The Lutheran Hour
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"A Good Thing or a Bad Thing"
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Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! A risen Lord means that all who have been washed in His blood, all who acknowledge Him as their Redeemer, shall rise. A living Lord will keep His promise to bring together, for eternity, the entire family of faith in a reunion which will never end. God grant this great gift be ours.
Christmas 1998 was not going to be an especially good holiday for the Klaushaus. For the first time, in almost a quarter of a century, it was not going to be possible for us to be together with all of our children. We had always known that day would come, and when it came, our lives would never be quite the same. We had always known that day would come, but we didn’t expect it to come quite so soon. Our son, Kurt, was student teaching in Hungary and was not going to be able to be with us. There was going to be an empty chair at our Christmas table. That was hard. What was harder was knowing that he would be celebrating Jesus’ birth all by himself in a distant land. Oh, I had investigated the possibility of trying to fly him home, but the cost of a plane ticket was simply too great for our budget to bear. Pamie was making the best of things, but some of her holiday sparkle was gone.
I had talked about that change with some of my church friends and they were sympathetic. Everyone was sympathetic, except for one. That friend was more than sympathetic. Very quietly, she came to me and said, “Pastor, you know I’ve been doing a lot of flying back and forth to Germany for the last year or two.” I knew that. Almost weekly she had been flying overseas on company business. She continued, “I’ve been doing a lot of flying, and I’ve got a whole bunch of frequent flyer miles. I’d like to give you some of those miles to bring Kurt home.”
Oh, one other thing: I didn’t tell my wife. I just walked around a lot with an idiotic smile on my face. Finally came the day… the day before Christmas. Our doorbell kept ringing as people from the parish stopped by with a gift, or a card, or to thank us, or wish us well. Wonderful people, wonderful. Then, around ten o’clock in the evening there was another ring… too late for most members to be paying a visit. I called out to Pam, “Honey, can you get that, I’m busy.” She went, and I, out of sight, followed and watched. Pam turned on the porch light, and froze. You know, you read about people “freezing,” and you think it’s made up. It isn’t. Pamie froze. She couldn’t believe that her son was home. He smiled. She stood there. He opened the storm door. She stood there. And then, all at once, she laughed, she screamed, she cried, she started jumping around, she hugged him, she started talking, and then she cried some more. And then she just stood back and looked at her boy. Her 6-foot-1, 24-year-old baby-boy was home – her family was together and the once seemingly dark holy days of 1998 were, because of the kindness of a very special lady, made bright and beautiful.
Now there is a reason I have shared this rather long, and I hope, not too boring story of our family reunion. I have told this story because in many ways, our story is your story. During my 28 years as a parish pastor, I was called upon to assist families with their breakups – which is another way of saying I had to do a great many funerals. There was the funeral of the 104-year-old lady who had, during her long life, seen covered wagons cross the family homestead in Nebraska, as well as seeing men walking on the moon. In contrast, there was the funeral of a child who lived only a few seconds. In between the two ends of the age spectrum there were many, many others. There were fathers, mothers, and children. Children, those are always hard funerals to do. Everything about a child’s funeral seems so wrong and so inappropriate.
I can remember conducting the funeral of a man who had been happily married to his wife for 78 years. What a celebration that was… half the church was filled with loving children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and yes, even a few, small great-great-great-grandchildren. But I have also spoken at the funerals of those who died alone, whose friends and family had long since disappeared or died. I have been at the funerals of those who were touched by death unexpectedly, its arrival brought on by an accident or due to the onslaught of a destructive illness. I have been at the services of those who died slowly due to a debilitating and devastating disease. I have seen families celebrate the past and cry over the future. I have seen those who refused to recognize reality, and those who accepted death’s dealings with dry-eyed stoicism. I’ve seen it all, and many of you have, too. The great majority of you can understand what I’m saying. You understand, because you’ve lived it. Death has come to your home or to your family and to your friends, hasn’t it?
In truth, all of us know that our families, our lives, are going to undergo alterations over the years. Each of us knows that it is unrealistic to expect families and friends to stay the same; we all know that unwelcomed and unexpected changes are a part of life. Granted, some of those changes may be small ones like not having a child home for Christmas; but they can also be gut-wrenching, soul-searching, mind-warping changes like realizing your loved one will no longer, at day’s end, say “Honey, I love you.” Yes, death comes and when it does, it splits the fabric of our homes, it shreds our hearts, it snatches our dreams, it slashes our tomorrows. Death comes.
It would be a terrible thing if this message had to end with the words: death comes. Thankfully, this message does not end with death having the final say in our eternity. There is more, much, much more. Do you remember when, at the beginning of this message, I talked about how a very special lady, quite unexpectedly, came to me and said, “Let me bring your son home for Christmas”? That lady did a wonderful thing for our family. She did something we simply couldn’t do for ourselves. So that our family could be together, so that we might have a chance for a couple days of cheer, she made a sacrifice; she did something that we still remember, for which we still are grateful.
Now, in a similar way, albeit in a far greater way, Jesus has done, continues to do, the same thing for each of us. When death comes, we are all absolutely, completely helpless. There is nothing we can do to stave off its cold touch. Oh, we can go to doctors, have surgeries, take medicines, and we may be able to hold death off for a time. But that reprieve is always of short duration. Death will still ultimately come. Left to ourselves, that would be the end. Death, then judgment, condemnation, damnation. But because of Jesus, it is not the end. For Jesus also comes.
According to centuries’ old prophecy, according to the heavenly Father’s plan, Jesus, God’s sinless Son, was born in the Judean town of Bethlehem. A smelly stable was the place where Jesus began His life of sacrifice. But this plan which would ultimately end up offering forgiveness, eternal life, and a heavenly reunion was hardly a simple thing as the transfer of some frequent flyer miles. Not at all. In order to help us, Jesus had to be, had to give, had to offer a far greater sacrifice. So that we might be forgiven of all that we have done wrong, all that we have thought wrong, all that we have said wrong, Jesus had to fulfill the laws we have violated; He had to resist all the temptations that have tripped us up. Throughout His entire life, living for us, Jesus never sinned. Only God’s Son could have done such a thing successfully. But because He did, for those who believe on Him as Savior, no longer can any sin, let me emphasize that again, no longer can any sin we have committed condemn us. Jesus’ life was part of the gift we have been given. I say, “part of the gift,” because there is more.
Jesus suffered, died, and rose for us. Having lived His life despised and rejected by the very people He had come to save; Jesus suffered for us. Those who should have been most grateful to Him, turned their faces from Him. Those who should have applauded His gift despised Him. Even so, Jesus took up humanity’s infirmities and carried the world’s sorrows. To give us the Father’s gift of forgiveness and freedom, Jesus was smitten, spit upon, and struck. Then final indignity and greatest suffering, He was nailed to a cross; He was pierced for our transgressions and He died. Yes, Jesus died so we might live. So that we might have eternal peace, our punishment was placed upon Him, and by the wounds He received, all who believe on Him as Savior are healed.
Jesus gave His life so that those who, by the Holy Spirit’s power, humbly repent of their sins and acknowledge Him as their Redeemer, might have eternal life. In proof that Jesus had fulfilled His Father’s plans to seek and save the lost, to assure this dark and doubting world that His sacrifice was complete, three days after Jesus was placed into a cold, borrowed tomb, He came back to life. A living Lord Jesus came back to life. A loving Lord Jesus came back to life. And that risen Christ now says, “He who believes in Me will never die.” Every one of you who has seen death, who has been wounded by death, who still shakes or is in shock because of death, needs to hear the Savior’s words. He promises, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”
Jesus has given you a gift. His is a gift that says death is not the end; the grave is not our final resting place. Jesus, at great cost, has given you a gift. His is a gift that says believers who have died before us are only asleep. Jesus has given us a gift. His is a gift which says the day will come when He shall, with a great trumpet sound, send his angels to gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Saint Paul says the same. He tells us that the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised. Those who are still living at the moment when Jesus returns in judgment will be changed. Their frail, fragile bodies will be changed, they will become imperishable and immortal. At the sound of Judgment Day’s trumpet, death will be swallowed up in victory and the grave will lose its sting. This will happen for all who believe because we have the victory which comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God! Yes, thanks be to God!
If my family remembers and is thankful for a lady who, years ago, made a small sacrifice so that our family might be together for a few days, how much more should we remember, and be thankful for Jesus who sacrificed His life so that all who call Him “Savior” might be saved for all eternity? Yes, thanks be to God! Thanks be to God, that the plot where you place your flowers on Memorial Day, that spot in the cemetery which you visit is not the end. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God that the ache within your heart, the long ago or recent memories of a loved one are not the final memories you will be given. Thanks be to God that your time together is not limited by this world’s clock and calendar, but has been conquered by Christ’s sacrifice. Thanks be to God that the tears you shed now will not flow forever.
Jesus is going to return. When? I don’t know. The Bible doesn’t tell me, and I won’t presume to do the mental calculations that foolishly preoccupy so many others. It’s enough for me to know that the same Jesus who has always kept His Word in everything else, will do so in regard to His return. He will come back, unexpectedly and unpredictably. But He will come. And when He does come, He will bring about a resurrection. To those who believe on Him as their Redeemer, Savior, and Lord, there will be the pronouncement of forgiveness and there will be a resurrection reunion. That reunion will include our family members who have been cleansed of their sins in Jesus’ blood; it will embrace fellow believers, brothers and sisters who have been called to faith in the Redeemer, and, most importantly of all, that reunion will revolve around Jesus Christ who has done that which we could not: who has given us a gift of heavenly happiness which will never end.
Jesus is coming back. That is a certainty. What is not a certainty is whether you look upon the Savior’s return as a good thing or a bad thing. Now, if you know Jesus as your Savior, Sacrificer, and Friend, you will certainly think upon Jesus’ Judgment Day arrival as being good. You are already receiving many of the benefits that come from that Spirit-given confidence. Even now you see temporal death as a speed bump, not the end of the road. Even now you do not mourn as those who have no hope. Even now you know that you will be able to greet the returning Christ as your liberator, and the end of time as the beginning of everlasting joy.
But Jesus’ return is not a good thing if you have, up till this point in time, ignored Him, rejected Him, avoided Him, denied Him, and banished Him from your heart. Maybe you are among the many whose position is, “Jesus is coming back? Right. People have been saying that for a few thousands years, and I don’t see the Savior on the horizon. Maybe He’s coming back, maybe He isn’t. But if He is, I think I’ve got time; maybe to fertilize the lawn, wax the car, collect Social Security, and die of old age. He may be coming back, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”
You know, my friend, it doesn’t make any difference if you hold your breath or not. Jesus is coming. If He is your Savior, that will be good news. If you don’t know Him as your Savior, it will be bad news, the worst news you will ever hear. You see, on Judgment Day, if you have spent your whole life holding fast to the idea that you want to be left alone, that you don’t want or need a Savior, that you just wish God would just go away… He will. He will give you exactly what you wanted. He will leave you alone, and being left alone, without God, is hell. By the way, that last statement is meant to be taken literally. Hell is a fiery eternity without God, His hope and His happiness, His forgiveness and His friendship.
Maybe I can tell you what the Lord is offering with a final, short story. In this message we’ve been talking about death, and the reunion which will come for all those who have Jesus as their Savior. Years ago, I was at the bedside of a lady who was dying. She was about 93 years old, and her husband, two or three years her junior, was with her. The lady had not spoken for days, but right at the end there was a brief rally. Her eyes cleared; she looked around the room; spotted her husband, and said, with a strong voice, “Why is everybody here?” Her husband replied, “Everybody is here for you, hon.” She visibly relaxed, and then she said, “Good, I was worried that something had happened to the children. Are they all right? Will they be ready for church?” Her husband replied, with tears in his eyes, and a quaver in his voice, “The children are all right. We’ll be going to church as a family.” And she said, “That’s good. That’s the way it should be.”
Those were her last words. And the family did go to church. And they gave thanks to the Lord Jesus for having saved their mother; and they praised His name for the good news of a reunion which would never end. It was good. It was the way it should be. If you agree and want the Savior’s goodness for your family, call us at The Lutheran Hour.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for October 23, 2005
ANNOUNCER: Stay with us now for Questions and Answers with Pastor Ken Klaus. I’m Mark Eischer. Today we conclude our discussion of statements about God that are true, but don’t necessarily tell the whole story. In fact, they could lead to some misunderstandings about God. Today, let’s look at the statement, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”
KLAUS: Mark, I guess you’re just going to just launch into it today, aren’t you?
ANNOUNCER: Well, I’d like to hear what you think about that idea.
KLAUS: Let’s take a look at it. Let’s break it down. The first part is, “God loves you.” There can’t be any question or difficulty with that. God loves us. He loved us even when we didn’t love Him, He still sent His Son into the world to take our punishment, carry our sins, and buy us back from sin, death, and devil. Yes, God loves us.
ANNOUNCER: But how about that second part?
KLAUS: Ahhhh, that’s a little bit different. You mean the part: “God has a wonderful plan for your life”?
ANNOUNCER: Is that part true?
KLAUS: Well, it certainly was.
ANNOUNCER: You mean God used to have a wonderful plan for us?
KLAUS: That’s right. God made the world perfect. In His plan, God made it so that we would never have to suffer, never have to be sick, never have to die. It was a wonderful plan.
ANNOUNCER: But what happened to that plan?
KLAUS: Well, humanity said that they thought they could come up with a better plan.
ANNOUNCER: So they disobeyed God, and threw off His plan, and tried to come up with one of their own.
KLAUS: Well, I don’t know exactly if they had a plan-but whether they did or not, sin and death came into the world.
ANNOUNCER: I understand that. But how about now? Doesn’t God have a wonderful plan now for those who believe in Him?
KLAUS: Properly understood, Mark, He does. For God to put that wonderful plan into our lives meant He would send His Son to seek and save the lost, to be the Light to those who were in darkness. God’s wonderful plan is that now, all who believe on Jesus as their Savior, who are given repentant hearts, are saved and granted eternal life in heaven.
ANNOUNCER: That’s certainly a wonderful plan, but I’m not sure that’s what most people mean when they say that God has a wonderful plan for their lives. I think they’re talking not about things that happened way back when, or things that are going to happen in the future. They mean a wonderful plan for the here and now.
KLAUS: I think you’re right, and that’s where the problem can arise.
ANNOUNCER: What problem do you see?
KLAUS: When people say God has a wonderful plan it usually means they’re thinking there is only one path for them. Everything that happens, everything they do has been preordained by God. It means that we start out at point A and go in a straight line to point B. It also implies that everything a Christian experiences ought to be, because He has faith, a wonderful thing.
ANNOUNCER: But that’s not right?
KLAUS: That’s not right. It’s not right for a number of reasons. First, you won’t find that kind of thinking in the Bible. Second, it would mean that we are robots, moving along a path that is unchangeable.
ANNOUNCER: And if we’re robots, then it doesn’t make any difference what we do because everything’s all moving according to plan.
KLAUS: Right… and that’s wrong. We have free will. We can go this way and that way. And although God knows what is going to happen, that doesn’t mean He causes things to happen. We have some choices in the matter.
ANNOUNCER: You mean, like the choice whether to believe or not?
KLAUS: Oh, not fair! Trick question, Mark. No, you can’t chose to believe. Faith is something that is given to us completely and totally by the Holy Spirit.
No, but we do have a choice in resisting temptation or succumbing to it. We have choices to tell or not tell others about Jesus.ANNOUNCER: So, are you saying God completely leaves us on our own?
KLAUS: Not at all. God has promised that He would be with His children always. That was one of the last things Jesus said before He ascended into heaven. He would be with us.
ANNOUNCER: Even if a disaster comes?
KLAUS: Jesus is there.
ANNOUNCER: Even if we suffer financial losses, or we’re betrayed by our friends, or we’re disrespected by others?
KLAUS: In those situations and every other situation you could name, Mark. Jesus has promised to be with us.
ANNOUNCER: And I think He has promised also to be there as more than just a spectator.
KLAUS: Indeed He has. Jesus has promised to be with us, and bring good out of bad. We said it a few weeks ago… God has promised all things work together for good to those that love God.
ANNOUNCER: So if we find ourselves in a bad situation…
KLAUS: God can bring good out of it.
ANNOUNCER: So God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, but it may not always look that way to us.
KLAUS: You see, being a Christian and having faith doesn’t mean you are immune from life’s problems and pains. It means that God will provide you a way of taking you through those pains and problems.
Properly understood, that is God’s wonderful plan for us. In Jesus Christ we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections from this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“If You Will Trust the Lord to Guide You” by Kenneth Kosche. From Triumphant Lamb (© 1996 Concordia University-Wisconsin) MorningStar Music Publishers
“Christ, the Life of All the Living” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten” by J.S. Bach. From Orgelbüchlein & More Works by J.S. Bach by Robert Clark and John David Peterson (© 1997 Calcante Recordings, Ltd.)
“All People That on Earth Do Dwell” by David Cherwien. From Hymn Interpretations by David Cherwien (© 1992 Summa Productions)