Stepping out this morning, I was delighted to see Surprise Lilies up and about to open. In early spring this bulb sends up a cluster of leaves, but as spring moves on the leaves die off. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that was it, death the final word, but come midsummer, that bulb sends up beautiful pink flowers on tall stalks. It’s also called the Resurrection Lily, and you see why. “We now commit the body of our brother/sister to the ground…in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Yesterday’s Gospel lesson was “the Parable of the Rich Fool” (Luke 12:13-21). The man had plenty of money, thought he was set. “You have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Have you seen the bumper sticker, “I’m spending my kids’ inheritance”? Gentiles did believe that death was the end. The first century tombstone of Marcus Statius Chilo says, “Ah! Weary wayfarer, you there who are passing by me, though you may walk as long as you like, yet here’s the place you must come to.” That’s not what we believe. A Christian friend of mine says, “Don’t call it a gravesite. Call it a resurrection site.”
Dr. Arthur Just: “To be rich toward God is to believe that God is the giver of all things, including life and salvation. To show that one believes is to share with others the gifts God gives” (Concordia Commentary, 507). A few verses after the parable, Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give to the needy” (Luke 12:33). True believers literally do that. In my ministry, especially at the Seminary, I have been encouraged by many followers of the Lord of life who gave their earthly possessions away through their estate plans, providing for family and continuing the work of the Gospel long after they had been taken to heaven. The Resurrection Lily tells a story, and we thank God for Christians who live and die with confidence in the resurrection. “If we have united with him (Jesus) in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection life his” (Romans 6:5).
Comments