Fake News and Dormant Saints

Introduction

I wonder who won’t be at Easter this year. Megan’s family had this tradition of going to her grandmother’s house at Easter, and I always loved it. Her grandmother would always grill hamburgers on her cement picnic table and her grandad left the grass high enough to hide the eggs. After the kids found all of the eggs, we’d have a couples’ egg toss competition, and I just happened to marry a woman who has the hands of Randy Moss. So, we typically took home the gold. But, Megan’s grandmother has gone to be with the Lord and that tradition has changed. I always think about them this time of year.

So, I wonder who you’re grieving this Easter. Was there an Easter basket that you thought you’d be able to put out this year but didn’t get to? Are you grieving the loss of your precious baby that didn’t make it to full term, or are you grieving the baby that’s never come? Is there a tradition that you don’t get to continue this year or a laugh that you don’t get to hear at the lunch table? Are you missing your grandmother or your dad, your husband or your daughter? I doubt there’s a person here who doesn’t have someone they’re missing today. Holidays are ironic that way. They are they moments when our deepest joy and profoundest grief collide.

God’s Word

Well, Easter is the ideal time to grieve those you miss because Easter provides the perspective needed to grieve without despair. You’ll notice that our passage this morning ends by saying, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” So, my job this morning is to take this passage and encourage you as much as I can. And, I know I’m off to a bad start! But, this text invites us to plumb the deeply into the depths of our grief so that we can feel powerfully the depths of Christ’s victory. So, today we’ll see How Easter Soothes Grieving Hearts: (Headline)

The “grief” doesn’t “last.”

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

Paul starts by telling us exactly what he has on his mind. He doesn’t want us “to be uninformed” about those we love who have died. Some fake news was spreading in the church about what happens to the dead when Jesus returns. It’s likely that they believed that only those who were alive when Jesus returned would be able to enjoy his victory. So, Paul is writing these words because the church is meant to be where fake news about life, death, and God is addressed and corrected with truth.

And, fake news regarding death, loss, and grief is still too common in the church today. I knew a man with cerebral palsy that grew up in a church that told his mother all of his life that the reason he couldn’t walk was because she didn’t have enough faith, and then as he grew up, it was because he didn’t have enough faith. Many people walk every day with the guilt that their loved one died of cancer because of a failure of their faith. That’s fake news. I can’t even count the number of precious mothers I’ve spoken with over the years who believe they miscarried because God was disciplining them or because they had not been obedient enough. That’s fake news. Others have believed that they lost people that they loved because they are jinxed or cursed, and others because they believe that God has betrayed them personally. And, I could go on, but, brothers and sisters, all of this is fake news. And, Paul wants us to know the truth.

And, this text assumes that you need to think about and think through a subject that our society is less and less willing to think about — death. Death is inevitable, and it’s better to understand it than it is to run from it and pretend like it hasn’t happened to people you love or won’t happen to people you love. No, the inevitability of death assumes the inevitability of grief. Human beings live, love, and die. And, because we live and love in the face of death, grief is inevitable. That’s one of the reasons that grief is so important. It expresses the depth of love, the God-given dignity of the person, and the longing for immortality.

So, in Paul’s mind, death is inevitable, and grief is inevitable. They are part of the human experience — the worst part. And, in light of this inevitability there are two types of grief. There’s tragic grief, and there’s temporary grief.

There’s “tragic” grief.

Tragic grief is acknowledged when Paul says there are “others” who grieve but “who have no hope.” So, tragic grief is hopeless grief. It’s grief that is pointless — meaning it’s just pain, just loss, just misery with no point or purpose to cling to. It’s grief that is endless — the loss can never be recovered or made right, only deeper and longer and worse. And, because tragic grief is hopeless, pointless, and endless, then it’s comfortless. When there is no point and there is no end, then there is no hope. And, if there is no hope, then there is no comfort. That’s why there’s nothing that a secular counselor can really say to you about grief except, “Accept it, and hopefully you’ll grow numb enough over time to move on.”

(draw out what contradictory states are lying side-by-side on the slide between Paul and Hitchens) The famous atheist Christopher Hitchens contemplates the randomness and pointlessness of death when he writes: “To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?” That’s a true tragedy, isn’t it? There’s no silver lining. There’s no glimmers of light. There’s no hope to cling to. And, this morning, that may be what you believe about death, but don’t you wish it was different? Don’t you wish your grief wasn’t such a tragedy?

There’s “temporary” grief.

Well, Paul says there’s an alternative. Your grief doesn’t have to be tragic. It can be temporary. By “temporary,” I don’t mean that it just gets better with time. There are some losses that are so profound that you can carry the wound and its ache for the rest of your life. No, by temporary, I mean that the actual loss that created the grief won’t last. The loss won’t be a loss forever. God will raise them. That’s the point of Easter, and that’s Paul’s point. “Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God WILL bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

And, we know that’s true, and not all of the fake news found in the world, because Jesus himself was raised from the dead. That’s Paul’s point. That’s your invitation to take Jesus seriously this morning. Jesus has substantiated our hope in death by his defeat of death. And, as a result, He has comforted our grief by assuring us that it won’t last.

Grief is a form of chronic pain. Six years ago, I was going to every doctor I could to try find relief for headaches that just wouldn’t quit. And, one day, the neurologist at UAB finally just told me that I had chronic pain, and we were going to have to figure out how to manage it. It’s excruciating and terrifying at the same time to hurt so bad and to know that it won’t end. Well, grief is chronic pain of the heart. But, if you and yours are in Christ, you can know that God “will” raise every, single one.

And, that means that you’ll hold your babies again — even if you never got to hold them to begin with. You’ll hug your son again. You’ll hold on to your wife again. Your grandmother will be back with you. In Christ, grief isn’t tragic; it’s temporary. That’s the Easter promise. Be encouraged this morning.

And, your heart can be soothed today in knowing not only that grief is temporary, but also that…

The “dead” aren’t “forgotten.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15–16 “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

(Show tombstone phot of grandad) A few months ago, I attended a funeral held at a church close by. I got there early, and so I walked across the street to the cemetery. I had not been at that cemetery in 19 years. The last time I was there, we were laying to rest my grandad. And, you know, growing up, he was just my person. I would spend weeks at a time with him growing up, and he’d tell stories and off color jokes. I remember telling the people at Webb Concrete when he was helping my parents build their house that he was the smartest man alive. I just thought he was the greatest. And so, I was just struck that day by how desolate and abandoned his grave looked. No flowers. No fancy headstone. Just a plaque in the ground with his name on it and grass growing over it. He just looked forgotten.

That’s one of the pains of grief, isn’t it? You watch the world move on while your world falls down. And, you wonder, does anybody remember? And, you want to keep the memory of your husband alive in the minds of your children and grandchildren. You want to keep the memory of those babies fresh because you love them and you think about them every day. Your dad was your hero, and you fear his legacy is fading. Or, maybe you feel like even God has forgotten. You feel like the Lord doesn’t notice how big your loss is or how loved your person is or how valuable they are.

This appears to be exactly what the Thessalonians were struggling with. Their thinking seems to be, “Great, if Jesus returns, then we’ll be with him and it’ll be wonderful. But, what about those who have died? Has God forgotten them? Or, what about us if we die? Will we be forgotten by God?”

They’re “first,” not “forgotten.”

And, to that, Paul says, “The dead aren’t forgotten, and the dead won’t be left behind. They’ll be first in line! They’ve gotten a head start!” “We who are alive…will not precede those who have fallen asleep….the dead in Christ will rise first!” There are no forgotten graves in the economy of God. There are no abandoned cemeteries in his Kingdom. There are no obscure deaths or fading memories with our King.

They’re “dormant,” not “dead.”

In fact, their death is going to serve as a demonstration of the full power of the resurrection when He raises them first! SpaceX may be able to raise a living man up to the clouds, but only the resurrected Christ can raise a dead man to the clouds alive. It’s interesting how Paul refers to the dead, isn’t it? “Those who are asleep,” he calls them. Now, that was a common way of referring to the dead back then because that’s how they looked. But, in Christianity, it came to have an additional meaning. Those in Christ are not so much as dead as they are dormant. Those in Christ always have a living soul even if there is a “sleeping” body. So, like the flowering plants that look dead in the winter while they await the arrival of spring, our bodies lie in the grave awaiting the arrival of our Savior that they might be animated again in a glorified state to meet our King in the air.

And so, I want you to let your mind go to that day. When the trumpet sounds and the archangel shouts, if you’re alive, you’re going to be a spectator first. You’re going to stand on earth as the graves open up and all those who are dead in Christ rise to meet with him. You’re going to hear their voices. You’re going to see their smiles. You’re going to watch them dance. You’re going to listen to them worship. And, you’re going to realize that all of the noise about them being forgotten was fake news. They aren’t forgotten. They’re first! That’s the promise of Easter. So, smile today because of what you’ll see THAT DAY. Oh, be encouraged because the dead aren’t forgotten. They’re about to be awakened.

So, our hearts are soothed because we know that grief doesn’t last and the dead aren’t forgotten, and finally that…

The “separation” isn’t “final.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Exodus 19:16 “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.”

Exodus 19:19 “And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.”

Grief isn’t just about “A” loss. It’s about a series of losses. And, most of those losses happen in the future. The future is filled with events that hit you like a club with the finality of death. You see a video of baby walking for the first time, and you realize that you’ll never see your baby take those steps. Your wedding anniversary comes around, and you go to bed by yourself. When everyone is graduating and getting married, you realize that you never got to walk your daughter down the aisle or be the best man in your brothers’ wedding. All of the anniversaries and milestones remind you of the depth of your loss, and they seem to paint a bleak picture of the future.

But, for those of us who are in Christ, Paul wants us to see that it’s actually the opposite. The future isn’t bleak. It’s triumphant. It’s not all pain in the future. That’s fake news. So, it’s not bad today, worse tomorrow. It’s grief today, victory tomorrow. And, that doesn’t invalidate the grief we experience during birthdays and milestones today. We’re right to grieve those. No, it doesn’t invalidate our grief, it provides the proper context and perspective for our grief. We always grieve with an eye toward the future because the future is filled with hope.

We’ll be “together.”

And, this hopeful future is at the forefront of Paul’s mind here. Notice how future tense everything he says is. “For the Lord himself WILL descend.” “The dead in Christ WILL rise first.” We “WILL be caught up together with them.” “We WILL always be with the Lord.” So, he’s anchoring our comfort in the present to our hope in the future. And, he comforts us with two assurances about the future.

First, we’ll be together. A lot of people wonder about this. Will we know one another in heaven? Will we be reunited in heaven? And, I think this passage answers that question unequivocally. Y’all are stuck with knowing me for a LONG time! Notice what he says: “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up TOGETHER WITH THEM in the clouds…and so we will ALWAYS BE with the Lord.”

It’s the separation that hurts so bad, isn’t it? It’s the being apart that feels so unbearable. You can summarize the entire sting of death with the word “separation.” But, because of Jesus, that separation isn’t final. Paul wants you to know that. I want you to know that. You’re going to end up being “together” a lot longer than you’ve been apart. This has ministered to me so much as I’ve thought about the baby that Megan and I miscarried. Because you think, “Lord, why did you give them to me to just take them away? Why did you let me know that love only for it to be so short-lived?” Well, the separation doesn’t last. We didn’t get to rock our baby or snuggle our baby, but we’re going to enjoy them forever. You’re going to sit on the porch with your husband again. You’re going to feel that deep hug from your grandmother again. You’re going to see your dad’s smile again. If you are in Christ and they are in Christ, the separation doesn’t last. That’s the fake news the pain wants you to believe. But, we’ll be together again.

Yes, we’ll be together, and better yet…

We’ll be with “Christ.”

And, we’ll be with Christ “ALWAYS.” Store that word away in your mind for a second. Now, what’s interesting is that this is the passage where people get the idea of a secret rapture from — you know the one, where the trumpet sounds, Jesus returns, and people poof out of their clothes and float to a heaven in their birthday suit. And, what’s fascinating to me about that is that this seems to say the exact opposite of all of that. First of all, there’s nothing here that even hints at anything secretive. In fact, I can’t think of a single scene in all of the Bible that is louder than this one. The archangel SHOUTS! A heavenly army of angels blows their battle trumpets! And, Jesus in his resurrected glory and power descends over earth riding a cloud. Now, that’s a pretty awful way to keep a secret!

(stay tuned for more in Revelation in the fall) And, I don’t think the point is that we go to a secret place above the sky to never be heard from again by those on earth. Nope, there’s a picture in Paul’s mind he’s sharing with us. Back in the days when this was written, if your city was under seige, an ally might send a dignitary or warrior to help deliver your city from those who were trying to destroy it. And, there was a formal way in which the dignitary was to be received. The armies of the people would go out to meet him, and then he would lead them in a parade back to the city to overthrow their enemy. Now, do you see the picture? Here is Christ coming, not as a humble servant to be slain on a cross, but as the mighty Warrior-king in his resurrected power riding on the cloud to come to his people so that he can deliver them out of a city under seige. So, we will assemble on that day, and we will go up to meet him in the clouds, but we aren’t going away. We’re coming back to overthrow every enemy and to live triumphantly with him ALWAYS in the new heaven and the new earth.

And, that’ll be the day that all grief dies it’s final death. That’ll be the day in which sadness evaporates. That’ll be the day that when we will be ushered into an age of sheer happiness under the rule of our joyful King. We won’t be separated from one another, and we won’t be separated from Christ. That’s the picture.

You see, the Big Story ought to bring into your minds another time in which heaven thundered and trumpets sounded and a cloud descended. It was on Sinai when God said that He would be their God and they would be his people. But, because of their sin, the presence of God which guaranteed their provision and protection wasn’t always in their midst. His glory cloud would abate, and they would be separated from their hope. But, the next time Heaven thunders and the trumpets sound and the cloud descends, we will be in his presence with him “ALWAYS!”

So, today, we say with Paul through tears as we await that day: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”