"The Living Difference"

Readings: Psalm 98, Exodus 3:1-6, 2 Thessalonians. 1-5,13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, 6th November 2022

Some Mormons believe that if you are a faithful Mormon then after you die you are resurrected to the third or celestial heaven, where you are given a kingdom for yourself and your family. There you will rule, as a god like being whilst you populate a separate planet of your own.

One form of Islamic belief is that heaven is filled with earthly pleasures, a paradise of sensual delights. Other belief systems suggest that when you die you are sent back again to this earth, maybe as a human or maybe as an animal.  Still others see life as circle that only reaches its end once the soul has achieved a sense of oneness with Creation.

For sure these questions of eternity and after-life have vexed many minds over many centuries. In Jesus day there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law and Essene's and Herodians and Greeks and Romans, all of who had very different ideas about what happened after death. And amongst them there were also the Sadducee's. The Sadducee's did not believe in Resurrection. As the joke goes… that’s why they were ‘Sad –You - See.’

They believed in the Scriptures, but only the 5 books of Moses, that form the first 5 books of our Old Testament.  They figured that once God had given the commandments, everything else was unnecessary. Just get back to the ‘true’ bible and things will change.  One thing they were convinced that their bible didn’t teach was that there would be any kind of resurrection from the dead for those who believed.

The Sadducee's saw Pharisees as overburdened with laws and far too sure that they alone knew the purpose of God. They saw the temple authorities as tied up with the politics and ceremony of the day.  They saw the common people as… well…‘common.’ They didn’t like Jesus.  His popularity was a threat to their respectful position and His teaching about God seemed, to them, dangerous.

So, they come to Jesus with a trick question about marriage.  According to the Levitical law in Deuteronomy 25:5 (one of the books they did believe in) if a man died childless, his brother must marry the widow and beget children to carry on the family line.

‘O.K Rabbi’, they say, ‘answer us this one.’ This guy marries a girl, dies, so, as the law says, his brother marries her, then he dies and so and so on right through all the brothers.” “If there is a resurrection” they challenge, “Whose wife will she be in the after-life?”

Jesus, as He often did, turned the question around and left them with more questions than answers. In the first part of His answer Jesus cautions the Sadducee's not to think of heavenly things from an earthly perspective.  Constructing imaginary scenarios and trying to logically think of what heaven may be like, on the basis of the life they were experiencing on earth, was doomed to failure.

We too can construct heaven in our imaginations, heavens based on our likes and dislikes. Do we really want to sit on a fluffy white cloud, strumming a harp in the company of overfed cherubs and anemic looking angels? There must be more to it than that! Jesus throws some powerful word pictures our way. He firstly, no doubt in response to their question, plays with the idea of marriage.   

Marriage, He explains, is something that belongs to this life on this earth. People marry, people re-marry and God can sort all of that out on the other side. God will honor our relationships. When somebody passes away, we often talk about there being a glorious reunion in the afterlife. That’s part of our Christian hope. To dismiss thoughts of resurrection, on the grounds that we can’t figure out exactly how the reunion is going to work out, is like refusing to go to the most wonderful party ever thrown, because we are not sure who else is going to be there.

Marriage, as Scripture elsewhere affirms, is a high and holy calling; relationships between husband and wife are a reflection of the relationship of Christ to the church.  But only a reflection.

Relationships in the heavenlies are to be more beautiful, more committed, with greater depth and intimacy than anything we may experience on earth.  To predict how those relationships will be on the basis of the too-ings and fro-ings of earthly encounters Jesus suggests was just plain wrong.

Not only was marriage not going to be happening in heaven, but neither was death. Verse 29 ‘for they cannot die anymore.’ The same would apply to the bearing of children. There will also be no more tears and no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Jesus scolds the Sadducee's for their lack of appreciation that life on earth was not life in heaven and suggests that they were indeed foolish if they thought they could work the one out one the basis of the other.  But He doesn’t leave it there. He also takes issue with them on their understanding of the Scripture.

He doesn’t take issue with the fact that they only thought the first five books of Moses were Scripture’s worth taking note of, rather that they hadn’t grasped the significance of even what was contained in those first five books. They claim that in those Scriptures there was no reference to any kind of resurrection.

Jesus takes them on a bible study in the Book of Exodus, the passage about Moses and the burning bush.  In the passage, Jesus points out that Moses calls God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was impossible that God should be the God of the dead. Therefore, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob must be the living. God was God of the living! So, there was such a thing as the resurrection. Their own Scriptures said it was so. The Sadducee's are both confused and silenced by this answer.

At the end of the day the Sadducee's were left looking foolish because they thought they knew more about the Scriptures than Jesus did.  They argued about the concept of resurrection with somebody who was about to exemplify for all time and all people the real thing.

For ourselves, who profess Jesus Christ as Savior, we do well to hear His perspective on the afterlife. He assures us that if we put our faith and trust in Him, then something immeasurably worthwhile, indescribably wonderful, awesome, majestic, beyond anything earthly words, pictures or thoughts can adequately describe, is awaiting us on the other side.

Jesus uses an enigmatic phrase; ‘sons of the resurrection’ to describe those who seek to make their ultimate destination God’s Kingdom.  I like that phrase. Let it sing through your mind a little. ‘Sons and daughters of the resurrection’ Imagine jumping out of bed in the morning with that attitude coloring your day. Imagine living every day with resurrection in mind.

“I am a resurrection person.  The things I do today are not confined by the boundaries of death, decay, and time.

I am a resurrection person. The life which I will live today is part of a life that will never be diminished. The things I do today are making a mark, not only on the passing things of this life but in eternity.

I am a resurrection person. Though I may face defeats, God will turn them to victories, though I may face failures, God will use them to build my character, though I may face darkness, God will lead me with God’s light, though I may face suffering, God will heal all my infirmities in God’s good time.

I am a resurrection person.  Every moment in time that ticks by, bringing age and eventually death is but a glorious moment that is bringing me closer to my final destiny, my eternal home, my heavenly mansion, my Father’s house.

I am a resurrection person, I am an Easter person and Hallelujah is my song!”

The Sadducee's came to Jesus with a question designed to catch Him out. Their idea was that whatever He said it would be an answer that cast Him in a negative light. But Jesus turned things around by recalling them to the deeper meaning of Scripture. That God was, and is, and always will be, the God of the living.

In John 10:10 Jesus speaks to the crowds and tells them, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In the face of those who would steal away a resurrection perspective from our lives, we are encouraged to focus on Scripture and discover for ourselves the quality of life that Jesus would have us live.  

Abundant life. Life that recognizes resurrection power as something not just for tomorrow, but that energizes our lives today. A life that is framed by a perspective that life is a journey from before the womb to beyond the tomb. Spirit life that is lived in a way that makes all our tomorrows a better place to be.

Belief in resurrection makes a difference.  A living difference to every moment you live on earth. Just occasionally the awareness of that glorious Kingdom does seep through to us.  Don’t fight it.  Embrace it. Listen to Jesus. Keep learning what His Words teach us. Trust in God, that in God’s hands, saved by grace, through faith, you’re safe.

So come to this table laid with bread and wine. Were they not bathed in resurrection light these elements would speak only of tragedy. But because Christ is Risen, “He is risen indeed” and this celebration can make a living difference to our everyday walk with God.

My life is not framed by the passing moments of each day
but I live out my days in the presence of the eternal love of God.
In life and death I belong to God.
“I am a resurrection person, I am an Easter person and Hallelujah is my song!”

I invite us all to receive these elements in the faith of the living Jesus.
And to God be the glory.
Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.