Christ the King!

Luke 23:33-43
(33) When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals–one on his right, the other on his left. {34} Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. {35} The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” {36} The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar {37} and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” {38} There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. {39} One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” {40} But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? {41} We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” {42} Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” {43} Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Here we are at the last Sunday of the Church year; and the focus has shifted to the end of time – the final outcome of life – the fulfilment of all things; and that of course, leads us to think about who and what is ultimately important for us all as we live out our lives every day.

Now, of course, this is something that most people do not want to think about: They would prefer to live for the moment – to live for what they can get and have here and now. They would prefer to make up their own rules, and do as they please, without any real regard for the future – for they have fallen for the devil’s lies that suggests there is no real truth and reality. So when it comes to the end; well they will take their chances and hope for the best. And as to who and what is important in life; well naturally it is me and my freedom and happiness that is of greatest importance. Everything revolves around ourselves and what we want.

Now this thinking is very much in line with … this guy who had inherited his way into a hardware store. He had been raised with all the trappings of a moderately wealthy lifestyle and had been spoilt along the way. Now it was his turn to take over the running of the store and training up the next generation.

Well, he thought this was it and a bit. He was strutting around in his self-importance; telling the workers and others what he thought – even though in reality, he had little idea. In everything, he would spend on the outward and showy things that would be seen, in order to make a good impression; often at the expense of that which was truly good and important. He would also take time off, again and again, to do his own pleasurable things; but never taking the time to think about and manage the important aspects of the business; and he never listened to others and particularly the people who knew what was good and important and who kept trying to remind him of his obligations.

So as the money came in, he spent up. His accountants told him he must put aside for the tax man, because he would have to expect to pay big dollars at the end of the day. But, of course, he had it all under control – it would all work out, so don’t worry. Instead, he kept thinking of the moment and himself and what he wanted from life. Well tax time came around and with it a bill of a 1/4 million dollars; and he hardly had a dollar in the till to pay it. He was in trouble. He ended up being brought before the courts and was about to be declared bankrupt – when his father steps in and pays the debt and averts disaster.

With that, he goes back to the store and continues on just as before. Not listening to his father and others around him. Not thinking about his near disaster; until, of course, next tax time came around. But this time he was left to his own devices; and so he finished up out on the street with nothing – not even a friend in the world.

Ridiculous, isn’t it? Surely, very few people would be that stupid, would they? Yet that is just the attitude that many, many people have; and particularly in a far more important area of life. They think that they can go through this life without any significant consideration and thought for the spiritual things of life – to that which has lasting value. There they think that life is free and easy – that somehow it will work out in the end.

They are like many of those who were there at Jesus’ crucifixion. Some are there watching, but not involved. Looking on from the sidelines – but don’t ask them to commit themselves. There were those who were caught up in the moment and went with the crowd in calling for Jesus to be crucified. Then there were those who mocked and scoffed; openly ridiculing Christ and the things that were important. There were the criminals and the religiously self-righteous.

Yet for all of that which is wrong and bad in all of this, did Jesus stop being the Christ? Did all of this falseness stop Jesus being the King of the Jews, and of all of us? Did he pull the pin on dying on cross for us? And does the indifference and laxness of so many today, even those within the churches, mean that the end and Judgement Day; heaven and hell ceases to be a reality? Does our self-centred approach to what is good and right mean that God’s views on what is important and what will happen at that time, change to suite us? Well, no it won’t! None of it!

The end will come. We will have to face the Day of Reckoning; and at that point, we all will have to face reality. There, we will not be able stand on our good name and reputation, or our reasonably good life. We will not be able to face that day simply with the attitude that we will take our chances with some sort of assurance that we will be let off somehow, even though we have chosen to please ourselves. Me, and my desire for freedom and happiness, will count for nothing.

The only thing that will count on that day will be the Lord Jesus Christ himself and what he has done for our salvation. This account of Jesus death on the cross here is the only thing that can give any one us any hope, and any certainty when it comes to that day. Jesus death on the cross is the one single thing that will enable us to face that day with confidence: Confidence not in ourselves or any other single thing other than Jesus and his death for the forgiveness of our sins.

It will be no good us saying simply that we are members of his church: as much as that is important for us as we live between now and then, so that we can be continually strengthened and encouraged through the Word and Sacraments. Also, so that we can support and encourage one another as we live in the midst of the difficulties and hardships of life in a sinful world.

Nor will our thoughts that we have followed his example in living the good life help us stand with confidence on that Day. Again, yes this is something that we need to strive after, since Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. But it will not gain us ‘brownie points’ to help us on that day.

Nor will the understanding that we know a certain amount of stories about Jesus and that we have done our confirmation lessons, ensure that we will be accepted into heaven. However, here again it is to be another of our aims along the way through this life, to know and understand all that we can about Jesus and what he has done for us. All of those kinds of things ultimately amount to nothing on that last day.

All that we can then and now do is to say. ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ All we can do is to look to him and trust in him; knowing that because of his death and resurrection there is forgiveness of sins; for our selfishness and rebellion against God. And that it is he alone who gives us the assurance of eternal life in heaven with our gracious Lord and Saviour. Here remember, that on Judgement Day, Jesus Christ will be seen by all, to be the true King of all: Some to their benefit and others to their damnation.

Now if that is the situation then on that last day – the Day of fulfilment – then surely, now we can and will hold him as King above all kings and Lord of all lords. We will look to him now as our saviour and friend. We will hold up the cross as central to our lives as Christians. We will regularly gather together in God’s house to be strengthened and encouraged by him through his Word and Sacraments. We will seek to live and be his people each and every day of our lives. We will trust him in the present and for the future.

Yes, as we think of what is important in life, and of what is important with regard to the end of life we are here again reminded that it is Jesus Christ alone who is the one who holds our destiny in his hands. He is King for us now, and most importantly on that last Day. That is our encouragement here today as we look forward in life. So remember always that the Lord Jesus Christ is King: and to him alone belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

The Best Is Coming, So Be Prepared

Luke 21:5-19

Do you face the future with apprehension and anxiety or with joyful anticipation? Our media, with its focus on bad news, doesn’t make it easy for us. There seems to be no end of so-called “experts” with their gloomy predictions about the future, despite their poor track record of success. Fifty years ago, scientist Paul Ehrlich prophesied ecological disaster and mass starvation for our world. Most of his gloomy predictions have not come true.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus informs us that despite disasters and tough times that may occur in the future, we can look forward to that “happy last day (Luther)” with joyful anticipation and unbridled hope. In the face of natural or man-made disasters, we can hold our heads up high because our salvation is near. We read in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” And the best, the very best of everything, will soon be given to all who love our Saviour Jesus Christ. The more we think about the new heaven and new earth that will be given to us, the more effective we will be in serving our God on this earth now. Those who have served God most effectively while on this earth have meditated frequently on what God is preparing for those who love Him in the life of the world to come. They’ve especially looked forward to Christ’s visible appearance on the Last Day.

We Christians ought not to be alarmed over threats of nuclear warfare or other international disasters because we know that Christ Jesus will triumph over all opposition and threats to His Church. He has already won the most important victory over sin, death and the devil at Easter. We live now in the light of that victory. Jesus said, “I have said this to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! (John 16:33)” In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus is asked about signs of the last things.

St Peter mentions positive signs performed by Jesus before Easter, and in the Book of Acts we learn of signs like the conversion of 3,000 people to Christianity on the first Pentecost Sunday. The principal prophecies of the Old Testament have been fulfilled in the First Coming of Jesus Christ, at Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost. The Last Days weren’t some event far off into the future, but an event that began at Pentecost. “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” All Christians can now prophesy when they uplift, encourage and comfort others with the Holy Gospel. St Paul says, “Those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding, encouragement and consolation (1 Corinthians 14:3).” By comforting and encouraging others, we strengthen their faith in the face of life’s troubles and trials. “The essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness to Jesus (Revelation 19:10).”

In the New Testament the role of prophecy is less to talk about the future, and more to reassure us of God’s hand in the things that are happening in our lives today. Romans 8:28 remains a key assurance for us, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” Many of the signs Jesus mentions in Luke 21 were already fulfilled in the Book of Acts, like Jesus’ followers being persecuted and brought before governors because of their faithful witness to Jesus. When they did that, they discovered that our risen Lord Jesus was fulfilling His promise of giving them powerful words promoting all that Jesus has done for us. Their opponents were astonished at their disarming fearlessness. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.” The more the first Christians were persecuted, the more the Christian Church grew. The Church thrives more in times of adversity than it does when everything’s going well.

A Chinese Christian has written that “the growth in the life of the Church has been promoted even by the servants of the devil. Wherever the Church flourishes there are difficulties. The revival of the Church here has grown up in this situation. For if Jesus had not been crucified, none today could be saved; if there were no testing by fire, then true faith would not become apparent, and if there were no training we could not become instruments used by the Lord. So difficulties are the means for promoting life and revival in the churches.”

Anatoli Levitin was imprisoned for the Christian education of youth. In prison he was able to spend much time in prayer. He writes, “The greatest miracle of all is prayer. I have only to turn my thoughts to God and I suddenly feel a force bursting into me; there is a new strength in my soul, in my entire being …” During his time of prayer, he would imagine himself taking part in the worship of his church. He said, “At the central point of the liturgy … I felt myself standing before the face of the Lord, sensing almost physically His wounded, bleeding body. I would begin praying in my own words, remembering all those near to me, those in prison and those who were free, those still alive and those who had died. More and more names welled up from my memory … the prison walls moved apart and the whole universe became my residence, visible and invisible, the universe for which that wounded pierced body offered itself as a sacrifice … after this, I experienced an exultation of spirit all day – I felt purified within. Not only my own prayer helped me but even more the prayer of many other faithful Christians.”

St Paul, when he became a Christian, found endless comfort in the knowledge that Jesus identifies with us when we faithfully witness to Him. To persecute a Christian is to persecute Jesus. From that time on, St Paul was never able to look at another Christian without seeing Jesus there. Christians have viewed the fact that they can fearlessly witness to Jesus in the most negative of situations as evidence that Jesus is with them and sowing seeds of faith for the future. Not all that seems to be a sign really is a sign. Many events are important in their own right, without being signs of the End. Natural and social upheavals occur to keep us on our toes and to prevent apathy and complacency among Christians about the future of their faith.

The most important event that must occur before the End of our world is that the Gospel must first be preached to all nations, “And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).” St Paul did his utmost to spread the Gospel as far as he could. His example motivated countless other Christians to pass on the good news of Jesus Christ. “Very many of the disciples of that age, whose hearts had been ravished by the divine word with a burning love of Christianity, first fulfilled the command of the Saviour and divided their goods among the needy. Then they set out on long journeys, doing the work of evangelists, eagerly striving to preach Christ to those who had never heard the word of faith (Eusebius).”

We owe a huge debt to the witnessing activity of such faithful Christians. The spread of the Gospel continues today amongst migrants to our country like the Sudanese, Koreans and Chinese. Some of these, in turn, return to their homeland to spread the Gospel there. We can prepare for the Last Day by praying for and supporting the mission work of our Church here and overseas.

The more we can, in faith, see God at work in all the things that are going right in our lives now, the less need we will have to peep into tomorrow. Jesus says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes (Matthew 6:33-34).”

The prophets’ role in the Bible was to call God’s people to repentance and a deeper trust in their Creator. Fulfilment of prophecy (as predictions of the future) often came as a breath-taking surprise, exceeding all expectation. When Jesus came, He exceeded people’s expectation in all sorts of ways. We read in the Gospels that people were constantly astonished by what He said and did. He showed an extraordinary love and focussed His time and attention on those folk who were the neglected and forgotten members of society. No wonder the common people listened with rapt attention to Jesus. For He embodied the Good News He practised and preached.

Jesus equated the Gospel with Himself. To do something for the Gospel is to do it for Jesus. For where the Good News about Jesus is shared, there He is present. References to the blessings the Gospel brings us here and now far outweigh references to hell and damnation in the New Testament. Hell is for those who reject God’s love and the best good news in the universe. Jesus promises you that “By standing firm, you will gain life”, that is, life with Christ Jesus forever. He also promises that “not a hair of your head will perish.” This means that nothing, not even your hair, is excluded from Christ’s care of you. No part of your real being will be lost or brought to nothing. If your hair doesn’t perish, it is because that’s part of His will and purpose for you. “Of all the ills we endure / Hope is the universal cure.”

The New Testament links our Christian hope with words like assurance, confidence and eager expectation. After this sermon of Christ’s in today’s Gospel, in order to keep our faith and hope alive until He visibly reappears, Jesus instates Holy Communion. We don’t have to wait for the Last Day for Jesus Christ to come to us. Through Holy Communion, He prepares us for the life of the world to come. Holy Communion enables us to do today’s duties without worrying about what will happen in 2020 or 2021.

“”What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).” “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11).” Amen.

The God of the living

Text: Luke 20:34-38

Jesus answered, “The men and women of this age marry, but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry. They will be like angels and cannot die. They are the children of God, because they have risen from death. And Moses clearly proves that the dead are raised to life. In the passage about the burning bush he speaks of the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive.”

There is an Italian legend about a master and servant. It seems the servant wasn’t very smart and the master used to get very exasperated with him. Finally, one day, in a fit of temper, the master said, “You really are the stupidest man I know. Here, I want you to carry this staff wherever you go. And if you ever meet a person stupider than yourself, give them this staff.”

So time went by, the servant would encounter some pretty stupid people, but he never found someone stupid enough to give the staff. Years later, he returned to his master’s home. Even though his master was very sick, he still managed to say to his servant, “I see you haven’t found anyone more stupid to give that staff”. After a while the master said, “I’m going on a journey soon.”
“When will you return?” asked the servant.
“This is a journey from which I won’t return,” the master replied.
The servant asked, “Have you made all the necessary arrangements?”
“No, I guess I haven’t.”
“Well, could you have made all the arrangements?”
“Oh yes, I’ve had time. I’ve had all my life. But I’ve been busy with other things.”

The servant said, “Let me be sure about this. You’re going on a journey from which you will never return and you’ve had all your life to make the arrangements, but you haven’t.”

The master said, “Yes, I guess that’s right.”
The servant replied, “Master, take this staff. At last I have truly found a man stupider than myself.”

Maybe that’s just a story, but it reflects the way many people treat death as a taboo subject. Everyone knows that it’s going to happen to them one day but it’s something people prefer not to think about or talk about. No thought is given about death and dying and its impact on them personally. No thought is given on how to prepare for death until it hits close to home and suddenly despair, emptiness, hopelessness and inconsolable grief fills their lives because they have never given any thought to the finality of death and what lies beyond this life. Like the man in the story, too many people know they are going on this journey but don’t prepare for it.

On the other hand, people who have no interest in religion as well as people in the church want to know what happens when we die. Science can’t penetrate beyond death to discover what happens to us. We can’t interview anyone about dying, and what is beyond death. There has been an intense examination of those who have had near death experiences and experience bright lights at the end of tunnels. What these mean and do these apply to everyone is anyone’s guess. Are these just happening in our brains or are they more than that?

Behind all this interest in death is the deep down feeling that there must be more – that there is something beyond this life. There is curiosity. There is the desire to want to believe that our purpose is more than our years here on earth.

Some have grasped on to the idea that has become very popular that we will come back again and our soul is given to another living creature. Our soul lives on forever, reincarnated hopefully into a higher living being each time.

Others say that everyone is born with an immortal soul that leaves us when we die and goes to live happily forever in another better place. That immortal goodness in us is waiting to be released when we die and, regardless who the person is, that soul will rest in peace forever in paradise.

There are those who simply say that when you die, that’s it. There is nothing else. “When you’re dead, you’re dead!” When your time’s up that’s the end of you and there is nothing else beyond your last breath.

The Sadducees followed this line of thinking. They claimed that there was no life after death – no resurrection – since it isn’t mentioned in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. They enjoyed having a bit of fun with those who did believe in life after death so they come to Jesus with this hypothetical question about a woman who marries 7 brothers after each one dies. Pointing out how ridiculous the idea of life after death really is, they then ask with a smirk on their faces, “On the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be?” Can you imagine the Sadducees smugly folding their arms with a grin of satisfaction, thinking, “Get out of that one, carpenter from Nazareth!”

Jesus comes back with two answers both affirming beyond all doubt that there is a resurrection and that there is life after death.
Firstly, Jesus says that in this life, men and women marry but those who are worthy to rise from the dead will not marry. They will be changed. Their bodies will become like angels. That means our bodies will be different to what they are now – we will have a heavenly body if you like. What that precisely means we aren’t told but we are told they will never die. We aren’t on a never ending merry-go-round of reincarnation, neither will we disappear into nothingness. God has prepared for us an eternal destination.

The point Jesus is making here is that you can’t take what we experience in this life and project those experiences into the new life in heaven. Heaven is way beyond anything we experience here. As much as we might like to think we have some pretty good things here in this life and want to experience them again in heaven, Jesus is saying that heaven is way beyond anything we know from this present life. It is something totally new and wonderful. It defies description because all we can do is use words and images that we have from this life and they are completely inadequate when it comes to describing life after death.

It’s like looking through a frosted glass window trying to see what’s on the other side. All we can see are shapes and lights – what’s on the other side will have to wait until we are able to see it all clearly with our own eyes.

Now to Jesus’ second come back to the Sadducees. This time he refers to the books of Moses – the Sadducees considered themselves to be the experts when it came to this part of scripture. He says, “Moses clearly proves that the dead are raised to life. In the passage about the burning bush he speaks of the Lord as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive.” He points out that God does not say that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as if they were dead and gone. Rather God introduces himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who are alive and well living in his presence. “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am the God of the living. I am the resurrection and the life.”

There are lots of things we don’t know about life after death and how the resurrection will happen and when it will happen. But we do know that it will happen and who is at the centre of the resurrection even if everything is a bit unclear now.

In 1 Corinthians 15, St Paul uses the picture of the seed and the mature plant. When you look at the seed that you are about to plant, to all intents and purposes it looks dead and lifeless. Into the ground it goes, there to await the miracle of germination. Down come the gentle rains and the warm rays of the sun and that dead seed suddenly and miraculously springs to life. Up it pushes through the soil as a new plant and at last when it is ripe and mature is harvested.

So it will be with our bodies. One day some loving hands will tenderly deposit the dormant seed of our lifeless bodies into the soil of the grave, there to await the miracle of germination, the wonder of the resurrection. And up we will spring as God’s new plants, the same and yet different, glorified, deathless and immortal, ripe, mature and ready to be harvested and to enjoy his presence forever.

Paul calls Jesus “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus has opened up the way for us to inherit eternal life. He has been the first. He defeated death and all its terrors by his own resurrection and promises that we too shall rise in the same way.

Hermann Sasse was a German theologian who came to this country fleeing Nazi Germany. He became a great teacher who influenced generations of Lutheran pastors in Australia. His last message to the church and to the world is written on his grave stone – simple but profound words:
“For those who trust in you, Lord, life is changed, not ended.”

One new day we shall awake to a day beyond all other days by the love of God. All trouble, doubts and fears will be gone. We will become “like angels” by “the God of the living” we are raised to a joy and peace beyond anything that mortal minds can conceive.

When that happens, the words of this sermon will seem trivial, and even the visions of heaven in the Bible will seem an inadequate description of the real thing. Now we see dimly, as through a frosted window; then we shall see with absolute clarity. Thanks be to God!

The Best is Still to Come

Has there been a highpoint in your life these past twelve months? Can you recall any unexpected blessings that came your way? Or was this year marked by personal sorrow and sadness? Whatever has happened in your life this past year, God has continued to bless you with life, grace and mercy, and wants you to experience that “the mercies of the Lord are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22).” It’s also helpful to remember that our “bad days” have no more hours in them than our “good days”.

Today we thank God for every Christian near and dear to us who has died in the Christian Faith. We’re grateful for the blessings brought to us through their prayers while they were still alive, and also for the love we received from them. God has given us two gifts to help us cope with the loss of our loved ones. He has given us our memories of them, and He has given us our sure and certain hope of life with them in heaven forever. God’s Word says “The memory of the righteous is a blessing (Proverbs 10:7).” We honour our deceased family members and friends by thanking God for them. God’s Word comforts us with these words from Scripture, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones (Psalm 111:15).”

As sad as it may be that they’re no longer with us, it would be sadder still if we had never known them and they had not enriched our lives with their presence and love. Good memories can prolong the blessings we feel. With our memory we can bring to mind things we didn’t notice at the time, and yet realise that the best is still to come, a time for which our faith is preparing us, even today.

Death isn’t God’s final word to you about your deceased loved ones. The last Book of the Bible tells us, “Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord (Revelation 14:13).” “To bless” those who have died may sound strange to modern ears. Our modern world prefers to think of blessedness in terms of this life only. It cannot see how death can be a blessing to someone. But for everyone who “believes in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead into life everlasting”, it’s so very different.

For all of us who do, death marks the start of the greatest chapter of our lives. Death doesn’t end our relationships with those who have died in the Faith; rather it raises our relationship with them to a higher level. The Christian Faith we share together transforms the parting of Christians into “the communion of saints”, for in the communion of saints, we have in Christ a link with them that transcends death. Our fellowship with the saints in glory gives us a deeper meaning to our worship in the name of Jesus. We worship God together with all those who worship Him around the throne of God in heaven.

Our Christian community is much larger than all those Christians who are alive on this earth now. In today’s second reading, St. Paul gives us a vision of the Church on this earth and the Church triumphant in heaven, inseparably bound together. Just as a bridegroom is complete with his bride, so Christ feels complete with the members of His Body, His dearly loved Church. Here, as St Paul often does in his letters to churches, Paul addresses the Christians in Ephesus with the title of “saints”.

It is significant that in the Apostles’ Creed, immediately after we confess our faith in the communion of saints, we confess our faith in the forgiveness of sins. Saints are all those Christians who treasure and embrace the forgiveness Jesus Christ has won for them at Easter. Every Christian who clings to Christ as his or her only source of hope, despite the pain and suffering they’ve experienced, is a saint in God’s eyes. We could also refer to this particular Sunday in the Church Year as a Festival of Forgiven Sinners. While many of the saints mentioned in our Bibles performed heroic acts of faith, others could easily identify with the prayer of the tax collector in the temple when he prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

“Saints” are not those who achieve holiness by doing good works, but all those who receive Christ’s own holiness through faith. Wherever there is faith active in love, there is a saint at work. God has chosen some rather odd characters to carry out His mission in our world, because all kinds of Christians matter to Him. His Son Jesus loved the Church, the community of believers, so much that He gave His life for it. St. Paul presents the continued existence of Christ’s Church on earth as proof of the power of our Lord’s resurrection.

Our risen Redeemer is alive and active both within and outside of His Church in unexpected places. Each Sunday Service is a celebration of Easter. Easter is both the promise and the guarantee of your own resurrection. St. Paul uses amazing words to tell you of the far-reaching effects of Easter when he says, “God has made us alive together with Christ … and raised us up with Christ and seated us with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).” Already now, in Holy Communion, we experience “a foretaste of the feast to come”. When we confess that Jesus is risen from the dead, our faith isn’t in a far away event, but rather in an event that transcends time and space, that reaches out to include us. In a mysterious way, our life as our Lord’s saints is already a life beyond death, hidden under this life. St. Paul says to us, “For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).”

The Church is an extension of Christ’s body. We experience even now the countless blessings of His life, death and resurrection. This means we will seek to love each member of His Church just as He loves each one of us. St. Paul bursts into jubilant thanksgiving when he hears of the faith of the Ephesian Church and their love for one another. One of the joys of being a member of Christ’s Church is an awareness that we belong together with all Christians, of every time and place, and can enjoy a feeling of being “at home” when travelling, sharing the same hymns and songs, praying the same prayers and listening to the same Bible readings we have here.

In our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus joins us with the whole communion of saints, here and beyond time and space. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (Hebrews 12:22-23a).” The words of our Holy Communion liturgy, “therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we adore and magnify your glorious name”, reinforce this message.

You may, therefore, more properly remember your deceased loved ones at the Lord’s Table than at the cemetery. That’s why receiving Holy Communion is such a wonderful experience. In Holy Communion you not only have communion with Christ Jesus and with those who receive Holy Communion with you, but also with those who have died in the Faith. They surround you and support you invisibly, just as all the other Christians do who worship God together with you. They witness your worship and rejoice over it, even as the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents. “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10).”

All of the changes of this life prepare us for the greatest change of all, from this life to the life of the world to come. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11).”

Remember, the best is still to come. Amen.