Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.

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Read

Luke 20:27-38 (NRSV)

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him [Jesus] and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

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Reflect

There is so much unknown about what comes after this life. As my primary focus of ministry is older adults, I sometimes get questions about heaven; I seldom have any good answers. When we look to the scriptures for clarification, we are often met with vague terms and confusing wording. Today’s scripture from Luke is no different. Questions about marriage and resurrection and law are met with answers about ages and times, dying and living. This scripture does not give us specifics about what is to come. It does not answer all our questions about resurrection and heaven. What it does give us is hope—hope in the promise that we are all children of God; hope in the knowledge that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. To God, all are alive in Christ.

While I cannot answer with certainty much about what happens after this life has ended, I feel confident that no matter what does come, God’s presence will be there and that will be sufficient.

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Pray

God of grace and comfort, the days that lie ahead can often seem daunting. The uncertainty of your kingdom can be frustrating. Our lack of knowledge can be overwhelming. Help us to put our trust in you. Help us to know, deep in our bones, that we are your children and that your love is sufficient for this world and the next. Amen.

Go with God.