When I first heard of Erica's death I found myself experiencing a moment of loss and shock. While we weren't close friends, I really enjoyed my time knowing Erica in college, and the knowledge that our world no longer enjoys her presence was a blow to me. I found myself understanding why many people in such a situation can question, in an accident that seems so senseless and purposeless, where was God?
What hope is there in a world where death can come so quickly and unexpectedly?
Where, in this tragedy, is there room to hope?
Well
today I would like to remind everyone that there is hope in this darkness. In
fact, there is hope that has power to change the way we grieve.
In
Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians he wrote, "But we do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others
do who have no hope.". Paul
says that the church is not to grieve as those who have no hope. Maybe you've noticed this already in your time with those who mourn for Eric today, I truly hope so. You've seen grieving, oh most assuredly you have. We mourn today with those who
mourn, and we grieve the loss of a true sister and friend. But we grieve in a
way that we believe is peculiar to us as Christians. You see we grieve while
also holding tight to hope.
How
is this kind of grieving possible? Why are Christians capable of grieving in a
way that is so different from those who have no hope? Paul answers that
question in the very next verse, "For since
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will
bring with him those who have fallen asleep."
Christ’s
death and resurrection give us hope because they change the way we look at the
world. When we look at the world through the lens of the fact that our God is
infinitely loving and infinitely powerful, we can have faith even in our sorrow
that he cares for us. We can have faith in this because we do not have a God
who is impassive and unemotional, but rather one who has known our pain and
sorrow. Jesus felt the pain of sickness and sadness. Jesus’ earthly father,
Joseph, likely died when Jesus was between the ages of 14 and 30, so he knows
how it feels to lose a parent. Jesus knew physical pain and sorrow, he wept at
death and the knowledge of the pain others would bear, he lost friends, and
eventually he lost his own life.
But
because of Jesus’ death we can now know that there is hope. Because he didn’t
just die, he rose again! This is what we celebrate this and every Easter! Paul uses the term those who have “fallen asleep” to
refer to those who have died after putting their faith in Christ. I think this
is a magnificent way of reminding us that to the Christian, death is not the
end, but rather the beginning of a marvelous eternity.
Because
Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection, the promise of an experience in
which we will someday share, because of this the Apostle Paul finds it possible
to say, “O death, where is your victory, O death where is your sting? Thanks be
to God, who gives us victory through Jesus Christ.” With this ultimate victory
in sight, we can know that our sadness and sorrow will not last forever.
Ironically,
we see the bible’s full assurance in this temporary nature of suffering in a
book called Lamentations. Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah as
he looked out over the smoking ruins of Jerusalem after the city had been
conquered by Babylon and her people carried off in chains. Much of the book
feels the way we do this morning, as we are full of mourning and questions as
to the ultimate plan of God which would allow for such sadness. But in that
dejection and hurt, the prophet says, (Lamentations).
Even in his heartbreak, Jeremiah,
because of the mercy and love of his God, could confidently assert that the
grief would not last forever, that though God cause grief, he will have compassion… according to the abundance of his love.
This means that not only can we know that our pain will be temporary, but that
God’s love is permanent and ultimate. Jeremiah had hope because he knew the
character of the God he worshiped.
And
today we can have hope because we know the character of that same God we
worship. A god in the Father who loved us so much that he sent his only son to
die for us. A god in Jesus who gave up heaven, perfect peace and joy, to live a
life of conflict and pain with us on earth. Who went to the cross willingly and
humbly. Who died to make us new.
It
is because of this, Christ’s character, that we are able to grieve in a way that
is different from those who have no hope. If there is one thing that we walk
away from here with today it should be this. Today, we feel surrounded by
darkness as we mourn our loss. We feel the sting of pain, grieving, and sorrow.
But because of the
love of God, who sent his son to die for us, and through whose power that son
was raised again from the dead, there is hope in the darkness. There is hope in
our pain. There is hope in our grieving. There is hope in our sorrow. There is hope
because we hope in the resurrection, we hope to see one another again someday
in a world made new by God. A world where we will no longer feel the pain of
loss, of grieving, of sorrow. A world whose glory Paul, a man who knew
suffering, said made him think of present suffering as not even worth comparing
to that glory. I find this promise all the more comforting today, because if
this present suffering is not even worth comparing with the glory God has in
store for us, oh what glory that must be.
So let us look forward as we leave here
today to that place of peace and joy where we believe Erica is at this very
moment experiencing the true joy of being in the presence of the God who loves
us more than anything we can imagine. If you do not know that love today, it is
there for you, in the loving arms of Jesus Christ, scarred by the nails he bore
to restore your relationship with him and to give you hope.
