Dust and Glory - Pastor Andrea Bult

This Sunday we "vigil together" in worship as our sister and colleague is close to meeting her savior face to face. Pastor Andrea reflects on 1 Corinthians 15, which is where the title of the Lenten Series comes from... as Paul calls death our "Last Enemy." And yet, this is an enemy that Jesus has put under his feet through his own death and resurrection. Because of this victory over death, what is sown in dishonor is raised in glory. Pastor Andrea highlights this new wardrobe that we will put on for eternity... an imperishability found in being joined to Jesus Christ. Those of us who are dust and will return to dust can make that great exchange... from dust to glory.  Join us to draw on the hope we have even in the face of death. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

We're in a sermon series called Facing Our Last Enemy, Death and Resurrection Hope. And today we sit for a few minutes with the text from which I pulled that title, 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul calls death our last enemy. And there are days, I'm sure, when you can preach this chapter and it feels like theology at 30,000 feet. And there are days like today when the reality of death is so close, so present. It's like you can feel the enemy's breath on your face. And so to stand here and talk about the hope of the resurrection, it feels not just true, it feels urgent. All of us gathered here this morning, sitting in a sort of collective vigil this Sunday morning for our sister Laura in some of her last days. And so I offer these words to you this morning, not from on high, not from 30,000 feet, but from within, from the low place. That's where I'm coming from today, from the low place, the valley of the shadow of death. I bring these words even as Laura is journeying from this world through death and into eternal life with Jesus. And we remain on this side of the veil for now. And so what shall we do together on this side of that veil? I was in a text thread yesterday with Byte Cortman and Pastor Christie, and they said, How can we support you? And I replied to them, I said, Let us do what we can do. Prepare the elements for communion, teach the kids about the resurrection of Jesus and thus their future resurrection. Write a sermon proclaiming the hope that we have. Let's do those things together on this side of the veil. May these things all steady us today, steady our trembling hearts in the watching and in the waiting together. And so we'll go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And uh it is a very long chapter, and I am not going to read the whole thing, but we will take up some selections here. And so would you rise in body or in spirit? 1 Corinthians 15. This is the longest treatment of the resurrection in the Bible, and we will pick it up at verse 16, reading through 26, and then we'll move to verses 42 through 58. This is Paul writing, For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But say but okay. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, but each in turn, Christ the firstfruits, then when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Moving over to verse 42. So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth, and as is the heavenly man, so are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the imperishable must clothe itself with the for the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. And when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, on a day that we need it so desperately, to be reminded that when we do come to the end of our life here on earth, that this is not all there is in your story, that it is not the last chapter, but chapter one. And so I pray that you would strengthen us and uphold us in this season. Strengthen us and uphold us as we come before your word, knowing there are people we love who are dying, who are ready to meet their savior, people that we love who are grieving because they've recently lost someone. God, would this word give us encouragement this morning and hope? I pray that we would understand it as you have intended it for us, and I pray that we would go out of here with our anchor to the ground in Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Paul calls death what it is, our enemy. And I'm glad for that because it feels like an enemy. I'm glad he names it appropriately. Because if we minimize death, if we minimize its gravity, if we kind of make it a sentimental thing, then we're gonna cheapen the message of the resurrection. Many of Paul's listeners would not have disputed that there was life after death, but their culture thought it was more of a disembodied spiritual reality, sort of a revival of the soul, maybe, right? Soul good, body bad. So a revival of the soul, perhaps, but not an actual flesh and blood bodily resurrection after you die. How can you say there is no resurrection from the dead, Paul asks? Because to him, that is the very center of our faith. So he is drilling down on this. If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, Paul tells them, then we should all feel sorry for ourselves. If he has not been raised, then I am a liar, and our faith is useless. If our hope is for this life only, then we of all people are most to be pitied. But, he says, and this is a very big and very important but, but he has been raised. Jesus was born, made of the same stuff we are. He lived, he died, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day in a body. In a body. He has been raised, and that means if we are in Christ, so will we be. This is the hinge on which the door from this life to the next life swings open for us. Jesus, he's the door, he's the way, he's the truth, he's the life, he's the hinge, he's the gate, he's everything. Okay. So this theology is really important because it guards the believers from despair when their loved ones die. And it keeps others from throwing up their hands and saying, Well, who cares? Life is short. Who cares? Does any of this even matter? And it stops us from being materialists with big appetites in all departments, like some of the people Paul was writing to, who said, you know what? Let's eat and drink. For tomorrow we die. Let's do whatever we want. Carpe diem sees the day. Because tomorrow we die. Knowing that this, this life is not all that there is, actually emboldens believers for risk in the kingdom. Because they don't have to protect their own little life to such an extent that they can't open up their hands and give it away to other people. And so Paul is really drilling down on how this is actually the center of our faith and not just sort of our mind faith, but our mission faith. It helps us to be riskier knowing that this is not all that there is. And so Paul compares death and resurrection to a seed, and then the plant that grows from it. The seed gets put in the ground and dies. It gives itself up, which I talked about last week. And so Jesus died and was planted in the ground and was raised, and he is the first fruits of a brand new humanity. We are the harvest grown in his likeness, but all from that one seed that had to be buried first. And all those who have been told, you are dust, dust you are, and to dust you will return. All of those people caught up in the life of Christ will exchange that for glory. So this changes how we see our bodies in our time of dying. It doesn't always look like glory when people are dying. Maybe you've sat at the bedside of someone you love who's coming to the end of their life. There are really hard things about that. Difficult sights, difficult sounds, difficult environments. It doesn't look like glory. However, we do not see as the world sees. We have different eyes. Paul says don't focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. We know there's another layer to this, even in a body that is dying. Because believers, we don't discard a body after it dies. We plant it. We plant it. That's what I talked about last week when we were in John chapter 12. Last week I talked about how we had buried my mother-in-law like a seed in the ground. And then we did that exact same thing on Monday with Andy Dykstra. Some of the, well, it's everywhere, the wheat that I brought to church last week was still in my car on Monday. And so when I got to the graveside, I grabbed a handful of it and I added it to his casket spray of flowers that was on top of the casket. And I said to them there, the family that had gathered, I said, the Bible tells us that grass withers and flowers fade. But a seed is planted in hope of a future harvest that is yet to come. So we should all have these in our casket sprays somehow. And I found this one just on the platform. And so I love that even in this, they're everywhere. They're everywhere. It's unstoppable. And this is what Paul is trying to pick up on in this chapter. So it's a good connection from last week back to this week. He says, what is sown perishable will be raised imperishable. That's the death and resurrection motif that he's picking up on. What is sown in weakness will be raised in power. Laura had seasons in her cancer diagnosis where she could not drive. Two years ago when her bone cancer was quite debilitating for her. And then more recently, with her fluid buildup and the fatigue, it just made it too difficult for her to be her own driver. And so in these times, and especially over these last six months, I had the privilege of being her chauffeur, her driver. Every Tuesday and Sunday, I would back up into her driveway and I would pop the trunk so that I could fold up her walker and put it in the back of my car. And then I'd grab whatever boxes and bags she had sitting there for me. And if you know anything about Laura, she does not travel light. Picture frames and flower vases and tablecloths and fabric and bags of coffee and name tags and thank you cards and boxes and boxes. She always used to say, I love a good box. And I was like, I bet you do. Because you're always carrying things around. She always had some box full of deconstructed joy that either she was going to construct into joy or had been recently dismantled from joy. But increasingly, I watched her bodily strength drain out of her. She couldn't eat the foods that she wanted to. And at times there were weeks where she couldn't eat any food at all. She retained fluid in mind-blowing amounts that had to be drained every Thursday for her to have any level of comfort. To add insult to this injury of not eating, she was then also put on a fluid restriction because of her electrolyte levels and sodium levels. And she began to move more and more and more slowly, deliberately, even, just trying to recruit the muscle fibers needed for simple tasks. And despite her best efforts, the weight dropped off of her. Her body metabolism shifted and began to consume itself for its sustenance. And so her bones began to show and sharpen. Shadows formed beneath those bones on her face and her clavicles and her skin took on a yellowed hue in the last couple months. And I remember looking over at her in the passenger seat of my car in January, and I thought, Laura is dying. But so are you. So are you. You know that, don't you? You feel it, don't you? Maybe it's not as imminent as Laura. It's not today or tomorrow, perhaps, Lord willing. But you are. And no matter what any longevity doctor tells you, we do not have the ability to hold back what is coming for us. Death. And if Christ was not raised, that death would be the end. It would be the end. If Christ is not raised, then we of all people are to be pitied. Or we should just eat and drink and do whatever we want with all of our appetites, because tomorrow we die. So who cares? And we should hold on to this life with the tightest grip possible, our fingernails just turning white as we hang on, desperately clinging to the things of this world. But Christ has been raised. And he was so open-handed with his own life that he did not cling to it or protect it or hoard it or keep it for himself, but he gave it up. He laid it down. God planted him like a seed in the ground. And the Lord of life went toe-to-toe with the enemy of death right in its own territory, in the grave itself. Why to usher in a resurrection reality that would be marked by the abolition of death itself, where death will be no more. And this means that when the trumpet sounds on Resurrection Day, Paul says, what is sown in dishonor will be raised in glory. In glory. In an ongoing way, and then you will receive a strength in that time that death itself cannot drain from you. Because you will participate forever in an ongoing fashion in the risen life of Christ. You'll be this participant. It's what we do in part in this meal. We participate in the life of Christ, but in the resurrection, we will fully participate in the resurrected life of Christ. And so that means that there is going to be a wardrobe change. Laura is going to have a wardrobe change, and she is a great wardrobe. Color and texture and design and florals and embellishments. She is on theme for every occasion. Even Laura will get an upgrade because she will be dressed in strength. Overclothed with immortality and fitted for eternity and just decked out in imperishability. Who is it that you're wearing? Jesus Christ and his imperishability. Yes. Think of it, radiant. No oversized tops, no high neck to cover up the port. No head covering needed for her baldness. That wardrobe of dust that she's been wearing will be exchanged for a garment of glory. A garment of glory. And that is not just for Laura, that is for you. That is for me. We are all wearing a wardrobe of dust. Can't you feel it? Dust you are, and to dust you will return, and that will get exchanged for a wardrobe of glory and be fitted for eternity and be dressed in strength. Because God has not forgotten how to breathe life into a pile of dust. He did it at creation. God took dust into his hands and he formed Adam and He breathed life into him. But when sin entered in, God said to Adam, Well, now you will go back to the ground that you came from. Dust you are. And to dust you will return. But aha, but I'm back on the big butt. But the first Adam does not get the last word. Because Jesus, the last Adam, is the last word for our lives. Death came through a man, Paul says, but so does resurrection. While in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive. And listen, we are dying. And you know what? Laura is on her way to living. She is on her way to living. And so, behold, Paul says, For I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. And then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. I normally holler that line at a graveside. If I've done a graveside service with your family, you probably know I let that thing ring out over the cemetery. And I'm not hollering it today because I'm too sad, but it doesn't make it any less true. That as we sit vigil in this moment on this Sunday morning, it makes it no less true. Death has been swallowed up. And victory. And I was gonna leave the last verse off. I was like, ah, it doesn't really fit. And then I thought, wait. Paul ends all this, this huge chapter, by saying, be steadfast. Be immovable, be be abounding in the work of the Lord. And I suppose that is what I hope for us in the midst of everything that is difficult. In this valley of the shadow of death, church, let us be steadfast. Let us be immovable, let us abound in the work of the Lord. And that's not just a keep going productivity for us. In this context, it means nothing is wasted.

unknown 26:54

Right?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Paul says your labor isn't is not in vain. You will know your labor is not in vain. And I think that it also means that because death does not win, your love, your care, your visits, your notes, your tears, these tears, your presence at a bedside, none of that is wasted just because death is around the corner. It's precious. It's so precious, precious to God is the death of his saints, the Psalms say. Resurrection means that sitting vigil is not meaningless. And that is what we are doing here today. We are bearing witness, we are sitting vigil. We are agreeing together in the hope of the resurrection, so that our sister Laura, if she can see this or hear this, if she can watch this, would know that we are with her on this journey partway to meet her Savior. These tears are not pointless, and the prayers are not futile, and sitting vigil is not meaningless. These are acts of resistance in the face of our last enemy. Yesterday I spent some time with at Laura's bedside. Friday she was able to visit more, but yesterday she was not awake for any of the time that I was there. And so first I had myself a good cry, which is why I'm not doing that in this moment. But then, secondly, I sang over her. And I sang, Christ our hope in life and death. This was my way of standing firm, of being immovable, of being steadfast in the face of our great enemy. This was my defiant doxology as I sang. Because the last verse says this unto the grave. What will we sing? Christ He lives. Christ He lives. And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with him. And then we'll rise to meet the Lord, and sin and death will be destroyed. And then we'll feast in endless joy when Christ is ours forevermore. Let the church say amen.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Let's pray. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we look forward to the day when we will feast in joy. When that joy box deconstructed that Laura has been carrying around will no longer be deconstructed, but it'll be laid out like a banquet table for us in the resurrection. And so, God, I pray that you would strengthen us with this hope. As we journey through the valley of the shadow of death. And on the way through, we're gonna need a meal to strengthen us. And so we give you thanks that you have prepared just such a meal before us today. And Jesus, be our shepherd, be our companion. We know that we are united to you in this meal. Would you be so close to those who are brokenhearted, with those who are crushed in spirit, just like you promise? Holy Spirit, would you turn this bread and this juice, just these, these morsels into the exact sustaining feast that we need in this moment? Food for the journey. God, our Father, we thank you that you rule and reign over every power and every principality and every enemy, and you will put every one of them under your feet, death being the final enemy that you will crush. And so we go to this meal in sadness and also in hope to proclaim your death until you come.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.