JESUS HAS PLANNED A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION.
In
the name + of Jesus.
Throughout our lives we make plans. They don’t always work out like we hope—which could be good or bad. Sylvia Campbell was in God’s plans all along. She was born into a Christian family and baptized into God’s family. She had plans to become a nun, but those plans changed. Instead, God worked it out so that she got married and raised a family. For everyone here today, that ended up being a very good change in plans.
Plans continued to change. Sylvia did not plan to be a widow at age 45. She knew her share of hardships long before the
hardships of failing health. I know your
family has been dealt other blows, too.
All our plans are guesswork. You’ve
never known a world without your mother or grandmother. Even though you knew this day would come, how
do you plan for that? All tragedies,
great and small, happen because we live in a world that has been marred by
sin. And every death, whether car accident or peacefully slipping away in
hospice, happens because of sin.
The Bible reminds us, “The wages of sin
is death” (Romans 6:23). As sweet as
your mother was (and she was), as kind as she was (and she was), she was still
a sinner. I know you don’t think of her
that way, and that is fine. Your memories
should be endearing. You loved her for
good reason. But Sylvia freely confessed
that she was a sinner. She recognized that
no one lives up to God’s commands for perfection. For that reason, she knew that the day of her
death would come, just as it will for all of us, and for the same reason: “The
wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
But Sylvia was in God’s plans. God never planned to let people perish in
their sins. God made a plan to take away
the sin of the world. God announced his
plan to restore life from death and to restore sinners to saints. That plan was announced to Adam who first
brought sin and death into the world.
The first perfect man, Adam, rebelled
against God by taking fruit that God had forbidden and trying to steal glory from
God. We all inherit that sinful nature from
the moment we are conceived. No one has
to teach us how to be selfish; we just are.
So, we are like that first man who sinned. And just as the first Adam died and his body
turned back to dust, so shall we.
But Jesus is the second Adam, the second
perfect man to walk the face of the earth.
He is God in the flesh. And he came
to rectify what was fouled up by the first Adam. The second Adam did not give in to a single temptation. He was perfect in mercy, in generosity, in
patience, and even in thoughts and motives.
Even though Jesus satisfied God’s Commandments in every way, he went to
the cross to die for sins—ours. Jesus
took into his body all our guilt and suffered the cursed death sinners
deserve. So, the Son of God was
condemned, but through him we receive a full pardon. This is God’s plan to save you, and Jesus has
completed it. God’s plans never fail.
To the grandchildren: I understand that
your grandmother liked to arm wrestle with you.
Wild guess: She let you win. Even
if it was obvious that she could have pinned your wrist to the table, she
probably pretended to struggle mightily and then cheered as you celebrated your
big victory over her.
We celebrate Jesus’ glorious victory over
death. However, Jesus’ death was not
pretend. Jesus’ death was real, just
like Sylvia’s is. Jesus’ lifeless body
was place in a grave, just like Sylvia’s will be. But listen to this: Jesus has planned a
glorious resurrection for her, and he guaranteed it by his own resurrection
from the dead. Death had done its worst
to Jesus, but Jesus had the last word. Jesus
rose from the grave on Easter morning. He
cannot die again. Death has no mastery
over him; rather, Jesus rules over death and the grave. Since Jesus has charge over death, he will
summon us back from the grave to live with him.
So, death does not have the last word today. It may seem like it. It may feel like it, but Jesus has planned a
glorious resurrection for Sylvia and for all who believe in him.
The glory of the resurrection is explained
by St. Paul. “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is
sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in
glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. … Just as we have borne the image of the man of
dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1
Corinthians 15:43-44,49). These bodies,
like that of the first Adam, are corrupted by sin. They age, break down, and die, no matter how
much we try to put that off—perhaps with medicine, perhaps exercise. I remember on one visit I had with her, Sylvia
showed me her treadmill. She said, “I
dust it from time to time.” Even if she
had been relentless with it, this day would have come.
But bodies that are weak will be raised strong. Bodies that grow frail will be raised
incorruptible. We will bear the image of
the second Adam and will never die again.
At the resurrection of the dead, Jesus will restore everything to
perfection. There will never again be mourning
or sorrow or crying or pain. We will
never experience any rift or spat. All
things will be made right by Jesus. That
is the glory Jesus has planned for Sylvia.
That is the promise she confessed in life, and it remains firm even in
death. And it is the promise that
comforts us even in the sadness of a cemetery.
Sylvia had plans throughout her life. But plans change. As much as she used to bake, I don’t recall
that happening for quite a while. I think
I would have enjoyed her chocolate chip…, well, you name it. But following recipes was reduced to reading
them. Age and frailty caught up with
her. I know she also tried to keep up
with current events, but the more she stayed informed, the more anxious she got. She prayed for a better world. She did not get it here.
But Sylvia had better news, an unbreakable
hope, and greater comfort than anything this world has to offer. She delighted to hear about God’s love for
her every time we met. She was eager to
hear how God’s plans included her—that she would receive a glory that she had
not earned and would enjoy heavenly bliss that goes far beyond any joys we know
here. In holy communion, she feasted on
the body of Christ which has overcome death, and she drank the blood of Christ which
purifies us from all sin. She could rest
secure in God’s plans because they do not fail.
Sylvia had plans to enter heavenly glory, and for good reason: Jesus Christ promised it to her. Sylvia is still in the Lord’s plans: Jesus has planned a glorious resurrection for her. And not even death can disrupt Jesus’ plans.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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