1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this Last Sunday of the Church Year is taken from 1 Cor. 15:20-28 and it’s entitled, “Where Easter is Headed,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The concentration camp at Dachau was liberated on a Sunday in April 1945. One week later, Greek and Serbian Orthodox prisoners celebrated Easter in the camp barracks. Priests wore makeshift vestments over their blue and white striped prison uniforms. They sang the liturgy, read the Scriptures, and even recited a sermon by St. John Chrysostom—all without texts, all from memory. During the long years of suffering and anguish, these prisoners had never forgotten Christ’s resurrection victory over death and that it had also set them free from death. Whatever might have happened, they always believed that Easter meant something more was still coming for them. Today, a Russian Orthodox chapel at the Dachau Memorial houses an icon of the resurrected Christ leading the prisoners out of the camp gates.
3. Every Sunday is a celebration of Easter, of Christ’s glorious victory over sin and death for us. But today, the Last Sunday of the Church Year, is especially so, because the Last Sunday, pointing us to the Last Day, shows us where Easter is headed. What do I mean, where Easter’s headed?
4. Easter brought forth the firstfruits: Jesus raised to life again. Christ has truly been raised from the dead! Christ Jesus died on the cross, but his resurrection is an accomplished fact. Great good news! We need never doubt this. But where is it headed? In 1 Cor. 15:20–21 St. Paul says, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.” Christ is the “firstfruits.” In the Old Testament, Israel offered the first gathering of wheat as a sacrifice to God. Still, they knew that an entire harvest was yet to come. The firstfruits were just the first of many fruits.
5. In the same way, Jesus’ resurrection will inevitably lead to the resurrection of all flesh. 1 Cor. 15:22–23 says, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” Christ was raised from death as a promise that all who have fallen asleep will be raised to life again. That’s the Last Day, Judgment Day, the focus of this Last Sunday of the Church Year. You heard it in our Gospel: all people who have ever lived will be gathered before Christ, the Judge—bodies raised, reunited with their souls, the resurrection of all flesh.
6. What a day this will be for those, Paul says, “who belong to Christ”! Christ walked in the way of human beings. He lived life as one of us, even unto death. This was God’s plan. Death came when Adam and Eve sinned. In his wisdom, God sent his Son in human flesh and blood to overcome sin and sin’s death by his death on that cross. In Holy Baptism, in the Lord’s Supper, in God’s Word proclaimed to us, Jesus’ cross has been given to us. We have been made to belong to Christ.
7. The Indus River flooded in Pakistan, killing many and driving countless others to seek higher ground. But, the flood was so extensive that few places were left where people could find refuge. Finally, a huge crowd huddled on top of a bluff above the flooded river. The highest spot—the safest place—they could reach was a necropolis, or “city of the dead.” To save their lives, they sought refuge among the dead.
8. Christians take refuge in the One who died for them—the Savior Jesus Christ. “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21–22). Christ is our safe place, in death, in life, for all eternity.
9. Christ’s resurrection is the beginning, then, giving certain hope of eternal life with him to all who believe in him. And where is this headed? Our resurrections to life will mean that death and all its allies are destroyed under Jesus’ feet. 1 Cor. 15:25–27a says, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For 'God has put all things in subjection under his feet.'.”
10. If death can’t hold us, as it couldn’t hold Christ, nothing can. On that Last Day, all enemies will be defeated! Christ has defeated sin and its grip over us. He has defeated the devil and all his demonic forces. They now have no power over us. Christ has destroyed every other evil force in the world that opposes him. He has not simply brought them under control, but so thoroughly vanquished them that we have nothing to fear.
11. This, though, is why far too many will be raised on the Last Day only to hear the judgment: “Depart from me to the eternal fire prepared for those enemies of mine. “For you did not belong to me by faith. “You present yourself here today on the basis of your deeds in life, but you have nothing to show. You stand condemned in your sin because of your unbelief in me as Your Lord and Savior, Jesus says.” But for us who belong to Christ, the last enemy will now be defeated: death (1 Cor. 15:26). Death is the last fruits of sin. Christ, the firstfruits of life, changes the end of the story. Is that where this is headed? Almost. Finally, even Christ will be subjected to the Father (1 Cor. 15:28).
12. For Christ, the mission will be accomplished. Every need of God’s people in a fallen world met—every enemy, the universe, conquered. Christ will lay it all at the Father’s feet. Then all things will once again be as they were in the beginning: God will be “all in all.” Will we need food, clothing, shelter? No, we will have God. Will we need love, comfort, relationships? No, we will have God. Will we need protection, deliverance? No, we will have God, with all those good things he is. “Then comes the end, when [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24). This then is the end, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father. This is where Easter has been headed.
13. Our faith is in the one who rose again for us. Jesus is the firstfruits of all those who have fallen asleep . . . and we follow him. Christ’s victory over death gives us certain hope in our own resurrection and eternal life with God. On this Last Sunday of the Church Year, a blessed fulfillment of Easter to you! Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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