Sermon for September 14th

There are two kinds of people in this world: the dead ones and the not dead ones. Dead or alive. Another way to put this would be to say that there are two kinds of people in this world: the dead ones and the dying ones. Which one are you? Dead or alive? Dead or dying?

In the eyes of this world you are alive or, put more cynically, from the day you are born you are dying—but not dead yet. However, in the eyes of God you are already dead. Or, to put it more positively, “You are dead and your life is hidden—hidden—with Christ in God.”

So, is this important to know or has your pastor just gone a little dark in today’s sermon? The apostle Paul argues that knowing all this will make a difference in how you look at Jesus’ death on the cross: you will either think it is foolishness or you will be given faith. If you can make the distinction between whether you are dead or dying, you will discover what makes a dead man on the cross the seat of your hope rather than just another sad story.

Dying people still have a chance you know? Dying people can still strive for life. I recently watched a movie called “The Bucket List” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. These two men are each dying of cancer and decide to write out a list of things they would like to do before they die—before they “kick the bucket” so to speak. Then they do the things they write down. Two old men having the time of their lives. Jumping out of planes, seeing the Taj Mahal, seeing the world through new eyes. In the end, they seem to have lived more in their final days than they did perhaps throughout their entire life. And that’s what people who are dying can do—they can still improve. Dying people still have some choices to make. Dying people still have some time.

But in God’s eyes, you are not dying, you are dead. A dead person has nothing left to do. A dead person is at the whim of the weather and the worms. A dead person doesn’t choose to lie down, they just can’t help themselves. There’s no more improvement.

In the eyes of this world there is more hope in dying than in death. In the eyes of this world, death is the worst thing that could happen to you. In the eyes of this world, a dead man on the cross is the end of the story and it is foolishness to find any reason to hope in a dead man. It would be better to hide your face from the cross, look away and find something more interesting and exciting—a little more lively—to look at.

“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, to those who are dying, to those who are not yet dead, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Why is that? Why is the cross foolish to some people but powerful for others?

Perhaps you remember your days as a kindergartner or as a young child before going off to school. Do you remember the monkey bars? Do you remember when you first did them and you didn’t need help? How proud you were! How old you had become! How strong you had grown! You didn’t need your mom or dad to help you anymore! That would be silly and embarrassing. You didn’t need help. You could do it yourself.
That was, until you fell from the monkey bars and landed on the ground with a thud. Then, having mommy and daddy around wasn’t so foolish anymore. In fact, when they ran over, picked you up and held you tightly to their heart, they weren’t so silly at all anymore; instead, they were strong, loving and maybe even powerful.

We go through life trying our darndest to become self-reliant and powerful in ourselves. We want to be the best at what we do and we don’t want to always have to ask for help. When you get potty trained as a young child it is embarrassing to have an accident again and have to be helped into some other pants. When you are older and the car keys get taken away from you, the embarrassment is no less upsetting. We don’t want help. We should be able to do it all ourselves. The problem is that, while this attitude works well at work and at school, your relationship with God doesn’t work the same way.

When you are dead, you’d take any help you could get wouldn’t you? Throughout your life, you have the freedom to make good choices and bad choices, but when you are perfectly passive six feet under, it doesn’t matter how free you think your will is . . . you can’t do anything with it—nothing at all. You’d need somebody to come and lift you up out of the grave. You’d need someone who wasn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. You’d need someone foolish enough to call to a dead person to come out of their tomb. You’d need someone powerful enough to bring you new life.

If you think you are alive and well and always getting better you probably have no need for a God who’s greatest achievement in this world was to die embarrassingly on a cross. You’d stay away from a God like that. In the eyes of this world you’d be foolish to do anything different. If you think you are dying, you will probably run from a God who tells you to find hope in a dead Savior. To find hope in death. You’d stay away from a God like that. In the eyes of this world you’d be foolish to do anything different.

However, if you are dead already then a God who has died might be a little more relevant wouldn’t he. If you are dead already, a God who spent three days in hell might seem like a kindred soul. If you are dead already, a God who was raised from the dead might look a little more hopeful, a little more like a Savior. If you are dead already, you might pray that you had a God who could be powerful in your life and give you life after death. If you are dead already, trust in God who sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you. If you are dead already, you may trust in Jesus for your eternal life.

“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” You are not dying, God says, “You are dead already and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” When Christ is revealed your life is revealed, whether he is revealed to you at church, in the Bible or, finally, on the last day.

Do you remember when you first learned to ride your bike without training wheels? The excitement, the danger, the balancing act, the constant need to pedal and then—finally!—freedom! Your parents let go and you were off, riding as fast as you can. You could go anywhere you wanted. Well, your Daddy in heaven won’t let go. He’s always holding on. Your Daddy in heaven won’t even let you ride your bike by yourself. That might seem a little over-protective, or foolish or maybe even downright frustrating. But for those of you who don’t ride very well, who keep getting tired of pedaling, keep hitting bumps or getting flat tires, having Daddy constantly beside you doesn’t seem so foolish. Indeed, it is a blessed gift.

In the eyes of this world you are all alive and well. You work hard. You improve. You make mistakes. You make choices. You do your best and sometimes you do your worst. In this world, the wisest and best things you can do are work hard and improve yourself. This is how you make money. This is how you get A’s in school. This is how you can love your family.

But in the eyes of God, you cannot save yourself by working hard and improving. That would be utterly foolish. You are as capable of producing faith or creating good works as a dead corpse. You just can’t do it. You are perfectly passive in the eyes of God to save yourself, unable to make even the first step toward God, your creator.

You are dead. There is nothing left for you to do for your salvation. God has accomplished everything. This is the message of the cross and it is foolish for those who are perishing, but for you, who are being saved, it is the power of God. You don't have to worry about death. God is taking care of that. Now, you can enjoy your life. Amen.