Sermon - Trinity XXIV 2018 - Matthew 9:18-26

Why are you so afraid of death and dying? “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass?” Why do “you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy?” Why are you sore afraid that you’ve “forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth?” Why are you so afraid of death and dying, when Christ awakens us from the slumber of death to rise to new life?

Well, to be fair, there are a lot of reasons to fear death I suppose. Afterall, St. Paul describes death as a fierce enemy. From Genesis we learn that death is the result of sin. Death is unnatural to creation as God’s created order is without death. Death is the unnatural divorce, separation, of the body from the soul. Death is generally quite permanent in this life; you don’t typically come back from it. When a loved one dies, you only get to see them in pictures and talk with them in your imagination.

Because of this fear of death, cultures and false religions across the world and throughout history have created superstitious beliefs regarding death in order to mitigate the severity of death. Many falsely believe that upon death you are reincarnated and so you’re not gone, just different. Many falsely believe that when you die, your ghost lingers in the place of your death. Many falsely believe that when you die, you become nothingness. 

In our own culture one example is that we’ve turned the holy observance of All Hallow’s Eve into an occasion to celebrate death as we erect idols of skeletons, decaying corpses, and ghoulish figures in our yards while we encourage our little children to dress up as monstrous figures of death while brandishing gory implements of death. Outside of the fantasy world of Halloween, we even praise and glorify death! Women are encouraged to shout their abortion, to be proud of the occasion upon which they paid someone to kill their unborn child. When people are nearing death due to a terminal illness, they celebrate their death with friends and relatives at their suicide party at which they kill themselves with a lethal concoction of drugs. 

In our attempts to allay our fear of death, we’ve come to the point of celebrating death. Our fear of death has in turn given our society the culture of death. 

Let me be clear about this: death is not a friend. The apostle Paul was right when he portrayed death as our enemy. Jesus was not wrong to cry when His dear friend Lazarus had died. Death is not a peaceful release. Suicide is not death with dignity. Abortion is not something of which we should be proud. Celebrating death is not the proper way to cope with death as a Christian. If you’re struggling with a suicide or an abortion or killing someone, come talk to me as your pastor so that I can share Christ’s life-giving forgiveness with you.

Because death is an enemy, not a friend, this is what spurned the Jewish ruler, whose name is Jairus by the way, to come and worship at the feet of Jesus saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jairus recognized that death was not a good thing. So when his only daughter, who is no more than twelve years old, dies, he falls at the feet of Jesus and implores Him to bring her back to life.

Why does Jairus come to Jesus in this his moment of greatest need just to seek the touch of Jesus? Why does this woman who suffered the discharge of blood for twelve years endure the crowds about Jesus in her great weakness just to touch the fringe of His garment? Jesus answers the motivation behind both individuals when He looks upon the woman and says “Take heart, daughter; your faith has saved you.”

Faith brought these individuals to Jesus. But not just any kind of faith, this is faith which believes that Jesus is their Lord and their maker, this is faith which believes His Word that declares: “You are my people,” this is faith which believes that we “shall not die and go down to the pit.” This is faith which believes Jesus’ words: “the girl is not dead, but sleeping.”

“And they laughed at Him.” At those words the paid professional mourners, the flute players, the crowds, looked at Jesus and scornfully laughed in His face. They had seen the little girl, the color was gone from her skin, her body was cold and stiff, and she was ready to be put in the grave. What kind of madman says that a dead child is merely sleeping? So the world looks at Jesus today, hears His Word about death being no more than a slumber, and ridicules Him by laughing in His face. So the evil world shall always laugh at Christians in derision for our hopeful perspective on death. 

But even if the world laughs, so be it! Christ looks at this evil generation, He looks at our culture of death, He looks at our like minded hearts, and He says “Go away! Be gone!” He dispels from His beloved church our celebrations and superstitions of death, and He affirms that for us we will not die but fall asleep. Jesus took the little girl by the hand, He said to her “child, arise,” and immediately her spirit which had been separated from her body by death, returned, and she got up at once. With this miracle, Jesus proves to our doubting hearts that His Word is true and His faithful believers shall not die but only sleep.

Scripture everywhere gives such consolation which speaks of the death of the saints, as if they fell asleep and were gathered to their fathers, that is, had overcome death through this faith and comfort in Christ, and awaited the resurrection, together with the saints who preceded them in death. That’s right, death is no death for you dear Christian! Death is no more than falling asleep! When you die, your soul is gathered with the saints in heaven together with Jesus, and your body shall rest in peaceful sleep until the reappearing of Christ when from death He shall awaken you.

As such, the Christian church for 2000 years has treated death quite differently than the world around her. While pagans would burn the dead and build nightmarish graveyards, Christians would honorably bury their dead. Neither did Christians call these places graveyards, but sleeping chambers, dormitories, houses of sleep. Our English word, cemetery, comes from the Greek word koimeiteirion, meaning to put to sleep. The Germans call cemeteries Gottesacker, God’s Acre, for St. Paul says that we are “sown a natural body.” The picture of a cemetery then is that of God planting these people until on the last day they sprout and rise from the grave in perfect holiness. We Christians treat death quite differently than the world around us because Jesus teaches us that death is no more than a slumber. 

Just like when you fall asleep, you later awaken, you arise refreshed and renewed for the day. So does this little girl who awakens from death and immediately arises, and Jesus instructs that this little reawakened girl be given something to eat. She awakens, she lives, she walks, she eats, she is truly alive. 

The same is true for you my friends. Though you will fall asleep in the Lord, you will be awakened on the last day together with all who have fallen asleep in Christ. When you awaken, your faith will have saved you, will have been healed you of your diseases. All those Christians who have been burned alive at the stake, blown up in bombs, dismembered by barbarians, or decomposed to dirt due to time, shall be risen from sleep on the last day and live. 

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The only death that actually means anything to you now is not your own, but Christ’s death. In Jesus’ crucifixion He swallowed up death, He was killed so that your death is not a real death. When you were baptized into Christ, you were crucified with Him and you were killed with Him right there on Calvary. But because of His death which has swallowed up your sin and death, you will merely sleep until Christ returns.

And when Jesus returns, “the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” So let me again ask you: Why are you so afraid of death and dying? You don’t have to be. Death is in the past, conquered by Jesus. Heaven is in the future, where we shall be awakened with Jesus. So when that fear of death strikes you again, use the command of Jesus and say: “Go away, death! Be gone, fear! You have been trampled underfoot by my Savior who is God: Jesus my Lord. Go away, death! Be gone, fear! Christ Jesus is here.”