Comfort for the Grieving

Well, good evening. It's lovely to be here again. My name's Tim. I am one of the trainees here, or the interns here at Brunsfield, and it's great to be with you in this fantastic bit of the Bible that we're about to get stuck into.

Sleeping Beauty is one of the many fairy tales which were written down by Charles Peralt in the late 1600s. I hadn't realised it was such a modern notion.

Thanks to Disney and the Brothers Grimm, I'm sure we all know a rough sketch of the plot of how a princess is cursed to sleep for a hundred years, only to be woken by a prince who discovers her in the long since overgrown castle.

In many versions of the tale, the princess was meant to die, but her sleeping is the best attempt to save her.

In other versions, on top of this intervention to make her sleep rather than die, there's also a sleep cast upon all the residents of the castle, so that she will not awaken alone and be distraught at the loneliness of her existence.

While this work of fiction is nothing but a children's story, yet it's a fascinating little illustration of what happens to Christians when they die.

Rather than truly dying in the sense that we think of, they will merely be temporarily resting, awaiting the coming of the one who will bring them back to life.

And not only will they come back from their rest, but with their awakening will come the awakening of their communities, of their church families, and those whom they love who have all similarly slept.

But in the fairy tale, notice the one discrepancy.

It's the wrong way round.

Rather than the body remaining alive and the person going to sleep, in true Christian theology we have the body dying and the soul going to be alive with Jesus.

Notice the time when we are in the spirit of Jesus, conscious, conscious, awaiting the time when it will be brought back through the coming of the hero and it will be reunited with its body back into a state of wholeness.

We're going to be thinking particularly about that time when the hero comes this evening, when Jesus returns.

And we're going to be looking at that time when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening.

When the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening.

If you cast your eye to chapter 4 verse 1 and verse 9 and verse 13 and then into 5 verse 1 and verse 12.

Each of these verses introduces a new topic or a new section.

And when I was reading it last week in preparation, I noticed that the phrasing was very, very similar to in Corinthians,

where Paul takes issues that have arisen in the letter that the Corinthians have written.

And it seems that the report that Timothy gave in chapter 3 was very good, but it wasn't just a whitewash.

It wasn't just they're doing great.

It seems that Timothy brought back questions and issues which were arising among the Thessalonian church.

And the question which Paul is addressing for them and for us this evening is,

what about our brothers and sisters in Christ who have died?

The scenario seems to be that some of the Christians in Thessalonica have died.

They've only been Christians for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, and they're already gone.

With the incredible persecution which Paul faced while he was there,

the possibility races to our minds, doesn't it?

Maybe they were martyred for the sake of their newfound faith.

Perhaps some of these now deceased folks, they were the folks who were prominent in their community.

They were the people who you would look to for leadership.

Perhaps they were the ones who were bolder in their evangelistic fervor.

And they paid the greatest price for it.

But as we get into this topic, I want to lovingly and carefully say that many of us have lost loved ones.

And as we look at these verses, the first objection sometimes is that we think it says that we shouldn't grieve.

But that's not what it says.

Grief is very normal.

Not only is it normal, but it's both healthy and it's a necessary process.

And it's a proper response to death.

Death is an aberration within this world that our Father created for us.

And we long for the day when it is finally recreated, when death is finally crushed as the world is recreated by our Savior.

Paul here is saying that our grief should be different to that of the world around, but not that we shouldn't grieve.

And these deaths that the Thessalonians were thinking of, they've stirred the people there into a state of profound grief and perhaps even of panic.

And Paul isn't just going to go, oh, too well.

And buy a little card from the faith mission and scribble in a wee verse from Psalm 23.

No, he's going to teach these young Christians what the truth is.

So that they can be comforted in this time of pain and grief and loss.

And so the question is what will come of our loved ones.

And his first response is to take them right back to what they've been already taught.

And he says that the creed is the basis for our comfort.

If you notice verse 14, the phrasing's quite formulaic.

It seems that this is a common Christian creed of the time.

A summary of Christian teaching.

Perhaps it's one that Paul taught them.

And Paul takes them right back to the man, to Jesus.

At the very centre, the very core of their faith.

The one who we've been singing and worshipping this evening.

We believe that Jesus died and rose again.

This is the beating heart of the Christian faith.

If you take this out, everything else is useless.

If Christ is still in the grave somewhere in the Middle East,

then we better find a good developer and get this place sold off quickly.

If Jesus died and stayed in the ground,

we have no hope.

No amount of grief would be sufficient to make up for the loss of our believing relatives.

Because they would have wasted their lives believing in fairy tales.

No more profitable than Sleeping Beauty.

If Jesus is not now in heaven,

we're wasting our lives.

But,

Jesus did live on this earth.

Jesus did die and he rose again.

And if that sounds pretty wacky to you here this evening,

perhaps you've never heard that message before.

I want to agree with you a little.

People don't normally come alive after being dead.

If it were normal or even an irregular occurrence,

believe you me,

I wouldn't be talking so much about Jesus doing it.

And perhaps you aren't sure of that tonight.

And it would be fantastic to talk to you afterwards.

And I would highly recommend,

if you wanted a resource,

to go and find The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

He's an excellent writer.

And he was an atheist who pursued the truth

to try and find out if these things were true.

In fact, he tried to prove that they were wrong.

And in his investigation,

he changed his mind and came to know Jesus for himself.

It would be a fantastic place to start reading.

And it would be brilliant to start discussing

some of the evidence around this matter.

But we believe that Jesus died

and that he rose again.

But it isn't just an interesting historical fact.

It's a personally applied to all those

who are united with Christ.

We said that death was an aberration in this world

and so it is.

But notice that in the first couple of verses here,

only Christ is described as having died.

For those of us who are in him,

who are united to him,

who own him as Lord,

Paul deliberately avoids using the word die or death.

Some translations have it in there,

but it's an insertion to make the meaning clear.

And he's hinting this idea to the Christians.

Death is now a temporary state,

almost as if we merely fall asleep.

Paul's giving us a metaphor

for the reality changing effects of the cross.

For those of us who die as Christians,

death has been robbed of its power.

It's no longer the last enemy.

Instead, it's become merely the end of a day.

And though for us who are left behind,

it can be so hard to see it that way.

But this is the reality

because of the death,

defeat and crucifixion of Christ.

And we need to be careful here.

We ought to realize when Paul talks of sleep,

it's only an illustration that Paul is using.

From what we read elsewhere in the Bible,

those who die aren't unconscious or asleep,

but their soul, their consciousness,

it goes immediately to be present with Jesus

while they await his return to the earth.

And those who are with Christ in death,

they'll return with him

when he comes back to this earth.

They don't do the crazy things

that we read about in secular materials.

They don't turn into angels.

They don't turn into stars.

They don't strum harps on clouds.

But they are with God,

eagerly waiting,

as also should we for the time

when they will be given their resurrection bodies

and they will be whole again.

This is the creed that Paul takes them back to.

This is the basic teaching

that Paul now goes on to expand

in the next few verses.

And Paul then changes his tack

and goes from the creed

to the word of the Lord

as our comfort.

Paul's raising the stakes here.

Did you notice when we read it together?

From verse 15 to 17,

he claims that this is a word of the Lord.

It reminisces us of the Old Testament prophets,

doesn't it?

Thus saith the Lord.

But let's not misunderstand what's meant here.

It's not that the rest of this letter

isn't God's word.

The whole Bible is true and trustworthy.

Paul is calling his readers here

to pay careful attention.

And Paul seems to be indicating

that what he's about to teach

is something that Jesus actually said.

It has similarities to what Jesus teaches himself

in Matthew 24, verses 30 and 31,

Matthew 24:30

if you want to look those up later.

And they talk about the Son of Man

arriving on the clouds with glory

and of the angels being sent

to gather God's elect

and the trumpet being sounded.

And this seems to be where Paul

is basing his teaching.

But as we have it here,

he gives us three main elements of comfort

from this word,

which we're going to look at

in the remainder of our time.

Firstly, those who have died won't miss out.

Those who have died won't miss out.

And we see this in verses 15 and 16.

The first point is that we won't go on ahead

without our fallen brothers and sisters.

It seems that the Thessalonian Christians

had understood that Jesus was coming back soon.

It was only a reminder that they needed of that.

They'd already understood it,

but they didn't expect Christians

to die in the intervening time.

And they were worried

that their fallen friends

were going to miss out

on the joy of Jesus' return.

But Paul's emphatic

that these dead Christians

will definitely not,

it's as strong as he can make it,

definitely not miss out

or be second-class citizens on that day.

In fact, he begins to use

a common cultural image here

to explain how the Lord's return will work.

And this image underpins

the rest of our passage.

Back then,

if the governor was coming,

the victorious general

or even the emperor himself

was coming to your city,

he would come in splendor.

And all his servants

and all his entourage

would come with him.

And the citizens of the city

would go out

to meet him.

And it would be

an absolutely triumphal celebration.

all of the worthy people

of the city would be there.

And the procession

would then come back

into the city

with great joy

and celebration.

This is something similar

to what we see

in Jesus' triumphal entry

in Matthew.

And when he comes

into Jerusalem,

you see the crowds come out

and they come

and they strew his way

and they cry praises

to him.

And we have similar accounts

of things happening

with Roman emperors

and governors

and generals.

And this happened

all the way through

the Middle Ages as well.

And the dead in Christ

make up his entourage

as Jesus comes back

as the King of Kings

and Lord of Lords,

as reigning emperor

of all things.

And even the very trumpet

of God calls.

And the archangel's voice

is heard.

I don't know about you,

but that sounds like

it's going to be

a noisy day.

It's going to be

unmistakable,

unmissable,

and it's going to mark

the moment

in all of its glory.

And it seems

this command

that's talked about,

this is going to be

the command

for the Christian dead

to be resurrected again.

Much like the command

that Jesus uses

to call Lazarus

out of the grave.

Remember that?

A temporary resurrection,

one who was brought

back from the dead

only to die again

years later

and only for one person.

But this summons,

this summons will gather

from every grave,

from every seabed,

from every scattered molecule,

the remains of those

who have died in Christ.

and their bodies

will be reunited

with their souls

which have come

with Jesus

and they shall be

fully,

gloriously alive

as they have never

been alive

until that point

and never again

to die.

With so much

of the speculation

and so much

of the talk

around the return

of Jesus,

we have what

the teenagers

of today

would call

FOMO,

fear of missing out.

It's an acronym

I use often.

This is the fuel

which keeps alive

so much

of the false

teaching about

Christ's return

that there's a fear

of missing out

but Paul is clear

that neither we

nor they

will miss out

and we'll see

this in the second

note of comfort

as well.

We are going

to be reunited

with them.

Notice verse 17,

the start of it.

We will be caught

up together

with them.

They and their

recreated

resurrection bodies.

We presumably

transformed into

ours at the same

time we find

that elsewhere

and together

we will go

out to meet

our King

and Saviour.

No longer

will we suffer

the pain of

separation from

them.

And we can

look forward

to an eternity

of being in

perfect community

not just with

the ones who

we knew

and who we

loved

but of all

those who are

likewise in

Christ

forevermore.

No more

separation.

no more

departure.

No more

death.

No more

see you later.

We cannot

fathom life

like this.

And don't we

long for that

day.

Then when we

get to that

day

we will

finally be

able to see

the whole

body of

Christ.

Every member

of his church

together.

Many of us

were probably

at origin

at Easter

and it's

incredible to

see a

big place

filled with

Christians

singing together.

And that's

not going to

be even the

slightest drop

in the ocean

compared to

this day.

From every

tribe,

tongue,

people and

nation,

from every

time and

every era,

whether we're

from Europe

or Asia

or America

or anywhere

else.

And we

will be

together

forever more.

Isn't that

such an

incredible

thought?

And what a

sweet moment

it will be

when we see

them again.

The old

ladies who

encouraged us,

who maybe

sat in front

of us and

slipped us

the sweets

as we were

sitting maybe

bored in the

meeting some

night.

The men and

the women who

spent evenings

and weekends

teaching us

and urging us

on.

Those of our

peers and

friends and

family who

walked faithfully

by our sides

until they

too went

home.

We'll see

them all.

We will be

together again.

But as

wonderful as

the reunion

will be,

the third

comfort will

outstrip it

far beyond

and with

room to

spare.

We are

going to

be reunited

fully and

finally with

Jesus.

We see it

at the start

of 16 and

we see it

at the end

of 17.

The Lord

is coming.

Not a

general,

not a

governor,

not the

first minister.

It's not

going to be a

representative.

It won't be

an angel or

an apparition.

Jesus

himself is

coming for

us.

And when

he comes,

he will

finally establish

his perfect

rule and

perfect reign.

We are going

to finally

see with

our very

own glorified

eyes the

very person

of Jesus

Christ,

our

Savior.

All of the

theories,

all of the

thoughts,

all of the

emotions,

all of the

abstract ideas

we've had

in our

head as

we've

walked here

down below,

all of

them will

find their

completion,

their

perfection,

their

fulfillment

right in

front of us

physically in

him.

All of the

yearning of

all of our

Christian lives

to hear his

very own

voice speak

to us

directly,

it will all

be fulfilled.

all of the

desire to

be able to

stand before

him and

to worship

him and

to bow

before him

and to tell

him how much

we love him,

it will all

be possible

on that

day.

We're

finally going

to be with

Jesus in

the presence

of the

God-man who

died and

rose again

so that we

could be in

relationship with

him and

could be with

him forever.

How can we

not look

forward to

that day?

But perhaps

for some of

us this

evening,

perhaps for

some of us

actually we

look forward

to that day

with dread

and rightly

so because

we see the

depths of

our sin

and our

brokenness

and we know

that we can't

deal with it

and we

realize that

we don't

deserve to be

in that

delegation which

will go

and meet

Jesus in

the air

but we

deserve to

be in the

prison cell

waiting fearfully

for his

judgment.

If you

aren't sure

if this

day will be

a good day

for you,

can I urge

you to look

again to the

cross of

Jesus,

to see

Jesus dying

for you,

taking the

wrath that

you deserve

for your

sin and

mine so

that we

together can

know forgiveness

of our

sins,

if only we

welcome him

and accept

him,

become citizens

of his

kingdom and

turn our

backs on

our sin.

Some of us

are Christians

but even with

that we still

worry about

this day.

We still

struggle with

our sin and

we wonder if

this day will

be a day of

joy or of

shame.

I wonder if

you find

yourself in

that position.

Perhaps it's

time to talk

to somebody

about it.

I realise

that we

all find it

uncomfortable

to talk about

our weaknesses,

don't we?

But that

day is the

most certain

thing of

all the

future and

it must be

top of our

priority lists

to ensure

that that

day is a

day of joy

and celebration,

not of fear

and uncertainty.

It's possible

to be sure

and if you're

not, there

are many of

us here

tonight that

would love to

talk with

you, to

pray with

you, whether

after the

service or

during the

week.

And as we

think of the

certainty of

our being with

Jesus and

returning with

him,

we have an

incredible fresh

spurring on.

We need

not fear

death, nor

need we fear

the day of

Jesus' return.

And so as we

go about our

day-to-day

lives, as we

seek to follow

Jesus here and

now, we no

longer need to

play it safe.

We know that

we will not

miss out on

our eternal

reward.

so we can

live with

boldness in

the face of

every temptation

to waver and

to wave the

white flag.

And it

doesn't matter

whether we

live or die

because we

are so sure

that he is

coming back

for us.

And notice

one final thing

before we get

to our

conclusion.

he meets

us in

the air.

Through the

Bible, sometimes

we see the

air as

Satan's

dominion.

He's called

in another

place the

prince of the

power of the

air.

And yet that

is the very

place where

the ultimate

victory will be

proved.

Where all of

our longing and

hoping, where

all of our

struggles will

finally come to

an end.

It's as if

Paul is

screaming from

the rooftops.

This is it.

This is the

signs, seal, and

utter conclusion

of the matter.

Satan will be

vanquished.

His control of

our lives will

be over.

And everything

that we have

struggled with,

and everything

which we have

doubted, and

everything which

we have been

tempted by, it

will all be

over in that

day.

Because Jesus

is going to

come to that

very place and

turn that place

into the center

of jubilation.

salvation.

He's coming

back.

But as we

finish, notice

that Paul knows

that sound

theology from

afar is not

enough for

these grieving

Thessalonians.

Comfort without

these truths would

be utterly

impossible.

But even with

this knowledge,

we are all

going to face

grief.

If we haven't

done it yet,

we soon will.

And we're all

going to be in

the dark place,

whether that's

sooner or

whether that's

later.

And in those

moments, we are

going to need

our brothers and

sisters around

us to encourage

us.

We're going to

need our good

understanding of

the future to

come with a

face and

with a box

of Kleenex

and with a

cup of

coffee.

Paul doesn't

say to the

Thessalonians,

here we are,

here's the

facts, now go

and debate

endlessly about

what I haven't

said.

No.

He says to

them and to

us, there are

hurting people who

need to hear

these truths

from us and

it's our

responsibility to

go and to

sit and to

listen and to

grieve and to

care for and

to remind.

These truths

were not given

to the

Thessalonians so

that they could

know the future.

These truths

were given to

the Thessalonians

to comfort

them and the

explicit, the

only explicit

command in

this is that

we comfort

one another

with these

words.

And that's

going to be

hard.

To meet

folks, to

have them

round for

dinner over

the course of

weeks and

months and

maybe even

years.

To be open

and free

enough with

each other

that they can

call us when

they need a

shoulder to

cry on.

To encourage

them to get

out the house

to take

them to

some events

that maybe

aren't our

own cup of

tea.

And in

amongst all

of this

living,

normal life,

to find the

right opportunities

to keep on

reminding them

of the truth.

To point them

back to

Jesus.

Certainly not

trivialize their

grief, but

with wisdom to

show them their

hope.

people.

And so we

are to keep

on reminding

one another of

these truths,

to keep on

encouraging each

other to look

forward to the

sure return of

Christ and to

live our lives in

the light of

these core truths

of the gospel.

These core truths

of the gospel that

sound like this.

we believe that

Jesus died and

rose again.

Can we pray?

And then I'll

hand back over to

Gary and the

band.

Father God,

thank you so

much that as we

look to the

future, we look

not to

uncertainty, but

to an event that

is utterly

certain, to an

event that is

completely out of

question, to a

time that is

beyond any

suspicion.

You are coming

back for us,

Jesus.

And as we live

here below, as

we long for that

day, as we live

in this broken

world, would you

continue to

spur us on, to

keep our eyes

fixed on you, to

remember these

core truths and

to comfort one

another.

Lord, thank you

for this church.

And we pray that

as we make it up

and as we live

lives together, that

you would bless

us.

You would give us

compassion for

one another, that

our love for one

another would

abound and that

we would live

wholly before you.

Lord, we praise

you and we thank

you and we pray

these things in

Jesus' name.

Amen.