11-06-2022 Children of the Resurrection

Thomas J Parlette
“Children of the Resurrection”
Luke 20: 27-38
11/06/22, All Saints

          In any civilized society, there are laws that cover almost every facet of human life. And sometimes those laws can be overreaching or burdensome. That’s the price we pay for living as part of a community instead of as a bunch of disorganized loners. But at least most of our laws make sense, they do serve a purpose and for the most part they are well-intentioned. But not all laws make sense. For example, how about a law against dying?
          That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it, to create a law against dying? So, your very last action in life is to break the law – really? How do you even punish something like that. I don’t know. But throughout history, there have actually been governments that have tried to outlaw dying.
          For example, over 2500 years ago, the Greek island of Delos tried to ban being born or dying on that island. You see, Delos was considered to be the birthplace of the mythical gods Apollo and Artemis. Local authorities considered the island to be sacred. Consequently, they didn’t want anyone to claim inheritance rights to the land of Delos through being born there or having an ancestor buried there. So, the authorities decreed that that all graves on the island were to be dug up and the bodies buried elsewhere, and ordinances were passed forbidding any more births or deaths were to occur on that island. So, by decree, it became illegal to die on Delos.
          Kind of ridiculous, right? That’s not something you can really control. But it’s not an isolated incident. Something similar happened on a Japanese island which was considered sacred to the Japanese Shinto religion. And at least five small towns in Europe have outlawed dying within their town limits as a way to force their town council to approve permits for more cemetery space.
          For example, a mayor of a small village in Southern Italy who is also a pediatrician, became concerned that his elderly constituents weren’t visiting their doctors enough and weren’t maintaining their health. So he passed ordinances trying to make it more difficult for citizens to get ill or to die in his town. His concern was that the residents needed to protect their health, or they would all die off. He said, “Those who don’t take care of themselves, or who take on habits that are against their health, will be punished with more taxes.” The Mayor’s ploy worked. Within weeks of passing the ordinances, 100 residents of the village signed up for regular health checks.
          And then there’s the mayor in a small town in France, who passed a similar ordinance when the local cemetery became too full. He applied to the local town government to build a cemetery on an unused plot of land. His proposal was turned down. So he passed an ordinance forbidding any of the town’s residents from dying. This was obviously a publicity stunt – but it worked. The story of the town that banned dying got picked up by media outlets all over Europe. Within three months of passing the ordinance, the mayor received approval from the local town government to build a cemetery (1)
          On the surface, our passage for today is about death and the afterlife, which is appropriate on this first Sunday of November as we remember the saints of our own church who passed on to join the great crowd of witnesses in heaven. But in reality, this passage is more about the limits we place on God. As our passage goes, “Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question”
          I like to think that as Luke told this story, he began “Some of the Sadducees”…. Long pause, as Luke lowered his glasses and looked out over his listeners…. “who say there is no resurrection,” – he let that hang in the air for a moment and continued – came to Jesus with a question.”
          “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s wife dies and leaves a wife with no children, the man must marry the widow and raise the children for his brother. Now, what if there are seven brothers. The first one married a woman a died childless. The second and then the third brother married her, and in the same way, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, (another long pause, this time from the Sadducees)– “at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven brothers were married to her?”
          Now there are some things you need to know about the Sadducees. These men were a Jewish religious sect representing the high priests. They dominated the Temple and the priesthood, at least until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The Sadducees believed that all God’s laws and divine revelation were contained in the Books of Moses – the Torah – which includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books were the basis of their religious practices. This also meant that the Sadducees rejected the idea of the immortality of the soul, the afterlife, the resurrection of the dead, and the existence of angels. (2)
          So the Sadducees asked this question of Jesus even though they didn’t really care about the answer. They were simply trying to start an argument to make Jesus look foolish. They thought they could trip him up or trivialize his teachings. They are mocking Jesus here. They hoped to dilute his power and popularity with the people. But what they saw as a challenge – Jesus saw as an opportunity. Jesus, just days away from his arrest, crucifixion and death – couldn’t care less right now about an argument. In this moment, all Jesus cares about is showing us the truth of God’s character and purposes.
          A major part of Jesus’ ministry involved challenging our limited view of God. That’s one of the reasons Jesus so often answered a question with a question, or with a story. Rather than giving us a set of rules to live by, Jesus gives us an enlarged view of God. So often, our arguments and questions and doubts about religion stem from asking the wrong question. And one of the toughest questions is often, “Why do people die?” “Why this way? Why now?”
         Good questions – important questions. But what if we started with a question like “What is God like?” How does God see death? Once we understand what God is like, then we can use that as the foundation of understanding every other question, doubt or argument we might have. So let’s see how Jesus answered the religious leaders.
          Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the world to come and in the resurrection from the dead – will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They ae God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
         “They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection… But in the account of the burning bush,” he continued, “even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to God all are alive.” How does God view death? There is no death for God – to God, all are alive.
          God’s ultimate purpose for us is revealed right there in verse 36 – “They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.” Through Jesus, we have been adopted into God’s family. We have been adopted into all the fullness of God’s love and care.
          There is a woman named Lori Wood, who was working as an ICU nurse at Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Newnan, Georgia. In 2018, she met a patient named Jonathan Pinkard. Jonathan was 26 years old, autistic, and was in heart failure. He needed a heart transplant. His grandmother had been his guardian until her death. Now Jonathan was a ward of the state. Because donor organs are so rare and precious, they are only granted to people who have the ability or the support system to follow a strict health regimen to ensure the organ recipient lives as long as possible. With no family to help him and a disability that made it difficult for Jonathan to care for himself, he was taken off the transplant list. Doctors at Piedmont Newnan did not expect him to live much longer. Without a parent to care for him, Jonathan couldn’t receive a new heart – and without that new heart, he would die. Lori Wood was haunted by one question – “What if he were one of my children?”
          So, to put yourself in the story – what would you do to save your child’s life. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Whatever I have to.” Verse 36 of this passage calls us God’s children, children of the resurrection. So, God will do whatever has to be done. We are assured of resurrection.
          So, Lori applied to be Jonathan’s temporary legal guardian. He moved in with Lori and her youngest son, Austin, who willingly gave up his room so Jonathan could have a room of his own. On August 19th, 2019, they got the call that a heart had been found for Jonathan. He came through the surgery just fine – and with Lori and Austin’s help, he learned to follow the strict health regimen necessary to keep his new heart healthy. After a few months, he was even able to live on his own. As Lori wrote in Guideposts magazine, “God orchestrated everything to heal Jonathan, beyond anything I could have asked for.” (3)
          Jonathan is alive today because of the love Lori and her family had for him. We can be assured of eternal life for one reason alone: We are loved by God, just like that. Jesus is proof that there is no limit to God’s love for us.
         Genesis 1 and 2, the creation stories, tell us two essential pieces of information about God and God’s purposes:
1.    We were made in God’s image.
2.    God breathed God’s own life into us.
All the other living creatures were either spoken into existence or formed by God. But humans are unique. It was only for humans that God breathed life force into us. And if God is eternal, and we were made alive by the very breath or spirit of God, then God made us to be eternal as well.
          Some of you are familiar with the origin story of the classic gospel hymn that we will sing in a few minutes, “Precious Lord, Take my Hand.” It was written by Thomas Dorsey, who was born in 1899 in rural Georgia. He grew into a prolific songwriter and an excellent gospel and blues musician. As a young man, Dorsey moved to Chicago and found work as a piano player in the churches as well as in clubs and playing in theatres. Struggling to support his family, Dorsey divided his time between paying in the clubs and playing in church. After some turbulent times, Dorsey began to devote his artistry exclusively to the church.
          In August of 1932, Dorsey left his pregnant wife in Chicago and traveled to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting in St. Louis. After the first night, Dorsey received a telegram that said – “Your wife just died.” Dorsey raced home and learned that his wife had given birth to a son before dying in childbirth. The next day, his son died as well. Dorsey buried his wife and son in the same casket and withdrew in sorrow and agony from the world. He was despondent. He refused to compose or play any music at all for quite some time.
          While still in the midst of despair, Dorsey said that as he sat in front of a piano one day, a feeling of peace washed through him. He heard a melody in his head that he had never heard before and began to play it on the piano. That night, Dorsey recorded his classic:
         “Precious Lord, take my hand,
         Lead me on, let me stand:
          I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
          Lead me on to the light;
          Take my hand, precious Lord,
          Lead me home.”(4)
          Thomas Dorsey understood that God’s purpose for us was not to leave us in death, but to lead us back home. We don’t need a law against dying. Christ has already taken care of that matter on our behalf. When we leave this earthly realm, we too will be led home to join the great cloud of witnesses who stand in the presence of God – because we are, children of the resurrection.
          May God be praised. Amen.

1.    Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No.3, p 43.
2.    Ibid… p 44.
3.    Ibid… p 45.
4.    Nancy Lynne Westfield, Feasting on the Word, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p 312.