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“God’s Rules”
- Luke 20:27-38 |
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Suanne and I have been married for 34 ½
years. It’s the only marriage we have known. The woman described in the
lectionary text for today had seven. Although I try, I know that I
cannot know what it’s like to lose a spouse in death – or two spouses –
or three – or seven. You’ve heard of “Four Weddings and a Funeral?” Well, this
story is a case of seven weddings and eight funerals! I cannot even imagine
what it would be like to experience a whole succession of weddings – followed by
an equal number of funerals. What about the woman’s own death? In heaven,
would she recognize her husbands? And, by the way, whose wife would she be? If
that poor woman was stuck with seven husbands for all eternity, she might have
thought she ended up in hell instead of heaven! According to Luke’s gospel, Jesus was in Jerusalem. He engaged in a series of controversial discussions with the Jewish leaders there. They had already put him to the test twice. They questioned him about his authority to teach and they tried to trick him into trouble with Roman authorities by asking him about paying taxes. Then, the Sadducees took their turn. “Jesus – maybe you can clear up this little discussion we were having. You’re a great rabbi – a teacher – a holy man. We were just wondering – what if a woman was married and her husband died – and then she married again – and that husband died – and then again – and again for seven times? And then she died? Whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her?” It was a trick question. The woman and her successive tragedies were an intellectual exercise – a weapon used in Jesus’ critics’ effort to expose him as a heretic – or at least to make him look like a stupid country bumpkin. After all the weddings and all the funerals, “Whose wife will she be in the resurrection of the dead?” It was a trick question because the Sadducees didn’t even believe in the resurrection of the dead! They were of the priestly class; many were from aristocracy and were wealthy. They were theologically conservative and their only scriptures were the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures – the Pentateuch. They found the idea of resurrection silly. “Whose wife will the woman be?” It looked like they had him. There wasn’t any good, logical solution to this impossible puzzle. She can’t be married to one husband in the resurrection because she was the wife of all of them. It wouldn’t be fair for her to only be considered married to the last husband because she had, after all, been married to each of the seven. As they waited, rubbing their hands together and chuckling to themselves with glee, Jesus shot back to them a totally unexpected answer. He said, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection … Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living.” (Luke 20:34-36, 38) How about that? The answer didn’t really provide a solution, but rather attacked the question! It’s a completely different set of rules! They are God’s rules – not ours! The Sadducees questioned Jesus based on the logic of this world and its human values. It’s the world and the mind-set and the rules they knew. In their world, using their logic, the woman was the property of the first husband – and then the second – and then the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh. She only had value as the wife of a man. You say there is life in the age to come? Then whose “property” shall she be? - - Those were the Sadducees’ rules. Jesus answered them with a whole new logic. What he was saying, in effect, was, “You have been thinking on the basis of the old world, with its old values – one we have made with our unjust social arrangements.” What Jesus was saying was: “In the age to come, the resurrection is a whole new world order, one you do not know or understand. It is a world as God has intended it to be – one that operates with God’s rules.” We, like the Sadducees, are far too limited in our understanding. We think on the basis of our previous experience. Our lives are way too often shaped by our culture’s rules and squeezed into the narrow box of limited human experience and imagination. Jesus told the Sadducees about God’s new world of which resurrection is a part. It was beyond anything that they had experienced. It is beyond anything we have experienced! The new world of God’s rules is something that we can only know through hope, and faith in the triumph of God’s loving purposes. There are some things wrong with this current world that we’ve begun to recognize as the gospel has opened our spiritual eyes. The longer we walk with Christ, the more God points out what needs to be done. God has not only made us aware of the problems but has also given us the mind, the compassion, and the resources to set things right. Of course, as our faith grows, and our eyes are opened, and we are more attentive to the heart of God, we realize that there are some injustices so massive, some heartaches so deep, that our human love and human strength will simply not be enough to make it right. There are pains that happen that cannot be healed simply by improving this world in which we live. That’s right! We need a whole new world with new rules – God’s world – God’s rules! In Jesus, we catch a glimpse – have a foretaste of the new world breaking in among us. Don’t misunderstand me. The new world is not yet here in its completeness. But it is on the way – it’s being created. Every Sunday morning when we gather here, we get to lift the lid – savor its mouthwatering aroma – stir it up and take a little sample taste of this new world. We greet loving friends – we open our Bibles and savor God’s word in study, Scripture, and sermon – we stir it up with singing, compassionate service to others, and prayer, and we get to have a little sample (almost a “teaser.” If you will –) of this new world God is creating. When we live by God’s rules instead of our own – and when we get it right, we help God’s work – moving ever forward to the day when we might get to see all things made right. We get to see the new world in its fullness. Occasionally, I get asked questions about what Christians will experience after death. Often, the questions are really a need for assurance that we will see and recognize our beloved when we enter heaven. I don’t know the answer to the questions. I don’t even know what heaven will be like. No one does. Did Jesus know the answer to the Sadducees’ question? I don’t know. Instead of answering, he used it as a teaching moment. He challenged them – and now us – to enter into a kingdom that operates by God’s new rules – and when we live life in this new way, we will be asking an entirely new set of questions. Worship God. Follow Christ. Study the Scriptures. Love and serve God’s family. These are the new rules – God’s rules: “… those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.” God’s rules. “Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection …” God’s rules. Amen! Let us pray: Almighty Creator, Divine Source of Everything, as human beings, it is hard to know how to relate to you. Thank you for sending Jesus to show us your approachable side – your loving side. Thank you for claiming us as “children of God … children of the resurrection.” Teach us the new way to understand – the new questions to ask – the new rules by which you would have us live. In Christ, the Great Teacher’s name we pray. Amen. |