People say: “Ignorance is bliss.” What do you think about that? Is it true? Are you really better off not knowing something? Does the lack of knowledge make you a happier, healthier person in the end? In some cases that might be true. But in most cases the lack of knowledge does not help; it harms you.
For example the story is told of a little girl who loved to draw pictures. One day she drew a picture and wanted to send it to her grandparents. Her mother knew that the little girl's grandparents would enjoy seeing what their granddaughter had done. So together mother and daughter put the picture in an envelope, wrote the grandparents' name and address on it, and put a stamp on it. Then they went for a walk.
Soon they came to a big blue box on the street. Her mother put the envelope into the box. When the little girl saw that, she started bawling. Her mother couldn't figure out what was wrong until the girl explained between sobs, “You threw my picture in the garbage. I wanted Grandma to have it.” But this isn't a garbage can.” her mother explained. “It's a mailbox. The address and stamp that we put on the envelope lets the postman deliver your picture to Grandma.” Then the girl understood and was happy again.
The point is this: the little girl did not know about stamps and mailboxes. So she worried about putting the picture in the mailbox.
Another example: Some years ago Asian immigrant children died of measles in a city up north. Their parents hadn't known that in America a vaccine could protect children from the illness. If they had known that, the tragedy might have been averted.
What we don't know can hurt us and adversely affect others. But when we understand some important things, all is well.
In our text today St. Paul tells us the same is true about something that will affect us all – death. What you don't know about it from God's perspective will hurt you. So let me ask: What Do You Know About Death?
I. It is only a sleep to those who live in Christ.
Regarding death and how a misunderstanding of it could hurt, Paul writes to believers in the city of Thessalonika : “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.”
Paul understood that in spiritual matters, a lack of knowledge can result in tragedy. In this case, the subject matter is death. Ignorance about death will hurt you.
Now, many people don't like to talk about death. You're probably not going to hear that topic come up and discussed in depth at work around the coffee pot in the morning. It's not a favorite topic of conversation, is it? You probably don't talk about it that much at home either. Why don't people talk about it more? Maybe it's because, as Paul indicates, people are ignorant about it. Even many Christians are ignorant about it otherwise they would talk about it more to others, for Paul writes at the end: “Therefore, encourage each other with these words.”
What! Encourage others with talk about death? How morbid! But Jesus never treated it that way. Remember when He sought to assure Jairus and his wife when their little girl died that she was just resting in sleep (Mk.5:21f)? Think about that.
Are you afraid to sleep at night? Most likely you aren't. And if you're anything like most people are after a long, hard day's work, you almost can't wait to get into bed. Sleep is a necessary part of a healthy life, and if you don't sleep well, something's wrong. Some of you even have sleep problems. You, maybe even more than others, long to have a good night's sleep. Sleep isn't anything to be afraid of. You go to sleep, confident that when you wake up you will feel refreshed and better, ready to tackle a new day.
That's what Jesus called death – a sleep. It's a good thought, not a bad one. In fact, it's only bad to those who don't believe Jesus' words. Such unbelief leaves a person empty and afraid, or as Paul writes, “Grieving like the rest of men who have no hope.”
But for those who believe that Jesus died and rose again to overcome the power of sin in their lives, and who believe that He will come back again for them, death is only a sleep . From it the Lord Jesus Himself will awaken them to a new and brighter day. To those who know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, death doesn't need to cause fear any more than a good night's rest would. It's a part of our life in Him. This confidence is the cornerstone of Christian faith.
So it is, dear friends that you and I can pray with confidence each night just like my parents taught me when I was a child, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus' sake. Amen.”
About this the story is told of a mother tucking her four-year-old daughter into bed one night. She listened as her child said that same prayer that many of you have known since you were children. As the mother emerged from the bedroom, her aunt, who had overheard the prayer, said indignantly: “How dare you put such maudlin thoughts of death into the head of a child!”
Now there's a person who didn't want to talk about death because of her ignorance about it. She could hardly have been more wrong. You see, the little girl was being raised in a Christian home. Any mention of death merely conjured up in her childlike mind beautiful thoughts of the many mansions in her heavenly Father's house where some day she would live in unending joy when the Lord Jesus came to take her to Himself. His love for her was as real and comforting to her as the pillow beneath her head.
Dear Christian friends, and especially you parents, know that death is a part of life in the Lord Jesus and don't gloss over it in silence. A sad part? Yes, ever since sin entered our world. But bad or maudlin or hopeless? No! Not if you and your child's faith is grounded in the Friend of sinners who has invited all to come to Him for rest. Some day He will come back to awaken and welcome all who are not ignorant and believe these truths into His Father's heavenly home. There already the saints who have gone before us and fallen asleep in Jesus even now dwell, awakened refreshed and vigorous to enjoy their new eternal day.
Know this about death , dear friend. It is only a sleep to those who live in Christ, a sleep from which He awakens to eternity .
II. It is a sleep from which we awaken to eternity.
The early Christian church was so confident and comfortable with this, that they had an ancient custom that is both beautiful and meaningful. Whenever a member of the congregation had fallen asleep in Christ, his name was not removed from the membership list, but following his name a notation was added: “Transferred to the church above.” You don't transfer a dead person, but one who is alive. They were so confident of this that to them what we speak of as death became a transfer, a changing over, a moving from one congregation of living saints to another. What a beautiful thought!
But the thought is more than beautiful – it happens to be true. And Paul's writing hints at that. Our loved ones who have already departed this life on earth trusting in Christ the Savior, are still alive in Him as members of His one, true Church, of which He is the head. He has awakened them to eternity . In that sense we are still united with them in that “communion” which binds together all those who live in Him, whether here or there.
In another place Paul wrote about this when he said, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For this very reason Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Rm.14:8-9).
Christ is still the living Lord of our departed loved ones. They are still members of His Church, even though their bodies are in the grave at rest until the day of His return. But their souls are even now members of the church triumphant above and one day soon we shall see them again. For Paul writes, “We believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first (that is, their bodies). After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Together again forever, awakened to eternity.
What an unspeakable comfort when we stand at the casket of a departed loved one to know that he or she and we are still members of one church, that we are still loved and held by the same living Lord, and that one day soon we will be united with that Lord in eternity. We who live below worship by faith; they who live above worship by sight. But someday soon when the clocks of heaven strike the hour for that great joint service which will never end, they and we shall worship Him together, awakened to eternity.
Of this, brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant. God grant it to us in faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.