St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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Hard Texts:  Who’s Who?

Matthew 22:23-33

November 5, 2006         (Click the date to see the bulletin)

1. The person who requested this topic simply wrote, "To see our loved ones after death." There was no signature and no scripture reference; I could not call and ask for any clarification. Unless I’ve totally missed the point, this person is wanting to know how we will recognize the people we love in the life beyond the one we live now. So I picked ten verses from Matthew which I hope tie into the request.

2. This part of Matthew contains a record of the confrontations Jesus encountered after he entered Jerusalem for the last time. Many people felt threatened by Jesus’ teachings, the sadducees and the pharisees probably more than anyone else. In those days, these two groups of people were much like conservatives and liberals in our own day – one group wanting to keep things as they had always been, and the other group open to new possibilities. Sadducees and pharisees did not agree about much of anything! About this particular issue, the sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They found their support in Scripture – or, rather, they did not find anything at all about it in the first five books of the Bible (which was the only part of scripture they acknowledged. So, they figured, resurrection must not be possible. The pharisees did believe in bodily resurrection, but they had other issues with his teachings. So Jesus spent much of his time responding to questions from both groups, each one trying to trip him up. But he didn’t falter. This was his answer to the question about life after death.

3. The "verse of interest" today started out as a question, as usual. Jesus’ teachings were so very different from those of the earlier rabbis. It was only natural for people to have questions. In the verses before these, the pharisees had a question about paying taxes to the emperor. Now it was the sadducees turn: If a woman outlives seven husbands, whose wife will she be in the life to come? How will she sort them out? Assuming, of course, that there is "a life to come." His answer astounds us as much as it did the crowd! "In the resurrection, they neither marry nor or given in marriage; but are like angels in heaven." That’s hard for us to understand, isn’t it? Our thinking is so limited by what we know in this life. And it makes us ask another question. If marriages aren’t recognized in the next life, then what about our other relationships – parents and brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and children and grandchildren? The person who made this request has a very good question: How will we know those people we love in the life to come?

4. I must admit I don’t know for sure and certain. But I have thought a lot about this, and here’s my best answer so far. I haven’t read this anywhere, although some of Paul’s writings probably started me thinking in this direction. Think about how you recognize someone. The most obvious way we recognize people is by their looks or their sounds. Right? I can see your silhouette against the glass doors and know it’s you by the general shape and the way you move. Or, you can be standing behind me and say something, and I know it’s you by the sound of your voice. But in the life to come, we will know each other in a different kind of way.

5. The best way I can explain what I believe is to transfer all this to the plant world. Look at this pumpkin seed. Flat, nondescript. Not much to look at. We might be inclined to just toss it out. But somebody taught us that this seed has long-term possibilities. Before it can realize its full potential, it must be planted in the ground. After the right amount of time, a little green shoot pokes its way up and out of the dirt. The covering of that seed falls away. It has no life left it in. It is dead. It’s only purpose all along was to protect the potential within it, and now it just lays on the ground. And it isn’t long before the shoot "shoots" along the ground, sprouting beautiful big green leaves as it grows to be 30 feet long! Then, at the right time, gorgeous yellow-gold flowers bloom. And more and more and more, until a ten-square-foot area is covered with vines and leaves and blossoms. At the base of most of the flowers, little green pumpkins appear. And the pumpkins grow and grow until they turn bright orange and are ripe for the picking. Then what? How many uses does a pumpkin have? Well, we can use the inside for pies, soups, cookies, casseroles. And the outside we carve for jack-o-lanterns, or clean out to make punch bowls. A prolific pile of pumpkin potential, all from one little pumpkin seed.

6. And I think that’s what the life to come will be like, speaking figuratively, of course. After all, we’re not pumpkins! We won’t need to see the faces or hear the voices of those we love to be able to recognize them. We will know them by the potential God designed in them from the very beginning. And we won’t need our bodies for them to recognize us, either. What about the victims of the Twin Tower bombings? Last week they discovered over 200 additional body parts. What will the next life be for them? Not to worry! Their family and friends will still know them! God is not interested in the outside covering! God is only interested in the inside, the part that has potential to bring justice and do mercy, and walk humbly with God.

7. In a few minutes, we’ll "come to the Table" as we celebrate our Lord’s Supper. And we’ll remember that God is God. All will be well!

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