God of the Living
a sermon based on Luke 20:27-38
by Rev. Randy Quinn
I don’t know how many of you have
seen the results of a survey of Americans over 50 and how many of them believed
in heaven.
In some ways, the statistics were not very surprising to me. But it was
interesting to note that according to the survey, the higher our income the less
likely we are to believe in heaven. If we earn less than $25,000 a year,
according to the survey, 90% of us would believe in heaven while among those
earning $75,000 or more only 78% believe. In fact, the chart suggested that
there is a direct correlation between our income and how much we believe.
(That leaves open the question of
what younger Americans believe; but it still says that most Americans over age
50 believe in heaven, no matter what their income level.)
And while I know that believing in
heaven is not the same thing as believing in resurrection, there is a fairly
direct relationship isn’t there? In fact, when I was in Sunday School, I was
taught a little phrase to help me remember that the Sadducees didn’t believe in
heaven. It explains why they were so ‘sad, you see’?
I don’t know what percentage of
society the Sadducees represented in Jesus’ day. I do know that this is the
only time Luke refers to them. And I do know that one of the core tenets of
their faith was a denial of the resurrection – ostensibly because there was no
reference to it in the books of Moses, the only part of the scriptures they held
to be authoritative.
The truth is they were half
right. (And like all half-truths, the problem is always with “the other half.”)
They come to Jesus with a
question. It isn’t a real question, though. They haven’t lost a loved one and
wondered what he or she will look like when we meet them again in heaven. They
apparently haven’t experienced the angst of those who long for a sense of
meaning in the midst of a tragic death, either.
No. They come with a question
that I’m sure they had used numerous times to trip up their theological
opponents. In a society that used questions and answers as their primary method
of teaching and learning, questions could also become sharp swords and daggers
with which to injure people who opposed their viewpoints.
The question they ask Jesus is
intended to trap him into saying there is no resurrection. They don’t believe
in heaven, so they make their image of heaven seem so ridiculous that not even
Jesus would believe in that!
In a surprise move, however, Jesus
agrees with their absolutely absurd dilemma. There is no way to sort out who
will be married to whom in heaven – not because there is no heaven but because
life in heaven will be far too different from this life. Our image of heaven is
too limited by the world in which we live to fully comprehend it. Heaven will
be unlike anything we’ve ever known – and so different that there are not
adequate words to describe what it will be like.
That can be seen in the visions of
a great white tunnel we’ve heard mentioned by those who have been near death.
It can be seen in the Biblical portrayals of heaven with streets of gold –
rather than stone – because the values of this world are so different from the
values of that one (Rev. 21:21). Or maybe you’ve read about the image Don Piper
offers in his book 90 Minutes in Heaven and realize how difficult it was
for him to describe what he experienced.
The point is: what heaven looks
like remains a mystery. We cannot know with certainty what it looks like, what
it sounds like, or what it smells like. We can only know that heaven is where
Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us (Jn. 14:2).
It is curious, though, that in
speaking to the Sadducees, Jesus recognizes their preference for the books of
Moses, the Pentateuch. These five books are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy; they are sometimes referred to as “The Law.” The
Sadducees saw only a limited role of that other great portion of what we call
the Old Testament, “The Prophets.” So Jesus uses their own preference when we
says that the Law was not given to define what heaven will be like; rather the
scriptures are given to let us know how to live on this side of the grave.
Hence, there are laws that allow
for a childless widow to have children to care for her in her old age (Dt.
25:5-10). It was a law written for this life and this life only. That much the
Sadducees got right.
But by insisting on their own
correct but narrow interpretation of the law, they missed out on the enormous
hope of resurrection, the prospect of eternal life, and the promise of heaven,
all of which give meaning and purpose to this life. Jesus uses the story of
Moses at the burning bush to remind them that we can have a sense of confidence
to face uncertainties because we know what lies beyond this life. In that
story, God is spoken of in present tense as the God of Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob – all three of whom had been buried centuries earlier (Ex. 3:6)! Not
knowing that there is life beyond the grave – or at least not being willing to
admit that – was what made the Sadducees so sad, you see.
In a similar vein, the American
service members serving in places like Afghanistan and Iraq need to have a hope
that there is a place waiting for them when they come home. If they leave and
have nothing to look forward to upon their return, the likelihood that they will
return is significantly reduced. They become like Sadducees who think there is
no future and they easily lose all hope. They become sad, you see.
But they cannot live there if the
only thing they think about is here, either. I have often heard people refer to
“the real world” as if they were not living in it. I have heard that from
college students and professors; I have heard it from military leaders, too.
The truth is that “the real world” is where we live, where we are right now – as
well as the place we hope to be some day.
Jesus reminds them – and us – that
God is not just the God of heaven. God is not just the God who will meet us “on
the other side” at the “pearly gates.” Grace is more than just a ticket into
heaven. Jesus reminds us that we worship and serve the God of the living. No
matter where we live. No matter how we live. God is the God of the living –
both in this world and the next.
Several years ago, a pastor
colleague of mine talked about the tension he experienced in one church.
Apparently, someone had borrowed a coffee pot from the kitchen and forgot to
return it. Two or three different groups in the church had their own suspicions
about whom it was that had taken it – and each was convinced that it was an
intentional theft rather than an oversight. Those perceptions and attitudes
toward one another cast a cloud of doubt over every endeavor the church
undertook – and nothing of significance happened.
One day, while the Trustees were
trying to find the source of a leak in the kitchen, they came across the missing
coffee pot. It had not been borrowed or taken or stolen. It had simply been
put in the wrong place and become hidden behind other things.
But the animosity in the
congregation continued. No amount of truth could undo the damage that years of
emotional bickering had created.
What Jesus says to the Sadducees
will not change them. They have clung to their beliefs too long. They have
harbored their grudges and nursed them until they could not be undone. Their
question is not about a real person – because they have lost sight of the needs
of real people. They are only concerned about truth as an intellectual
category, not a spiritual reality.
Their error reminds us that there
is a danger inherent in what Jesus proclaims; a danger for the church today. We
can become too obsessed with sin and hell. Or we can become too focused on
heaven. We can also become too concerned with right living. We can take any
one issue and make it the test of orthodoxy.
When we become that concerned
about any one thing – no matter what the concern is – when we become so focused
on one thing we can begin to overlook the people, real people, who may differ
with us. We may begin to treat them as obstacles in our way rather than human
beings who are loved by God. When that happens, we no longer hear the good news
that Jesus offers.
The good news for us is that God
is the God of the living; and God offers to us a promise that life does not end
at the grave. The God of the living will meet us on the other side.
For now, we are called to be
faithful in this life while waiting for the resurrection and our entrance into
heaven.
The Sadducees made it a practice
to learn the right answers, not necessarily to live them. They came to the
conclusion that whatever deeds they did in this life became their own reward –
maybe like those who earn higher incomes in our society today. For them, there
was no need for heaven.
Jesus assures us that God is the
God of the living; grace is available to us in this life and the next.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
