The Reading
The Gospel
Luke 20:27-38
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."
Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."
The Sermon
Most of us want to be
remembered after we have died. We want to leave a legacy. In this
gospel reading Jesus is being grilled by the Sadducee's about some
'what if' occurrence. They wanted to give him a complicated problem
that could not really be resolved. It was important in the Jewish
culture that the male head of the household leave behind an heir so
it was the custom for a brother to marry the widow if no children had
been born of the marriage. I think that it implied that the legacy
of the deceased husband would continue in this way. The Sadducee's
were trying to trip Jesus up because they did not believe in the
afterlife in the first place.
Jesus was more clever than
these Sadducee's. He cut right to the chase. He tells them heaven
is not like that. He says those who are resurrected into the next
life neither marry or are given in marriage. He tells them that they
cannot die anymore and they are like angels. They are children of
God.
I think Jesus is also
telling them that they should stop concerning themselves about being
remembered. They should stop worrying about a legacy. They should
show love for each other in this world and that is enough. When you
show love for God and each other, people will remember and everything
will fall into place. You will be remembered on a much higher level
because by your love you will have advanced your brothers and sisters
both physically and spiritually. You will have truly changed the
world.
There is nothing that God
cannot do and we need to remember that. I read an article the other
day that the pope had made a statement that it was now OK for Roman
Catholics to be cremated and have there ashes buried. I remember
growing up as a Roman Catholic that cremation was not allowed. The
pope did put in one caveat and that was that the ashes could not be
divided up as is frequently done and they could not be scattered. I
am assuming that it had something to do with the resurrection and the
difficulty that would ensue if the body had been caste to the wind.
I remember when I was a
child I heard lots of stories of my grandfather. He was a well known
butcher here in Chariton and he accidentally cut off his thumb one
day while butchering. I was told he kept that thumb pickled in a jar
in our attic. I have to assume that when grandpa passed they took
his thumb and tucked it in his coffin so that when the resurrection
came grandpa would be resurrected with the thumb re-attached.
As I said earlier there is
nothing God cannot do. Regardless of what you believe about the
resurrection, please remember that what happens to your body after
you die is not nearly as important as what you do with your body
while you live. When you die, your body will no longer be of use.
However, God will be there to take up your essence, your soul, and
you will be like the angels in heaven.
Amen
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