AN UNPREACHED SERMON (206)
Photo by Karren McPherson - who shared a series of pictures of the sky around Falkirk area on Facebook. Karren has given permission to use her photos on Day Share.
Two Fridays ago, I was invited to attend a Murder Mystery dinner, held in the Stirling Highland Hotel; an ideal situation for just such an imaginary crime to take place. Having accepted the invitation, I tried my hardest to get into “Agatha Christie” mode in the hope of being able to assess all the evidence, spot the clues and solve the mystery. Each table had an actor seated with the guests and the idea was to interact with them in conversation as they divulged bits of information, and the whole plot would unravel. Don’t think me macabre, but the two murders didn’t take place at the dinner tables, but off set. So, we never even got to view either of the corpses.
It turned out that the biggest mystery of all was how the person who had invited me and I were going to get back to Edinburgh given the heavy snow and transport chaos on the Saturday morning. Megabus and Citylink bus timetables have their own mysterious way of working in atrocious weather. But at least no one died on route. All in all, it turned out to be an enjoyable if eventful experience.
The fascination of solving a murder mystery goes back a long way. The Medieval ages produced hundreds of ballads about crime and murder; and that interest continues down to the present day. It may be because such events play such an important part in the human story. In the USA they have even coined a word for people with such an interest; they are known as “murderinos”.
Several factors come in to play when people set out to become armchair sleuths.
The fascination with evil and sin in the human psyche
A curiosity about the motivations that make people tick
The thrill of being able to solve a “whodunnit”
A general interest in the legal processes of the law
Or it could just be the sense of relief as you sit around the dinner table knowing you are neither the victim nor the perpetrator in the crime.
For most of us, the word mystery suggests something that is difficult to grasp and even more difficult to unravel. Winston Churchill’s radio definition springs to mind when he was trying to unravel Hitler’s intentions in October 1939. “It’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...”
This is the exact opposite of how the word is used in the Bible. Far from being hidden, Bible mysteries are truths right out in the open. They are revealed mysteries meant to be fully understood. God’s mysteries do not keep us in the dark; they throw light on life both here and hereafter. God has no secrets from us, especially when it comes to the great mystery of death. Writing to the Corinthians about what form our resurrection bodies will be when Christ returns, Paul declares “Behold I show you a mystery for we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). St Augustine preached on this once and came away with the question, “Is He who is able to make you when you did not exist, not able to make over what you once were?”
Over the years, one question I have often been asked has to do with what it will be like when we come to die, and what happens afterwards. It is a hot topic at the moment, given the Assisted Dying Bill being debated by Parliament. It is so noticeable that in all those interviewed, whatever stance they take, that God is left out of the picture. This is to be expected, of course, since only a handful of our secular politicians seem to have any living faith in Christ. There is mention of “faith” but not much substance to the word. It prompts the question, “Faith in what or who?
Thankfully the Bible takes a robust and affirmative stance when it talks about life and death matters. The classic passage is 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul discusses the truth of Christ’s bodily resurrection and the hope it gives to all who trust in Him when their time comes. There is no denying it is a detailed chapter and difficult to follow at times, but the main outlines are clear. “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Cor 15:51) he declares, setting the whole question in the light of the risen Christ’s return to this planet. The wider context is found at 15:42-49.
OUR BODIES AS THEY NOW ARE – our present existence
Four things characterise our bodies in the here and now. We are all too aware of them.
Weak (things we used to do easily get harder and harder)
Perishable (the mirror tells the truth every time you look into it)
Unglorified (the ravages of sin have taken their toll)
Natural (we are earth bound creatures through and through)
OUR BODIES AS THEY SHALL BE - our future existence
Powerful (v43). All the stresses, weaknesses and tiredness gone for good.
Imperishable (v42). No longer subject to deterioration or decay. Unlike Lazarus who was raised back to this life in the same body only to have to go through the whole process again. Our resurrection body will be like Christ’s (Phil 3:20, 21)
Glorious (v43). Just like what the disciples witnessed of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, we shall shine with His glory (Daniel 12:2, 3; Matt 13:43).
Spiritual (v44). Adapted to a new environment, they will be responsive to the Holy Spirit in a way they never attained in this earthly, natural existence.
THE SOLID TEACHING OF ORTHODOX, EVANGELICAL, BIBLICAL TEACHING.
It is clearly set out in the Scottish Catechism, and I never tire of quoting it.
“The souls of believers are made perfect in holiness at death, and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies, still being united to Christ, rest in the grave until the resurrection”.
Human beings are made up of body and soul. The combination of the two makes us persons. Body and soul were created together and are meant to be united together for all eternity. Where, when and how we die is in God’s hands alone (Heb 9:25), not in the domain of politicians, doctors or judges. Death was never God’s intention for His creation; it was brought in because of sin. Sin separates. It renders apart that which should never be divided.
OUR UNION WITH THE RESURRECTED CHRIST.
What happened to Him is the guarantee of what will happen to all those who trust in Him and are united to Him by faith. “Made like Him, like Him we rise” sings Charles Wesley. Yes, there will be continuity with what is laid in the grave, but there will also be discontinuity. Christ is the clue. Just as He was recognised as the same Jesus they had known prior to His death, so we too will know each other. But we will have an understanding of what it means to be a new creature in Christ Jesus in a way that we never grasped before we died. Donald Macleod points out that this is God’s intention for all His creation: “The scenario is a thrilling one: brilliant minds in powerful bodies in a transformed universe”.
Sometimes the old Gospel solos we used to hear sung, have the knack of pinpointing the truth in a way a sermon could never do. The element of mystery remains, but it is a mystery made known to the eyes of faith now, but then face to face.
“I shall know Him, I shall know Him
When redeemed by His side I shall stand;
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hand”
The risen Christ will be instantly recognisable by us, and equally He will know us and we will know one another. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor 13:12).
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