1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The people of Thessalonica who had
become followers of Jesus had concerns about those who had died in their
community. To understand this concern,
we have to remind ourselves that the first generations of Christians sincerely believed
that Jesus was coming back any day. I
know Christians today say they believe that still, but honestly it does not
compare. The early Christians did not
make future plans because their future plans were to welcome Christ when he
came back. There is believing that
something is possible or even probable and then there is knowing that something
is going to happen. The fact that it
didn’t happen as soon as they hoped was a big concern as we will see in Paul’s
later letters.
So in that climate of great expectation, people wondered what
was to become of those who died in the in-between time, the time between when
Christ ascended and when he came back.
So Paul’s words here are meant to be pastoral. He reminds us that people who follow Jesus
grieve differently than those who don’t.
We grieve WITH HOPE. Paul
comforts the Thessalonians further that those who have died will join the rest
of them when Jesus returns. They will
share eternity together.
We’ve
had a crash course in death over the last few years. The coronavirus pandemic killed millions most
of those deaths occurring in the space of one year. Natural disasters are claiming more lives
than ever before. I will confess that
the grief feels especially personal to me as my family has experienced several
deaths in the last few years, more than in any previous season of my life. I recall their lives and I shed tears for
them now as I write this. I look toward the day that I will see them again. Paul does not say that those who follow
Christ do not grieve – quite the opposite.
He says that we do grieve, but we grieve WITH HOPE. Those who we have lost will rise as Christ
has risen and we will rise with them.
Thanks be to God..
One of
the things I chose to do in my grief is attend a 13-week experience called
GriefShare. I am so glad that I did.
Even as a pastor with three decades of experience dealing with people in
grief and loss, I have to confess that I learned a lot. More importantly, I found sojourners who are
experiencing grief as well and we found that the journey is much more bearable
and even productive when you are not traveling alone. What was amazing to me was how all of my fellow
sojourners’ experiences with grief are different, yet we found so much common
ground that gave us strength together. This
class is offered in most areas multiple times a year. If you have experienced a loss sometime in
the past, I highly recommend this resource.
Here is a link where you can find a GriefShare group near you.
https://www.griefshare.org/s?center=&date_range=&day=&distance=&location_type=&query=&sort_by=&type=
Reflection: Instead
of a question today, take a few moments to remember those we have lost most
recently. Take comfort in the HOPE that
we will be with them again.
Prayer: God thank you
for those we love and have died. We hold
them dear in our hearts and we hold on to the hope that they and we share – the
hope of resurrection in Christ Jesus. Lord, come quickly. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for the families you know who are experiencing loss right now.
Song: Josh Groban – To Where You Are
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