Luckily it was test day for my confirmation class so that was easy enough. Then I spent a couple hours finalizing my sermon before we had church. Church was packed with 170 people. It was awesome to see the church that full and hear so many voices sing so loud. My sermon went pretty well I think. The crazy thing is, this is just the start to an extremely busy Lent season. Good thing Christ is the Lord of all and the one actually in charge of making everything go round and all I am doing is just serving Him.
Here is my sermon from last night, first one in my series on the penitential psalms.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text for tonight is from Psalm 6 which we read responsively, specifically verses 4 and 5 which read, “Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?”
I think there are Christians out there that think just because we are Christians means death is supposed to be no big deal. They think we shouldn’t cry at funerals, be sad at the loss of a loved one, or worry about our own death. In my mind, this is a misunderstanding. Death exists in our world and sooner or later we all must face it and deal with it. “Death respects no one!” Death doesn’t care if you are Christian or not, if you are wealthy or poor, healthy or sick, death comes to everyone no matter who you are. Death respects no one! Death is an ever present reality that is just part of our world.
Death was not part of God’s original creation and it was not part of His plan. He did not want it to be a part of our lives. However, when we fell into sin, we brought death into this world. St. Paul says in Romans 6 that “the wages of sin is death.” So because we live in a sinful world, we live in a world that includes death. And death is an enemy. It is an enemy of God, and it is an enemy to us. Death causes us pain and grieving. We had a funeral here this very morning and the tears running down the faces of the family showed the pain and grief. We see at the death of Moses the Israelites mourn for thirty days. Even Jesus weeps at the death of His friend Lazarus. Death causes pain and it is OK to cry, it is OK to mourn at death. Death also causes us fear. In Hebrews 2, the author states that “all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” We are captive to slavery because of our fear of death. We know it is out there lurking around every corner, just waiting to strike. Because we do not know how or when death will come to us, it is out of our control, and that’s what scares us. We live in fear of death because it is an enemy. Unless Christ comes back first, we will continue to deal with the death.
Now the reason the reason these Christians think we are not supposed to be sad is because they know the Gospel truth. They know death is not the end. They know that in God’s plan of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we have life after death. In Romans 6 where St. Paul says the wages of sin is death, he continues that same sentence by adding, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Hebrews 2, the author adds, “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” We have been set free from this slavery of the fear of death, because we have the free gift of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. Death no longer has dominion over us. And yet, the death of loved ones still is a cause of pain and mourning. It still hurts to lose a loved one. That is because death has been defeated, but not abolished. And yet part of that Gospel truth that we know there is life after death, we also know death will one day be abolished. We know that on that Final day, when Christ comes back, there will be no more death. Jesus Himself tells us in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” In 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul says that when the mortal puts on the immortal, then shall come to pass the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is thy victory, O death where is thy sting?” And in Revelation we see John describing powerful image of God with His people in chapter 21 “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Death will be no more, and every tear will be wiped from their eyes. Death has been defeated, there is life after death, and death will be abolished, death shall be no more.
The problem with taking this attitude of thinking death is supposed to be no big deal, is that it ignores the fact that death is an enemy. If death is no big deal, if death is not an enemy to God’s plan, then it makes it seem like it is a good thing, like it is supposed to be part of God’s plan. If death is what gets us to Heaven, then we should want our death to come so we can get to heaven sooner right? If death leads to the perfection of the presence of our Lord, then death come to me now? Well, when we look at our text for this evening, we see that is not what David is saying. In Psalm 6, specifically verse 5, David says, “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” David is languishing and troubled; his foes surround him and have heard his weeping. He fears his death is upon him as his enemies get closer and closer. He is in such distress that he floods his bed with tears and drenches his couch with weeping. Now he might be exaggerating a little here, but I do think that of the many times David had to flee from either King Saul, or his son Absalom, or any of the others; that as he literally fled for the safety of his own life, he probably cried. David is staring death in the face; he is confronted by the fact that because he is a sinful human being, death will come to him. Did David not know the Gospel truth of eternal life? I mean Christ comes after David is already dead, so how could He know that Christ would say, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Was David afraid of death because he didn’t understand the salvation includes eternal life?
No, David knew the Gospel message very well. We can see that in the numerous ways he explain his salvation in all the psalms he writes. He states that the Lord is his refuge, the one who fills his cup, the one who anoints his head and so on. David knew his salvation was in his God, and the promise of the Savior who was to come. David is not flooding his bed and drenching his couch because he is scared there is no life after death, he is weeping and languished because he knows death is an enemy and that he still has more to do in this life on this earth. David knows every day in this world is a gift, an opportunity to serve his God. That is what he is saying in verse 5. If I die, I am not here to remind the people of Israel all that you have done for them. If I am delivered to Sheol, which is where all the souls of the dead were believed to go in the Old Testament, how can I continue to praise you? He is not scared of the afterlife; he is scared of not having the chance to continue to serve God in this life on earth. It is the same dilemma we see Paul struggle with in Philippians 1, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me….. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” David and Paul both know that yes, death means they get to be in the presence of God, no more pain, no more suffering, no more tears; however, that also means they no longer have the ability to serve God, to remind others of the Gospel truth they know is certain. To die is to gain the perfection of heaven in the presence of our Lord with no more pain, tears, or sin, but to live is to still have the opportunity to serve and praise God in this life.
So if both King David and St. Paul struggled with this, what are we supposed to do with it? Well, we do the same thing David does in verse 4. We ask God to deliver our lives, and to save us for the sake of His steadfast love. We ask God to bless us with as many days as possible on this earth. We ask God to continue to give us more time here in the flesh, knowing that each and every day truly is a gift. We long to be here serving our neighbor, serving God, and praising Him who continues to give us this life. As Christians we have the Gospel truth that we do indeed have life after death. The perfection of the presence of our Lord is guaranteed, it is there waiting for us, and we will certainly have that eternal life with no more pain, no more tears, no more sin one day. However, we still have this life here on this earth as a gift; we still have work to do here. Each and every day we life on this earth is a gift and an opportunity to serve our neighbor. It is a gift to be able to serve and praise Him who gives us this life. We pray death is a long ways off, appreciating the chance to continue to live this life sharing that Gospel message we know it true. And then when death does come to us, we gain that Gospel truth we already knew. We live life being steadfast, immovable knowing our labor is not in vain. We go make disciples of all nations teaching and sharing the Word of God, sharing that Gospel truth we already know. So as we journey through this Lenten season, knowing that we are sinners who are not worthy, we remember that God has given us the gift of life! Both this life here on this earth, and the life that is to come for all eternity.
In the name of the one who gives us this gift of life, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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