“Young man, I say to you, arise.” Trinity 16 2024

27. September 2024
Trinity 16
Luke 7:11-17

He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.

In Name of the + Jesus. Amen.

The devil, the world, and your sinful flesh preach sermons. Your flesh preaches to you, proclaiming, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die!” The world’s sermon pontificates, “God’s Word is too restrictive to your way of life, too much mystical hocus pocus, and it’s too good to be true.” And the devil adds his voice, “Why do you need God anyway? Enjoy life, follow your passions, and pursue your dreams!”

These sermons are Satanic and utterly opposed to Jesus. They tell lies about your real spiritual darkness and sickness. These homilies lack any help, comfort, or benefit to your actual pain and suffering. These preachers fall short of lasting value for your body and life. The devil, world, and flesh all demand you listen to their demonic lies. These three idols command fear, love, and trust.

And especially when faced with death, there is finally nothing your flesh, this world, or the devil can say to bring you joy in the midst of death. We hate it, but we love it, too. Our world has been transformed into a cult of death. We worship death. We live in fear of death. We trust in every naive attempt to avoid death. We talk about death every day. What’s the latest death toll from whatever is the disease du jour? Some spend all their time vainly pursuing the latest diet craze, ingesting supplements, or doing exercises that promise eternal life. And some avoid it all, embracing death as unavoidable and even celebrating it.

I’m not speaking hyperbole. There’s an even louder sermon being screamed by the press, the legislators, the courts. Our world has embraced death, falling for a terrible, sick, Satanic joke. Parents argue that their way of life and their future plans are cause to kill their child, today euphemistically called “terminating a fetus.” Nine states of our Republic have already decided it is perfectly fine to kill the child up until birth and some even after it’s delivered. And worse yet, these murdered babies are harvested for parts for science, and God knows what else, like some repurposed machine. Those who have exposed this horrendous practice were charged and jailed by the prosecutor running to be president.

The name Dr. Death used to be a judgment against those who assisted in suicide. Today, many states celebrate this death dealer as being merciful and kind, allowing the termination of the elderly, paralyzed, diseased, or generally uncomfortable. In some cases, they don’t even need the consent of the one they kill. Suicide is celebrated as an escape from this world by shows on television.

Death is all around us, talked about constantly, tallied in fancy charts and memes, celebrated, and even embraced as a good thing. Some are even rejoicing in the death of millions worldwide as suitable worship of other idols of “excessive” family size, food shortages, and climate change, finding some perverse, demonic happiness in culling our world of life. Death demands and has our fear, love, and trust, and it has it in spades. Death preaches its sermon, and we and our neighbors have been listening.

But Jesus hates funerals because He despises death. There isn’t a funeral that Jesus can’t interrupt. He comes, and He has a stronger word, a sermon that exposes the lies of the death cult. He sees the grieving widow-mother and says, “Do not weep.” He walks right up to the open casket, interrupts its travel to the grave, and says to the deceased, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” Jesus stops the funeral in its tracks, applies His hand, and proclaims the resurrection.

That is the job of every Christian funeral. The so-called “celebration of life” ironically avoids the reality of the corpse in the casket. No, it is a funeral that recognizes reality but is also interrupted repeatedly by the promises of Jesus. He interrupts the crying and sorrow, the pain and the loss, the memories of times nearly forgotten. Jesus stands in the breach between death and the grave and has a radical Word to speak. “I am the resurrection and the life,” says the Lord. “He who believes in Me will live, even though He dies, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John 11:25-26) Jesus speaks life amid death, resurrection over death, confidence and hope in the face of grief and despair.

It’s arresting, no doubt. There is a time for sorrow. There is a reason for grief. As the Bible calls it, death is the last enemy to be defeated. Every soldier knows that after their tour of duty, they come home to a different sort of battle. Our earthly enemies are not isolated in the foreign war zone. Our enemies are around us everywhere and even in our very person. The Bible tells us that this world is corrupt, broken, and antagonistic to God. In this world, the devil and unseen demons lie to us and seek to murder our trust in God. The Bible also says our thoughts, words, and deeds are corrupt and opposed to God’s own will.

Everything we say and do is, on some level, in opposition to God. And God’s Word also declares that the consequence of our rejection of God the Holy Trinity is death. These are the enemies of God. Only if you make these enemies your ally do you make God out to be your enemy. But these enemies have been defeated by Jesus. Because you’re with Jesus, those enemies are and will be conquered forever.

That’s the story today: Jesus stands in the breach between your death and grave. He forgives your sin, overcomes this world, defeats the Devil himself, and has even destroyed the power of death. For those who are in Christ Jesus, baptized into His holy name, all these mortal enemies are rendered impotent and toothless. They can do nothing to take you from Jesus. For those who “have been united with [Jesus] in a death like His, … shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (Romans 6:3-5)

Therefore, the promise for everyone is this: On the last day, the Lord Jesus will call to you. With the same creative voice that made the heavens, the earth, and everything, Jesus will call you from your grave. “Young man or woman, I say to you, arise!” This promise is already yours. Where Jesus is forgiving, there is Jesus giving life and salvation already. Dearly beloved, God sends you a preacher today, interrupting the crying and sorrow, the pain and the loss, and the memories of times nearly forgotten. I stand before you with a radical Word from Jesus Christ to speak:

“I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep,  lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:13-18)

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin