A Top-Down Faith
The Living Lord Completely Changes Our View of Death
DON’T BE AFRAID, JUST BELIEVE
a. Come to Jesus especially in fearful times
b. Be encouraged and strengthened
Welcome to worship today at Morrison Zion Lutheran Church. We exist to glorify God. We have set out to do this by gathering around the Gospel so that we may grow in the Gospel and go to others with this Gospel.
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Dear Christians:
I received a referral from another WELS congregation that a young woman moved into our area. They asked me to call on her. Because I didn’t have a phone number, I called on her at her home. The husband answered the door and said, “I’m sorry, my wife is busy putting our daughter to bed. Can you come back another day?” I handed him the information on our congregation—the address and times of service and things about our congregation. After a few weeks of attending service, they decided that they were going to join our congregation. Since he was Baptist, he had to take adult instructions. After a few of our adult instruction sessions, they asked me if they could see me after class. So I set up an appointment after class to speak with them. They told me that their first child was a boy; a healthy, beautiful baby boy. One morning when the mother got up and went to the crib, he was dead. Was God punishing them? Where was the baby now?
Fifty-two years ago on the 4th of July weekend, my 5-year-old niece went picking pickles with her mother across the road from where they lived. The highway through Sugar Bush runs out to 45 and it was about 15-20 feet from the front door. On the other side was the church parking lot, so it was all clear. She was used to going back and forth on the highway. They had so many pickles that she had to come back to the house to get another bucket, and when she did, she didn’t notice a car that was coming down the road, and he didn’t see her, and she was killed. Only 5-years-old and she was the apple of her father’s eye. She was smart as a whip and loved to play pool with her dad on her dad’s pool table and go fishing with her dad. She was daddy’s girl.
Twenty-five years ago our neighbor girl had just gotten married. She was beautiful, very athletic, coached girls’ softball. It was Easter Sunday morning and her husband was sick. She went to the drugstore to pick up medicine for him. Then she headed out to go to church with her parents at our congregation. She got on the road a little bit late and there was a slowpoke car right in front of her, so she stepped on the gas of the little red convertible and went around that car and back into her lane, but she over-compensated and hit some gravel. She flipped that little convertible and she was killed. It was Easter Sunday and she was coming to church!
You see, it doesn’t matter what age a child is when their parents lose them, it’s difficult! We see that in our text this morning with Jairus. That’s why Jesus tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He teaches first of all that when you have problems or difficulties, go to Jesus. Secondly, the reason is because you are going to be encouraged and strengthened by your Lord and Savior. If you had to deal with this situation, how would you handle it? What would you do? Would you panic? Or would the first thing you did be to go to Jesus in prayer?
We aren’t told much about Jairus other than he was the head of the synagogue in that town. He was sort of like a preacher. He set up the Scriptures. He protected the Scriptures. He taught the Scriptures. He organized the events of the synagogue. So he knew the Old Testament Scriptures very well. He knew the prophecies about the Messiah. Whether he had ever heard Jesus preach, we don’t know, but he heard about Jesus and he believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scripture. So when Jairus’ daughter became seriously ill, our text tells us seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” The first thing he did was turn to the only one who had the power to do something about the situation.
Someone once said that when death comes close to us, we understand what it is for the very first time. How important life and time are when we’re near death. In times of trouble, Jairus turned to Jesus Christ for an answer, for help. Why? Not only did he learn that He was the Messiah and powerful but that He was a God of mercy. He forgives sins. He comforts. He strengthens. So he turned to Jesus.
Isn’t that why you’re here today? You may have some problem or other and it might be serious, but you came here this morning for that forgiveness of sins and for strength to live your life for your Savior, who redeemed you, a lost and condemned creature who was purchased and won from sin, death and the power of the devil. This is the God we want to hear from. This is the God who loves us, because you know what He did. Only He could do it. The Son of God came into our world and took on our human nature to live a perfect life that you and I can’t. We might think we’re perfect, but we’re not. We’re sinners. So Jesus had to live that perfect life for you and me. So we never have to wonder whether we’ve done enough good to get into heaven.
Then Jesus took upon Himself our sins, suffered and died, was tormented and tortured and separated from His Father’s love, all for us so our sins would be fully paid for. You never have to wonder if your sins are made up for. Jesus has done it. He is your Savior. If He loves you enough to want you to live with Him in heaven, surely He is going to help you here and now. He is going to comfort. He is going to strengthen you.
So, Jairus turned to Jesus for help, for healing his daughter. Then there was a little problem that comes up that is not mentioned in our text. He goes with Jairus to his house, but on the way a woman needs help. He stops and heals her. He makes a big deal about it so that she would understand HE healed her, not some magic gown that He was wearing. In that time, the daughter dies. What don’t you hear Jairus saying? What did the disciples say last week when the waves were coming up over the boat? “Lord, don’t you care about us?” Jairus didn’t say that. “Lord, don’t you care about my lovely daughter? She is dying at home.” He doesn’t say that because as the Lord had asked him to do, “Don’t be afraid; just believe,” he trusted God. Or, as Jeremiah said in Lamentations, he waited on the Lord. He trusted that the Lord would take care of this.
Then the friends came. While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” I always imagined that Jesus put His hand or shoulder around Jairus when He said this. “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Like Lamentations said. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. So what did Jairus do? Did he stop there in his tracks and say “Jesus, don’t bother. You don’t have to come with me anymore.” He trusted in the Lord and he took the Lord to his home. That’s how much faith and trust he had in God. The hope he placed in God.
Isn’t that why we pray to the Lord, too? We trust God that He knows what is best in every situation, no matter how bad it is. The Lord is watching over and caring for us and He is not going to leave our side, not ever!
Jesus went with Jairus to his house. When He gets there, you have the professional wailers there. They are crying out, screaming out, to help get over the bad emotions. When Jesus gets there, He says to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. They didn’t believe who He was; that He had the power to do anything. They thought it was ridiculous to say that she was only sleeping. He focused the attention on Him and what He was going to do. He made everybody leave the house and only Peter, James, John and the parents came in so they would see that the daughter was actually dead and what Jesus would say and do.
He says to the lifeless body, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” sort of like He did to Adam and Eve on Creation. What does the Bible tell us? God breathed life into Adam. That’s what He does here. He commands that body and soul be reunited so that the girl would live again. He gave strength and encouragement to Jairus and his wife to see their girl was alive and living.
Isn’t that what your God does for you every time you come to church, to hear that Gospel message, to know that you are going to live with Him forever, that heaven is your home, that the little infant who is baptized is truly a believer and is saved. You know where you and your loved ones are going to be going.
That young couple that came to instruction class, they heard the Gospel that said God punished HIS Son. They aren’t going to be punished by God with the death of their child. And they heard through the instruction on baptism, infant baptism, that the Holy Ghost came to their infant son in Holy Baptism and created faith. He was safe in the Savior’s arms, along with His holy angels. They would see their son again, not for a few months or a few years but forever in glory.
For my brother and sister-in-law who had lost a child, we let them know that Jesus Christ was with them. And as they walked along and trusted in Him, God would heal their hurts. You see, their first child was stillborn. The second child was born with birth defects. And now their third child was killed in a car accident. How much can one bear? But they did, because they came to church every week and heard that Gospel message that their children were with the Lord. The anger my brother had finally dissipated, and the guilt my sister-in-law felt had been relieved because they knew our times are in God’s hands. He cares for us.
How about that young couple that got married and his wife was killed in a car accident? He learned that there is no purgatory (when he when through instruction) and his wife was not suffering there, making up for her sins. A loving Savior had paid for her sins and she was in eternal life and he would see her one day again when that lifeless body is raised up from the dead to live with the Lord, Jesus Christ, in eternal glory.
Do you see the benefit of doing what you are doing today? Coming to His house, to hear His voice, or picking up your Bible at home and listening to what Jesus has to say and promise you. It takes a while for the hurt to go away. Martin Luther, the great reformer’s daughter was 13-years-old when she died. She was the apple of Luther’s eye and he wrote to a friend:
“I believe the report has reached you that my dearest daughter Magdalena has been reborn into Christ’s eternal kingdom. I and my wife should joyfully give thanks for such a blessed end by which Magdalena escaped the power of the flesh, the world, and the devil; yet the force of our natural love is so great that we are unable to do this without crying and grieving in our hearts, or even without experiencing death ourselves. The features, the words and the movements of the living and dying daughter remain deeply engraved in our hearts. Even the death of Christ… is unable to take this all away as it should. You, therefore, give thanks to God in our stead. For indeed God did a great work of grace when he glorified our flesh in this way. Magdalena had (as you know) a mild and lovely disposition and was loved by all… God grant me and all my loved ones and all my friends such a death – or rather such a life.”
Do you see how important you are? Friends and relatives of one who has lost their loved one in death—how you can encourage and pray for and listen to them. That’s why God joins you together—the Holy Christian Church, loving and caring as Christ does, so you walk along. The walls are not built. Things are not hidden away deep in the heart but confessed to the Lord and Savior and dealt with. Jesus is there in any time of trouble to strengthen and encourage you. God blesses us in you, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7) Amen.