Thessalonica AD 49 III:Dying and Rising
By The Rev. David McMaster
July 15, 2007
Text: I Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:11
I heard a story the other day about “Father Murphy.” Father Murphy went into a pub in County Donegal in the north-west part of Ireland. He said to the first man he met, “Do you want to go to heaven?”
The man said, “I do, Father, I do.”
The priest said, “Well, go stand up against the wall.” He came to a second man and said to him, “Do you want to go to heaven?”
The man said, “Certainly, Father, I do.”
“Well, go stand up against the wall.”
Then he came to a fellow he knew named O'Toole and he said, “O'Toole, do you want to go to heaven?”
O'Toole said, “No, Father, I don't”
“What do you mean? I've never heard a thing like this in my life! Do you mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?”
O'Toole said, “Well, when I die, yes. But I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.”
Jokes about heaven, the pearly gates and St. Peter are plentiful. They portray, perhaps, a human fascination with the afterlife and what lies beyond for sooner or later we all encounter the final enemy - death. There has been concern about death since the beginning of time. Pre-literary cultures give some evidence of this in cave drawings. It is evident in early written material with Gilgamesh's quest for eternal youth. The Egyptian pyramids betray a strong interest in life beyond death. The early Hebrew concept of sheol reveals a journey down to the land of no return and a murky existence that has little of life about it. Today it is no different. Human beings still have these questions about what lies beyond. They talk about reincarnation, essences being released into the atmosphere, angels in heaven and all manner of things. What lies beyond has been of interest to many human beings, and the people of Thessalonica around AD 49 were no exception.
Thessaloniki, as it is called today, is a great city, and the second major economic and cultural centre in modern Greece. It boasts two universities and Greece's largest student population. It is the home of many wonderful examples of Byzantine architecture. Even before all that, around AD 49, it was a key part of the Roman Empire. It was the capital of the province of Macedonia and, as a senatorial province, it had the right to elect its own governors. It was largely free from the likelihood of rebellion, so there were not many troops stationed there. It was a wonderful place to be. The Pax Romana was in force. Life was peaceful and the city flourished as a great trade centre.
It was into this influential city that Paul, Silas and Timothy came on their second missionary journey. They had just been to Philippi, and there (if you have read the Acts of the Apostles) they preached the word of God with some success, but also suffered for it. They were beaten, imprisoned and, when it became known that they were actually Roman citizens, they were asked to leave the town quickly.
As they entered Thessalonica, bruised from events in Philippi, one could forgive Paul and the others if they entered the capitol of the province with some fear and trepidation. Yet, we learn from Paul's letter that they preached the gospel with power, with the Holy Spirit and with conviction. Such was the power of the message that many turned from idols to Jesus Christ, the living God. (1:9) Again, however, trouble loomed from members of both the Jewish and Gentile populations. Paul was advised to leave, but as he went he was concerned about the new believers. He had only spent a few weeks with them. Would they be able to maintain faith? Thus, while he was in Athens, Paul sent Timothy back to see how they were doing and encourage the Thessalonian believers.
When Timothy caught up with him again, Paul had moved on to Corinth and from there he wrote this letter, First Thessalonians, because he was encouraged by the report that Timothy had brought back. The believers had maintained their faith and they continued despite the fact that the troubles Paul had encountered were now coming upon them. Paul praised them for standing firm and, as in a number of his letters, he addressed some of the questions they had relayed through Timothy. Two of their concerns are noted in our reading. The first one is, “What happens to believers who die before Christ's return?” The second one seems to be, “When will the end come?”
I think we can summarize Paul's teaching, and the whole concept of dying and rising and life beyond, with his words in Chapter 5:
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. (5:9, 10)
Sometimes I am envious of the Roman Catholic confessional. Not long ago a man came into the church; he was deeply troubled. It took me quite some time to uncover what was wrong because, as he was speaking, he was distraught. Tears flowed down his face, he was in much angst. It turned out that he was overcome by guilt for some things he had done in life. He didn't know where to turn. He came into the church because a friend was coming here. He asked to come along and called for one of the ministers. After he shared what he had done, I talked to him about the love of God, the forgiveness of God and the grace of God. We then went up to the East Chapel and sat in the front pew, and I asked him to talk to God about what was going on in his mind. He kneeled there and began to throw out before God all that he had done. Tears were flowing steadily.
I think it was one of those meaningful moments in ministry. He has since got back to me and told me how meaningful it was for him. He hasn't got through his issues yet, but he is working on them and is aware of the grace of Christ who died for him. As Paul said, “Christ died for us that we may live together with him.” (5:10)
What “living” means in this context is living the fullness of life now; and not only now but also in the future. In Chapter 4, Paul talks about the opportunity of being with the Lord forever. (4:17) Jesus, you see, did not only die - he rose again. (4:14) According to the Gospels and Acts, he interacted with his followers for a period of 40 days. He then ascended and went to be with his Father in heaven, and from there he has promised to return to take all those who follow God to be with him forever. (Acts 1:11; Matt. 24:30)
It is here that the Thessalonian people had their question. Maybe someone had died - someone who had believed - and they wondered, “What happens to those who believe but then die before Christ's return?” Paul talked about that and gave them some advice, words he said came from the Lord. He spoke of how, when Christ comes, those who have passed on will rise first and be with him before those who are still alive. They will be in eternity already. (4:13-18)
“When will this be?” was the second question, and Paul continued to draw on Jesus' teachings and parables.
He said, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (5:2) Be ready. Put on faith and love as a breastplate, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (5:8) Be ready.” Then Paul wrote something very important: “Encourage one another with these words.(4:18; 5:11) We are not to grieve as those with no hope.” (4:13b) Here, the gospel before us, the good news of Christ: death is not the end.
For so many people, death is an end - the end. They have no hope. When the final enemy snatches away a loved one from their grasp, grief can lead them into despondency. There are even those associated with the church who have not really integrated the fullness of the gospel into their lives and struggle inordinately with death.
Like a young man who talked to me more than a year after the death of his mother. His father had already remarried, and he wasn't dealing with it well. He said, “I've lost my mother; I've lost my family; I've lost my home - everything.” He threw up his hands.
In another situation a few years ago, I was doing some mission work for a small church in south western Ontario. I was speaking to people within the community - some of them church people - and I spoke to one lady at length because she was really struggling with the death of her husband. Struggling; of course that's a natural thing, but this woman seemed to be struggling more than most. I sympathized with her and, because she was a church person, I reminded her of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ - the hope of heaven; the hope of seeing our loved ones again. She looked at me incredulously as I spoke and exclaimed, “You say that as if it's true!”
It seems that even in the church, we are not getting to the core elements of the faith. We're not getting there. Some have not sought enough, have not found enough, and have no hope. But I suspect that a great deal of what we think about death and grief hangs on what we think about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some people have just ruled it out. It has become fashionable to question it. It's not within the natural order therefore many philosophers rule it out simply by presupposition. But there are some who have never been willing to rule out the possibility of the unique and science, with its discovery of random particles, is making it possible to believe again. When we have random particles, random events can occur, and with random events, the possibility is there for the unique, for the miraculous.
Never mind the philosophical discussion, what do we do with the reports that Jesus rose from the dead? There were no television cameras back then. There were no radios or reporters running around telling us what happened. No recordings have come down to us other than in written words - the words of people who were there, eye-witnesses. What do we do with those? What do we do with the fact that the eye-witnesses went out to tell the world about what they saw?
Something had to happen around AD 30. Something had to happen to cause them to do what they did. It can't have been anything ordinary; it must have been extraordinary. It can't have been some dream that one of them had, or a feeling within one of their hearts. Something of great significance must have happened to bring change into their lives, the lives of Peter, James and John and others. Something momentous must have occurred in Saul's life to make him do what he did, and go out and spend his life in the service of this gospel. It can't have been a trivial thing. I think an encounter with someone who you already knew to be dead might do it. A resurrection - that might do it.
There is something about the accounts of what happened and, whether or not we have difficulties philosophically with the unique, there is something about these accounts that rings true. The ultimate question is not whether something is philosophically possible, but whether it happened. Is it true? I would put it to you that the lives of the apostles, the lives of those who were there - the reports - ring true. I'd further put it to you that the church needs to recover the sense of what is true and proclaim it again. It needs to proclaim its core beliefs - the resurrection among them. These are not days to soften belief; these are not days to toss out our very core just because it is fashionable. These are days to stand firm, to stand up, to speak truth and to bring faith, love and hope again into the world. These are days to retell the story of Christ. These are days to issue forth that hope that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead shall raise us as well.
William Willimon, who was the Dean of Chapel at Duke University and is now a bishop in Alabama, wrote this:
Our hope is not unfounded, wishful thinking. Our hope for the future is based upon what we know of Christ in the present. In Romans 8, Paul says that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Our hope is not in some vague, wishful immortality of the soul, or expectation of some eternal spark that just goes on and on. It's not reincarnation or other assumptions that we have immortality within ourselves. Our hope is that the love of God is stronger than the devastation of death, and that, ultimately, nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That is why we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
Perhaps there are a couple of things we can draw out of this teaching. One is found in Paul's words, “Encourage one another . . . Encourage one another with these words.”
I think one of the most wonderful church services that I have ever attended was actually a funeral. It was in a little town called Campbell's Bay in Quebec. One of the Smith family there had passed away. I was ministering in Ottawa at the time and some people from my congregation were children of the Smith's, so I went along. The service was so uplifting. I hadn't experienced anything like it for years. The hymns that they chose - uplifting! When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder I'll Be There, When We All Get to Heaven. The whole service, the speaker - it was all uplifting - and people left that place very much encouraged.
Now, I'm not saying, and I don't think Paul meant this, that as Christians we do not grieve. Grief is natural when we experience great loss. But in the midst of Christian grief there should be one other thing - hope - the hope of eternity in Christ Jesus. Paul says, “Encourage one another with these words.”
I think the second thing we can draw from Paul's teaching is the notion of being ready. Have you ever noticed the way everyone is preparing for things these days? Hockey players are preparing for training camp right now. It used to be that training camp for hockey in August and September was the time to prepare. But I ran into one of my son's best friends who was drafted by Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the gym a month ago. I was chatting with him while he was working out, and I asked him, “How's it going?”
He said, “I'm preparing for training camp.”
The competition is so fierce now that hockey players are preparing to prepare. Preparation is a serious business.
What about the rest of us? Lawyers prepare for court, doctors do not operate without preparing, professional sports teams, sports men and women don't face the opposition without preparing. The government of Canada is now telling us to prepare for retirement. Prepare! Put money in RRSPs because the Canada Pension Plan may not be enough to give us optimum lifestyles. Prepare yourself.
One wonders if we have thought even farther ahead, past retirement, to eternity. Maybe we should think of an ESP: an Eternal Savings Plan. An ESP in the words of Paul goes something like this:
Be sober. Put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet, for God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that we may live together with him. (5:8-10)
Put on faith and love, live in hope, and that is the greatest savings plan that we can ever have. Amen.