Carl Sorenson's Memorial 1 Thess 4:13-18

A great king had a son that became gravely ill. Day after day the king prayed, fasted, and grieved for his son, begging God not to let him die. But after seven days the son did die. And the reaction of this great king was to get dressed, eat, and return to life as normal. His servants were mystified, they had witnessed their king in such great grief before his son died, they expected him to grieve even more now, and they asked the king why he acted this way. His reply was that he could not bring his son back by grieving, but that he would someday go to be with his son again. He had the hope of seeing his son again.

Brothers and sisters, friends and family, we are here today because Carl has died. His passing away makes us sad, we grieve, we will miss him. And as we grieve we grieve in one of only two ways, as one who has a hope based on the work of Christ or as one who does not have that hope. And if you do not have that hope, welcome, and may God one day grant you that hope. But this message is for believers, it is a message of comfort from Jesus Christ to His church through His apostle Paul.

This text is often used at funerals, and rightly so. And I know many of you know it well. But we are a forgetful people, and I hope that hearing this once again is encouraging to you. So brothers and sisters in Christ, listen and take comfort. Grieve as one who has hope, for Christ died and rose again.

Paul here gives the Thessalonians a word of comfort and encouragement in the face of their having experienced the death loved ones in the church. He does not tell them to be Stoics, to never express grief and sorrow, does he? He tells them something different, but very significant. He says not to grieve as others do who have no hope. No hope. There are two groups of people, those with hope and those without hope. Christians, you have hope. You Christian may grieve, but grieve differently than those sitting here who do not have hope. You will see Carl again, don’t mourn and wail like one who believes death is the end game, take heart that death has been defeated once and for all!

1. Grieve as one who will rise from the dead, for Jesus died and rose again.

Paul gives us reasons for why we ought to grieve differently. As those with hope, we know that Jesus died and rose again. Brothers and sisters, we and Carl are joined to Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. We and Carl remain united to Christ in life and in death, and as surely as He rose from the dead, so we shall be raised from the dead at the last day. The Christian does not die and remain a spirit, their bodies being left behind to rot in the dust of the earth. The soul will be reunited with the body on that glorious day when Christ returns, those who have died being raised up, and those who have not yet died joining them in the air to meet our Lord as He returns. And we see Paul is making a point when he calls the Christian death “falling asleep.” You see him say that Jesus died, and never in the Bible is Jesus’s death referred to as sleep. He has died. But Paul here says three times that those who have died in Christ have fallen asleep. You see, we will again see Carl in person. Not just soul, but his whole person as he and we are raised up bodily when Christ comes again. We will see Carl again, and if we wanted to we could give him a hug (or shake his hand) because he will again be alive in his body! For now his broken and dead body lies in the dust, but we have the hope of seeing him again.

2. Grieve as one who will enjoy the new creation, for Jesus died and rose again.

As surely as Jesus rose from the dead, we will be raised at the last day. He will return from heaven, and those who have died will be raised up to meet Him in the air, then we who remain will also be taken up to meet Him as He comes. And from then on we will be with Jesus forevermore as He brings us into His new creation. The new heavens and earth will be a place where the glory of God dwelling in our midst will shine forever unabated. It will be a place with no more curse, no more sin, no more death, and no more sorrow. There will no longer be any liver cancer that takes the life of our loved one. We shall forever enjoy basking in the glory of our Lord and praising Him for His glorious grace. All of us who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation will be there; you will be there, I will be there, and Carl will be there around His throne praising His great name. Brothers and sisters, we have the sure hope of that glorious new creation.

3. Comfort those who grieve over death, for Jesus died and rose again.

So the last part of this section tells use something we are to do with this information. Because we have this hope, those of us who are believers, we ought to encourage one another with these words. Paul here gives the Thessalonians a word of comfort and encouragement in the face of their having experienced the death loved ones in the church. He does not tell them to be Stoics, to never express grief and sorrow, does he? He tells them something different, but very significant. He says not to grieve as others do who have no hope. No hope. There are those with hope and those without hope. Christians, you have hope. You, Christian may grieve, but grieve differently than those sitting here who do not have hope. You will see Carl again, don’t mourn and wail like one who believes death is the end game, take heart that death has been defeated once and for all! Brothers and sisters, encourage one another with this word of hope from Christ. As you grieve do not grieve like those who do not have this hope, grieve like one who has the hope of the resurrection before you. And let us encourage each other with these words of hope.

Conclusion

Our grief may be acute, and we will certainly miss those who go before us to glory. But believers, do not grieve as others do who have no hope, for since Jesus has died and risen so will Carl be raised. And encourage one another with these words!

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