Luke 20. 27-38
God will love us tomorrow, as much as god loves us today!
“Jesus said to them[, that is, to the Sadducees who had asked him a question], ‘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 ….’”
I read those words, at the start of the week, and I have to tell you, my first reaction was to find something else to preach on! First Reading! Second Reading! Psalm! Prayer of the Day! Anything but this passage! Granted, it’s everything we could hope for … at least, according to popular opinion. Ask most what Christianity is about, and they’ll say, “Heaven! Heaven or hell! Life after death!” And this passage has it all! Paranormal! Metaphysical! Supernatural!
There’s life here and now. And, then, there’s life then and there! And we’d much rather deal with the then and there! But, to be honest, there’s not a whole lot of other verses in the bible like this one. It’s, pretty much, in a class all its own. And so, when I read the words, I wasn’t sure what to say. It would be different if I was still in seminary. This is the kind of thing we talked about in class. It was the kind of thing we expected to preach on in chapel. Academic. Scholarly. And truth be told, totally and completely impractical. Totally and completely useless.
You see, Jesus doesn’t deal in speculation. He doesn’t deal with hypotheticals. The faith Jesus envisions isn’t a thought, an idea. He’s concerned with life! Life right here! Life right now! And what he redeems, what he delivers, is what can bee seen and heard and touched! Jesus’ interest is love! Love, as the hymn goes, to the loveless show that they might lovely be! Jesus speaks very little of angels. Unlike us! We talk about angels all the time. Jesus speaks about people! Plain! Ordinary! Everyday! People down-to-earth, flesh-and-blood! People falling short! People missing the mark! Jesus is concerned with tax collectors and lepers, with shepherds and sinners! People who are hungry and thirsty! People who are frightened and alone!
But there’s nothing personal, nothing intimate, with the lines from today’s reading. They’re more like what the Pharisees would discuss, more like what the lawyers would debate. For everyone else, making do and getting by was enough. Was more than enough. Faith isn’t about life, about living, on the other side of tomorrow. It’s life and it’s living on this side! And passages like this one just don’t offer much help with that.
My dad used to tell a story. About when my brother and I were little. It was the early Sixties. About the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Dad was a photographer at the local newspaper. And the reporters would get together after work for a coffee, a beer. And they’d talk, naturally, about the news of the day. And they’d ask dad what he thought. About living on the eve of destruction. He said he’s smile. Shake his head. Maybe roll his eyes. And he told them that he didn’t. He didn’t think about it. He had two kids at home. One of us, that particular evening, was sick. This passage is for the people just like his coworkers. For the people who have too much time on their hands. It’s not for the ones busy with life, with living. Paying bills. Making ends meet. Taking care of sick kids at home. Most of us have too much to do, here and now, to worry about something, there and then.
Especially when you consider when and where Jesus, supposedly, had his exchange with the Sadducees. It wasn’t just after Halloween. Just a week or two before Thanksgiving. A month or so ahead of Christmas. According to the story, it’s Holy Week! Monday! Tuesday! In Jerusalem! Day one, Jesus rode into town on the cloaks and the songs of the people! Then, he’d entered the Temple to drive out the buyers and the sellers. He was questioned by the chief priests, interrogated by the elders. Now, it’s the Sadducees who challenge him. And it happens in the shadow of the cross. Just a day or two before the betraying and denying and abandoning. Before the suffering and crucifying and dying. And here, at the start of it all, is a theological conversation about life after death! When Jesus is getting ready to change the world! To save it! To make it new! The here! The now!
At this moment, we need to realize, Jesus wasn’t interested in dancing with angels! Throughout his ministry, over his career, he never was! It was, always, feeding the hungry! Giving the thirsty something to drink! Clothing the naked! Putting a roof over the heads of the homeless! It was, always, caring for the sick and being with the lonely and providing the exile, the refugee, a safe place to become, to be. But today’s “gospel” only distracts and diverts! Metaphysical? Yes. Supernatural? To be sure. But gospel? Good news? I just don’t know.
Over my time as a called and ordained minister of the church, only once, has this passage come up in conversation with a church member. It was a woman whose husband – whose husband of fifty years – had just died. She had just read these words. And she asked me about them. Because to her, they were more woe than blessing! Her husband was gone. And now, they would no longer be husband and wife? They would no longer be man and woman? She read that they would be like angels. And she cried. She cried.
The words cause more problems than they solve. What’s it like? On the other side? I don’t know. And the bible doesn’t say all that much. Jesus, even less. Maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t really matter. You see, there’s only one thing that matters. Only one thing that’s important. Here and now, god loves us! Here and now, god loves us and will do – for us – everything, anything, god can! And when here-and-now becomes there-and-then, none of that will change! All of that will stay the same! My friends, there is one thing we know for sure … god will love us, tomorrow, as much as god loves us, today!