November 18, 2007
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church Pr. Per Inge Vik Luk 21,5-19 We have come to the second to the last Sunday of this church year. For several weeks now, we have been reading texts from the great travel description by Luke, going through several chapters. It depicts Jesus heading toward his last Passover. On his way up to Jerusalem he preaches to the people, heals illness, teaches his disciples and he confronts the unbelievers. Like last Sunday, he stumped the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection from the dead. This Sunday Jesus and his fellow travelers have come to their destination. They are by the temple. They are viewing the amazing building. Herod the Great had, over the last years, extended and decorated it so that it now was a completed sanctuary. Some of Jesus’ co-travelers utter some admiring words about the sight they see. Jesus answers: "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." In a prophetic vision Jesus looks into the future, and he shares what he sees. Shocked, they listened to these somber future prospects. Who could imagine that not more than 37 years would pass before it came true? The Roman occupying forces saw to the demolition under general Titus’ leadership. At the Arch of Triumph in Rome the episode is hewn in stone. The reliefs show soldiers in triumph carrying the Arc of the Covenant and the Seven Armed Candelabra and other treasures away from Jerusalem. The city was burnt, the walls torn down and the temple extinguished. When the disciples ask about the signs that this is about to take place, Jesus continues by talking about the times of trial that are coming. Seductions and persecutions awaited his followers. We know that this also came true - a somber picture of the future that is painted. They are going to be persecuted, imprisoned, betrayed even by their own, and hated because of the name of Jesus. Dear listener, recognize what thoughts and feelings that come to you hearing these things from Jesus.. What do you think about the future? Are you full of hope, or does fear for what is coming fill your mind? Did you notice that in the middle of these somber things, the Master asked his disciples to witness? And he says, By your endurance you will gain your souls. The same duplicity can be recognized in the prophecy that we read from the last chapter in the OT, from the prophet Malachi. There the last day is painted in frightening colors. Burning like an oven, the day is coming, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. Today I want to paint Christian hope as colorful and clear as possible. I will convey what comes after “the end”. What does the Bible say about this? The Bible reveals a mystery to us. Something that God in his love uncovers so that we may find anchoring and feeling safe, even if we know that we are going to die some day. It is clear in our texts today that what looks like the end, the death of the body, is not the end after all. So what comes afterwards? Several people have a vague idea that even if the body dies, there is something in us that will not die. We call it the soul. It continues to live after the death of the body, when it moves out from there. It moves into another body, some believe. Some even think that this is what the Bible teaches us. But that is not the case. The Bible doesn't teach that man has an “immortal” soul, and that it is only the bodies that die. Only the teaching of transmigration of souls says so. Some people have religious ideas that are close to such teaching, and not a Biblical faith in the resurrection. Later years’ surveys have uncovered that faith in transmigration of souls has grown dramatically in old Norway. One survey even uncovers that there are now more Norwegians believing in this than in the Bible’s teaching about the last things. That must be for the first time since Christianity was introduced a thousand years ago. It isn’t surprising that it has gotten like that, because the weekly magazines and entertainment culture support such ideas. I think about horoscopes and that the media arrange provoking encounters with people who have had experiences of karma, fate and reincarnation. But the Bible is much more radical than all these religious ideas and fantasies. It teaches us that there is a road from death to life, also for our body. The Bible talks about the total change and renewal of creation by the bodily resurrection. One of the most fascinating texts about this is 1.Cor 15:42. There the apostle says So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. This is interesting! Paul compares here that a human dies and is buried by planting, What is sown is perishable. A beautiful and strong picture, full of hope! A Christian funeral is, to the contrary of other religions, full of a hope that is based on a reason. We may not grieve as others do who have no hope (1.Thes4:13), says the apostle. Graveyards were called God’s Field, by the old ones. The churches I served as a pastor in Norway were surrounded by a graveyard. During the postlude at funerals, the coffin is carried out of the church, and directly to “God’s Field”. The old practice of burying the dead in the earth facing the sunrise, towards the east, is still kept. It is a symbolic deed, with a clear Christian message in it. The dead are buried according to the words of the prophet Malachi (4:2). They face towards the sun of righteousness that shall rise, with healing in its wings. The fulfillment is more glorious than the prophecy. Our future expectation is not only healing, but resurrection of the body. The body is going to be united with the soul after death. The pain, the tribulations, all evil only last for a little while, compared to the everlasting glory of heaven. As Jesus says today, By your endurance you will gain your souls, this is what he aims at. Do not lose perspective. Take heart, and look ahead with expectation! Those who believe in Christ, always have the best yet to come. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who was, is and will always be one true God, from eternity to eternity. (Congregation responds: Amen.) |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |