Death No More - Isaiah 25:6-9 (November 1st)
Yesterday was a day that
annually brings out many who are overwhelmingly obsessed with death—whether it
be the tradition of dressing up as zombies, fictional serial killers (like
Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger), vampires, or simply the dead. Some may have even decided to sit and watch a
marathon of horror movies. For others,
obsession with death is not limited to Halloween and is not about any sort of
fictional death and it is less about fascination and more about worry or
anticipation—of the death of a loved one or our own death. For those who really need help pinpointing
that day when the grim reaper will come knocking on the door, there is an
option on the internet at www.deathclock.com.
The deathclock site is
not intended to be a forecaster of doom or magically predict when we are going
to die. If you read the information on
the site, you will find that all the developer did when they set it up (14
years ago, and it hasn’t been updated in 12 years—websites don’t die unless
someone takes them down), was take the average life span for men and women and
simply subtract your current age from that, possibly taking into account both
BMI and smoking habits, and offering the result. That’s easy enough to see with my own
“personal day of death,” which, if you do the math, puts me at 73, only 3 years
off the average male life expectancy in the United States. The truth of the matter is that no one knows
that day, that hour, that minute—even medical staff can’t accurately predict
the date in the face of terminal illness, until possibly the day it happens,
and not always then.
While we live in a
culture that is obsessed with death, we have to remember that as the people of
God, death should not be our focus…life should.
We often forget that death was not part of God’s original creation,
death is not something that we were, or are, supposed to be embracing. For the Jews, in a sense, death was
considered the enemy. Some might would
argue that death was considered the enemy because they had no concept of
eternal life, so it could not be seen as a portal through which to be excited
because we pass on to a better life. I
would argue that is not the case, and that even for those of us who believe in
and place our confidence in the promise of the Resurrection, that death should
still be considered the enemy. Why? I would offer three reasons.
First, God is about life. God created life. He didn’t create death. God created us to live—He offered His own
breath at creation to give life. Jesus
said that “[he] came that [we] may have life, and have it abundantly.”[i]
Secondly, death came, not
as part of the original design package of creation, but as punishment for
sin. Death came into our world only as a
result of humanity entering into sin…had we not sinned…had we not chosen to eat
of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and make ourselves gods…had we
instead chosen to eat of the Tree of Life…death would not have entered the
world.
Finally, throughout
Scripture death is repeatedly depicted as an enemy to overcome…our enemy over
which God will bring ultimate triumph.
We get a taste of this in
our Scripture reading this morning. The
prophet Isaiah writes, “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds
all peoples. The sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death
forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe
away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from
the earth….” Isaiah does not offer up a
picture of death that we embrace, death that we want to be friends with, death
that we look forward to…it is a shroud that enfolds…a sheet that covers…it is
the disgrace of God’s people. Death is
disgrace…because it is the mark of sin upon our lives…it is the reminder that
we are less that we are called to be.
This is the enemy that God comes into our lives to defeat.
Paul, in his letter to
the Corinthians, picks up on this theme that death is the enemy, as he writes,
“When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts
on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has
been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O
death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.”[ii] It is not our ally…it is the enemy that God
defeats through Jesus Christ.
Again in the Revelation
of John, we once again learn that death is not something that is embraced, but an
enemy that is removed: “…he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be
no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things
have passed away.”[iii] Echoing Isaiah, death and mourning are
removed from the people of God as God brings victory over these enemies of His
people.
My brothers and sisters,
we gather today and every Sunday because God has claimed that victory. As we struggled with sin and it’s punishment,
death, God came to us in the presence of His Son, Jesus, living among us. Jesus went to the cross, though he was
sinless, he took the punishment for our sins, and died. Three days later, God claimed victory over
not only our sins, but also over our enemy, death. Jesus died that final death for each of us,
so that “whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”[iv] That means that those who have surrendered
their lives to Jesus, they do not die but pass from our presence into the
presence of Jesus.
Today we gather on All
Saint’s Day—the day where we have lifted up those of our fellowship that have
passed from being physically present with us, to resting in the arms of our
Savior. We gather not to mourn their
passing, but to celebrate on this and every day that while they may not be with
us, they are not experiencing the finality of death, but experiencing the
wonder and glory of being in the very presence of Christ. Remember in Matthew the story of the daughter
of the synagogue leader. Jesus arrived,
everyone told Him that the girl was dead.
He looked at them and said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but
sleeping.” Then he took her by the hand and raised her up.[v] Remember Jesus’ words with the disciples as
they received the news of Lazarus’ death, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.”[vi] We celebrate because we know that our
brothers and sisters only sleep while we wait for that day when the trumpet
will sound and Christ will come to wake all those who sleep and take us all
before the throne of God to prepare to feast at the Great Banquet Table—
“the Lord of hosts will make
for all peoples—a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food
filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.”
Today, not only do we
gather to remember those who are resting and waiting, but we also come to
celebrate at the Table that Christ has prepared for us. Paul tells us that, “as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”[vii] We gather at this Table, the Table that
Christ has prepared for us, to proclaim that Christ died once, for all, and
that all who come to this feast celebrate that death has been defeated, that
death is no more, and that for all who have been joined with Christ, we
celebrate—not yesterday as a day of the dead, but today, a day where we
remember that life, not death, is our future…and where death clocks are of no
use, because death is no more.
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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