SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2025 | AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 27 (c)

Good morning,

Can you believe it is almost Thanksgiving? And according to decor at many stores, Advent is upon us soon as well! But we have a little bit more time there, still over a month! They are rushing it a little bit...

Jesus, on the other hand, always takes time to argue his opponents properly! We’ve got another conflict narrative on our hands - Jesus versus Sadducees. Sadducees were an influential Jewish sect associated with the priestly elite, the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Sanhedrin - the Jewish ruling council. They denied many doctrines followed by the Pharisees: resurrection of the dead, life after death, angels, and spirits. They ultimately conspired with the Pharisees and Scribes to have Jesus killed, but unlike the Pharisees, they did not survive the Fall of the Temple in the year 70 as without the Temple, the Sadducees lost their primary source of influence and the foundation of their role in Jewish society. Their wealth, political collaboration with Roman authorities, and perceived arrogance made them unpopular, and their dissolution after 70 AD was not widely mourned.

I think that gives us some important context - they are very much opposed to Jesus and his teaching, on more grounds than Pharisees that agreed with Jesus on some points and they are using their doctrine to mock Jesus’ belief in resurrection through a legalistic question. It's a question designed to make a fool of Jesus. A question designed to make the resurrection look ridiculous. The Sadducees, the powerful elite who denied any life after death, come to Jesus with a legal trap. Not only is the situation highly improbable - a levirate marriage allows for it, but 7 brothers? Unless she was poisoning them that is, but it is not hard for Jesus to dodge an impassé there. The levirate marriage is about lineage and property and even the woman is treated as property to be owned (whose wife will she be?) and Jesus as such can declare that a levirate marriage shall not play a role in the coming kingdom anymore, where debt, bondage, slavery, and every system of the human concept of ownership or an imposed identity, including patriarchy, is no more. The Sadducees could only imagine a heaven that looked like this world, with this world's rules about property, power, and privilege. Jesus says God is starting over with a new reality, one defined by our relationship to Him, not our social contracts.

People’s primary identity will be children of resurrection. A very good news for the marginalized and ostracized, for they will be free from human bondage and not a great message for those that enjoy a fair bit of privilege and power in this world as they will lose it all. It is why Sadducees did not believe in resurrection - for them, it’s all about the blessings for them here and bondage with no release for others! And after death, no punishment or consequences will be exacted on them. That is the “good news” for them and very bad news for anyone else.

And the second part of Jesus’ rebuttal is also important - when Moses speaks “of the Lord as the God of Abraham the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, ” he shows that our God is not God of the dead, but “of the living, for to him all of them are alive.” Both Job and 2Thessalonians text speaks to this - Job, against all odds, believes in a redeemer/vindicator (a kinsman to right the wrongs that happened to him) and 2Thessalonians calls on us to stand firm - to actively, stubbornly, and joyfully hold on to the truth of the Gospel and the hope of our "living God" even amidst all chaos, tribulations, pain, and suffering of the present time. For we know that “ that our vindicator lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.” And this 'vindicator' Job cries for isn't just a generic savior. The Hebrew word is Go'el. It's a kinsman, a blood-relative, someone legally and morally bound to restore the family name, to buy back the land, to avenge the wrong. This is Job's faith: that God Himself has taken on this binding, personal, family obligation to him.

Veterans’ day is coming up and as we recognized veterans in worship today, these texts have something to say as well. Job’s cry for justice resonates with the veteran’s cry for care, for healing (visible and invisible), and for their sacrifice to mean something. The (Vindicator) is the promise that God sees, God acts, and God will make all things right. Veterans' Day is a sober reflection on the cost of conflict - we recognize the living veterans first and foremost, but how many of their fallen comrades did not make it home? To God, all of them are alive as God knows them. However, the resurrection is the ultimate promise that peace, transformation, and new life are God's final words, not war or death.

For the rest of us, we may not be able to quite relate to their experiences, but God is also our vindicator in the face of injustice, hardship, or uncertainty we may face. God’s love and grace is what enables us to stubbornly and joyfully “stand firm” and believe that God is with us and cares for us all. The world sometimes feels truly indifferent towards our existence - medical claims being denied, disaster relief being slow, important phone calls unreturned, and so on. It is not so with God - our God truly cares about every one of us and calls on us to do the same and care for our neighbor that seem to be similarly “invisible” to others. God is our vindicator and that enables us to be vindicators for others! In this community, we are called to see each other and to uphold each other as important, trying to model how the rest of the world should be. The widow that had multiple husbands is so much more than just someone’s wife as a child of God and one day a child of resurrection - if we see others as such, I think that makes it very hard to ignore and dismiss them. They are known to God and forever, regardless whether alive or dead, will be. Just like our loved ones will be forever in our hearts, whether alive or dead to the world. The world may often be a dark and desolate place, but we have a lamp that will never go out and will always shine brightly and warmly - Christ and his love is the lamp. And this light and warmth is meant to be shared with our neighbors, so that more and more of this world can grow lighter and warmer! For our God is the God of the living! Amen.

Notes

🕊️ Central Sermon Theme: Our Living Hope

The central thread connecting these texts is the triumph of life and hope over death, chaos, and suffering.

Job clings to hope for a living Vindicator, even from beyond the grave.

Luke reveals God as the God of the living, promising a resurrection life that transcends earthly structures.

2 Thessalonians calls us to stand firm in this living hope, refusing to be shaken by present-day chaos.

1. Job 19:23-27a — Hope's Anchor in Suffering

Core Idea: Even in total desolation, Job proclaims a defiant faith that his Vindicator lives and will ultimately provide justice.

Key Concepts:

Vindicator / Redeemer (Go'el): This is the central word. A Goel wasn't just a generic savior; they were a kinsman-redeemer—a close relative legally and morally bound to rescue, avenge, and restore a wronged family member. Job is claiming God has this binding, personal, family obligation to him.

"I know... lives": This isn't a faint wish. The Hebrew perfect aspect implies a settled, certain, and enduring reality. Job’s faith is a stubborn anchor, not a flimsy life raft.

Sermon Angle: Our hope isn't in an abstract idea; it's in a Person who lives and is personally committed to our vindication. When suffering seems to have the last word, faith declares, "My Redeemer lives."

2. Luke 20:27-38 — Hope's Reality Beyond Death

Core Idea: Jesus reframes the entire debate about the afterlife, moving from a legal absurdity (the Sadducees' trap) to the profound reality of God's power and relationship.

Key Concepts:

The Trap: The Sadducees use a ridiculous question about levirate marriage (a law about property and lineage) to mock the resurrection. Their question reveals a worldview where a woman is property ("Whose wife will she be?").

Jesus' Rebuttal (Part 1): A New Reality. Jesus dismisses their premise. The resurrection isn't just "this life, but longer." It's a transformation. Earthly institutions like marriage-as-ownership are transcended. We will be "children of the resurrection," defined by our new relationship with God, not our old social contracts.

Jesus' Rebuttal (Part 2): A Living God. Jesus beats the Sadducees on their own turf (the Torah). By identifying Himself to Moses as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (long after they died), God declares that they are still alive to Him.

Sermon Angle: God is not a God of the past, of historical figures, or of the dead. He is the God of the living. Our relationship with Him defines our existence, and that relationship does not end at the grave. Our hope is in a transformed future, not just a continued one.

3. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 — Hope's Posture in Chaos

Core Idea: In an age of panic, deception, and "end-times" anxiety, the proper Christian response is not hysteria or idleness, but steadfast faithfulness.

Key Concepts:

Don't Be Shaken: The Thessalonians were in a panic, thinking they'd missed the "Day of the Lord." Paul calms them down by re-establishing the timeline.

"Stand Firm" (stēkete): This is the key command. It's an active, military-style term. It means "hold your ground, don't give an inch, resist being moved."

Sermon Angle: The world will always provide reasons to panic, to be confused, or to check out. Our call is to "stand firm"—to actively, stubbornly, and joyfully hold on to the truth of the Gospel and the hope of our "living God."

🪢 Tying It All Together: The God of the Living

The Sadducees' question in Luke is logical if God is dead, distant, or bound by our rules. But the witness of Scripture says otherwise:

Job cries out for a Vindicator, and Jesus reveals that this Vindicator is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—a God whose covenant relationship with His children outlasts death itself.

Because this Living God has promised us a living hope (Luke) and ultimate vindication (Job), our posture in this chaotic world can be one of non-anxious presence and strength—we can "stand firm" (2 Thess).

💡 Application & Veterans' Day Connection

Social Relevance: Jesus’ answer subverts a patriarchal system that treated women as property. The Gospel subverts all human systems that try to "own" or define us. Our ultimate identity is "children of the resurrection."

Veterans' Day:

Remembrance: On a day when we honor those who have sacrificed, Jesus' words—"to him all of them are alive"—are a profound comfort. We remember the fallen, but God knows them.

Vindication: Job’s cry for justice resonates with the veteran’s cry for care, for healing (visible and invisible), and for their sacrifice to mean something. The (Vindicator) is the promise that God sees, God acts, and God will make all things right.

Hope: Veterans' Day is a sober reflection on the cost of conflict. The resurrection is the ultimate promise that peace, transformation, and new life are God's final words, not war or death.

Children’s activity:

Activity: The Forever Name Tag

Core Idea: God is the God of the living, and our most important identity, "Child of God," lasts forever, even beyond our earthly labels.

Props Needed:

A bunch of "Hello, My Name Is..." stickers.

A marker.

One larger, different-colored sticker or cutout (e.g., a heart or a star) for each child, with "Child of God" pre-written on it.

Script for the Leader

"Good morning, everyone! I have a question for you. How many names or 'labels' do you have?

(Take out the 'Hello, My Name Is...' stickers and the marker.)

"Let's see... are you a Student? (Write 'Student' on a sticker and give it to a child to wear.)Are you a Friend? (Write 'Friend' and give it to another.)What about a Big Sister? Or a Little Brother? (Write and hand them out.)What about a Soccer Player? Or an Artist? Or a Gamer? (Give out a few more.)

"Wow, look at all these labels! We all have so many.

"In our Bible story today, some people asked Jesus a very silly, tricky question. They told a story about a woman who had many, many labels. She was a 'wife' to one brother, and then another, and another... all the way to seven!. They asked Jesus, 'So, when she gets to heaven, what will her name tag say? Which one will she belong to?'.

"Jesus told them they were thinking about it all wrong. He said that in heaven, all these earthly labels we wear (point to the stickers) aren't the most important thing. He said we get a new, most important identity. He calls us 'children of the resurrection'.

"That means we all have one name tag that is the most important one of all. It's the one God gives us.

(Take out the pre-made "Child of God" heart/star stickers and give one to each child to put on, perhaps over their heart.)

"This is our most important name: 'Child of God.'

"And Jesus said that God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. That means this 'Child of God' name tag is a forever name tag. It never, ever goes away. No matter what other labels we have, this is the one that lasts forever, because we are alive to God, and He loves us always."

Closing Prayer

"Dear God, thank you for all the fun things we get to be—like students, friends, and family. But most of all, thank you for giving us the best name of all: 'Child of God.' Help us remember that we belong to you and are alive with you forever. Amen."