching a goal, or fantasy football - everyone likes to be triumphant. No one likes to be on the losing end.

Triumphant, however, is not the way we would describe the feelings and emotions of the Christian’s living in Thessalonica. Rather than feeling triumphant, they were concerned, bothered and disturbed. The reason for this was because they had a misunderstanding about those who died in faith. They were expecting Christ’s return so intently that they were afraid the believing loved ones among them who died before Christ’s return might be lost. This was leading to hopeless despair on the part of the Christians who mourned the death of believers.

Perhaps the reason for this misunderstanding came because when Paul had first come to Thessalonica, he had only been able to stay three weeks because of persecution. Paul could see that his presence among these new converts was endangering their lives, so he moved on. But later he sent Timothy back to get a report on how they were doing. Timothy came back with a positive report. The young Christian church continued to stand firm on their Savior Jesus Christ. But there were some issues troubling the Thessalonians. One of them was, “What happens to the believers who have died before Jesus comes back again?” The words of our text are Paul’s answer.

Whatever the reason for their misunderstanding, the answer that the Holy Spirit inspires Paul to write fills our hearts with tremendous joy. It speaks comfort and hope and reassurance. It perks up our ears as it reminds us that life in this sin-wrecked world is not as good as it gets. For those who put their faith in the Son of God, life ends on a positive note of triumph! And we need that, because honestly, there are a lot of things in life that make it hard to feel very triumphant.

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? I’m talking about the evil and injustice of the world that touches us as well as our own sinful shortcomings. I’m talking about the sicknesses and illnesses that enter ours and our loved ones lives – and then the possibility of what could happen as a result. I’m talking about the fear of the unknown. And when you boil it down, it is death – the greatest unknown – that causes the most fear and anxiety.

Stop and think about this for a second: the moment we are born we begin to die. It is, of course, not the most pleasant thought. But Moses fittingly observed, “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength” (Psalm 90:10). We know by experience that death is mercilessly unbiased - elderly, young, rich, poor, male, female, toddlers, teens – all people, any age, any time. And that doesn’t feel very triumphant.

There’s a reason for that. Death is not natural. Death was not God’s original intent for humankind. When God created Adam and Eve, he created them to live forever. But all that changed one fateful day when Eve listened to the lies of Satan and Adam just tagged along. What was it that God spoke to them shortly after that: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).

Ever since that day the record of men and women has been the same. Oh sure, the length of time one lives may vary; the quality of lives change; but in the end the mortality rate remains the same. After the timeline has been recorded and everyone says what they will, each life will still end with these three words –“and they died.”

But why? Why hasn’t it changed? Why hasn’t anyone been able to solve the problems of disease or fend off death forever? Well, those events in the Garden of Eden give us an answer – it is sin. Elsewhere it is spoken perhaps even more clearly, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

So, have you connected the dots? Look at your life – you get sick; you deal with disease, or at least wonder if it will get you; the day will come when you will take one final breath. What does it all add up to - you are a sinner. Just as I am a sinner!

We have sinned like Adam and Eve, throwing away God’s Word and embracing instead the devil’s lies. And where there is one sin, others are close behind. Debate your guilt as much as you want. Soften the seriousness of sin any way you can. Try to go mindlessly through life without thinking about it. But this one fact remains that trumps every excuse you can present – you will die. And not just die, but then to face judgment before one who hates sin with such a fiery passion that it must be punished.

How is one to be triumphant in the face of all that when it looks like sin and death will have the last say? The answer is found in Jesus.

Jesus’ record on earth is different than ours. Oh yes, he was born into our world and lived here just as we do – but he was without sin. And yes, he even died just like we will die – but he didn’t die because of any sin of his own. Instead, he died in the place of and as substitute for all who have sinned.

From the beginning of his life to his final breath his was a life lived and life given in a war waged against death and the one who holds the power of death – Satan. But he didn’t fight with bow and arrow. He fought with his perfect life. He didn’t battle with sword and spear. He fought with his holy, innocent blood.

So he offered up his life on a cruel instrument of torture. He let religious zealots manhandle him and Roman soldier torture him. He let them kill him. And of course, if thehistory of Jesus were to end there, it would be no different than the history of all those who came before and have come after him.

But his was different. Oh, he died. His friends and family shed tears as they laid him the grave. But unlike any before him or any after him, three days later he came back from the dead. He burst forth from the tomb. In so doing he proclaimed that death couldn’t hold him; that sin had been defeated because he had paid the penalty of it all with his death; and that Satan had been rendered powerless. In all reality, on Easter Sunday morning Jesus stood before all the world, the demons and all angels and loudly proclaimed “I am triumphant!”

And that’s the very thing Paul wanted these troubled and disturbed Thessalonians to focus their attention on. “No, no, no,” he says, “we don’t grieve like death has won the victory. Look at what we know; look at what we believe:”“We believe that Jesus died and rose again.” Jesus died and rose again! Therefore all those who believe in the one who has conquered death will also conquer death.

So he goes on to say that death, for the believer, is only a sleep. What a beautiful picture this is! Are you afraid to go to sleep at night? No, we aren’t. We know that sleep is a necessary element of a healthy life, not something to be afraid of. We go to sleep, confident that we will wake up. For the believer, for you and me, for those who die in the Lord, that is what death is. And it isn’t just a way to sugar-coat an unpleasant thought; it is a literal explanation of it. How can we be so sure, because the Lord’s own words tell us, “Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”

So are you afraid of death? We don’t need to be! Does the fact that we are dying the moment we are born cause worry? It doesn’t have to. Lift up your heart and soul and look through eyes of faith. When you die believing in Jesus as your Savior, your soul continues to live on as it goes to be with Jesus. And your body simply falls asleep waiting for the day of your Savior’s return.

Does the death of your loved one, who believed these very truths about Jesus Christ, still send shots of pain through your hearts? Let that pain be dulled because believers who die in the Lord lose nothing and gain everything. Their souls are already experiences the joys of heaven as we speak. They will not be lost on the Day of Judgment. And on the last day the Lord will raise their bodies from the grave and reunite them with their souls so they can be with the Lord forever.

Are you struggling with disease or illness? Does the unknown future frighten you? Be assured, your future is not unknown. The Lord has laid out the future in beautiful detail right here for you to see. We know how it will all take place. Even if a disease was allowed to extinguish the life from your body, on that day all those who went their graves believing in Jesus will rise. Your faith was not in vain. Your body was merely asleep in him, and he will awaken you to life again.

Because of your faith in Jesus, you are already triumphant! Heaven is real! Its everlasting, eternal joys are real! God’s promise to bring all the elect, who are declared innocent by faith in the blood of the Lamb, is also real! You and I are counted among them because of God’s pure grace which has brought us into his family by faith in Jesus as our Savior!

And that’s how it is with our God. His love knows no bounds. In spite of our sins he saved us! In spite of our unworthiness he did not spare his Son but gave him up for us all! In spite of our sinfulness made evident in the fact that our bodies are mortal, God’s Son, our Savior, willingly went to battle for us! In the wilderness and throughout his life he fought Satan, and won! On the cross he shouldered all our sin and guilt, and paid for them all! From the tomb he victoriously rose, crushing Satan’s head and removing the sting of death forever! Whoever believes in Jesus will have everlasting life! We are triumphant!

A story remains riveted in my mind ever since I first read it. A couple built a home on the banks of a small pond in Florida where their twelve year old son, Michael, loved to snorkel. One evening he and two cousins went for swim. After a while, one cousin came ashore while the other two continued to enjoy the clear water.

Oblivious to any danger, they were unaware that a huge alligator was bearing down on them. Neighbors spotted the beast and tried to distract it with shouting and clapping, which alerted the other cousin in the water who managed to make it ashore. But Michael, head under water, could hear nothing.

The alligator lunged for Michael’s head. As its jaws snapped shut, its teeth slashed a six inch wound in his scalp and ripped the snorkel mask from his face. Miraculously, the boy’s head came free, and he began swimming for the shore as fast as he could. Momentarily diverted, the alligator spotted the boy and was after him again. By this time his mother had heard all the screaming and came running to the water’s edge where she saw her son only twenty feet away in a race against death.

The mother reached out to grasp her son’s hand just as the beast opened its huge jaws and snapped them shut on the boy’s left leg. What followed was a grim tug of war between the 100-pound mother and the 400 pound alligator. Clutching her boy’s hand in a death grip, she pulled with superhuman strength and suddenly, unaccountably, the beast let go! The frantic mother dragged her son out of the water.

Three months later, Michael, his wounds completely healed, showed a visitor the spot where the attack took place. There were few outward signs of his brush with death. The scar on his scalp was now covered with hair, and his left leg, broken by the force of the gator’s jaws had mended. Scars on his calf and ankle were covered by his socks. Proudly, however, he showed the visitor three small scars on the back of his right hand, inflicted not by the alligator, but by his mother’s fingernails.

The wounds on the hands of Jesus speak a far greater story of love that rescued us from eternal death. They remind us that Jesus gave his very life for us. But Jesus rose from the grave – triumphant. Because he died and now lives, life triumphs over death for all who are united to him by faith. Which means that yes, through Christ – we are and will be always triumphant! Amen.