Q & A

• Fourth Sunday of Lent

Matthew 22:23-33

With 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

FirstChurchBville@gmail.com  @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

• I knew a guy once who said he couldn’t have faith because of Enoch.
Remember Enoch? Genesis 5:24, 4^th great-grandson of Adam.
Enoch lived 365 years. He walked with God, and then he was no more, because God took him away. My friend didn’t understand this, and he allowed a question to stop him in his tracks.

• In Matthew 22 the Sadducees ask Jesus a question about marriage and resurrection. I’ve entertained a similar question, since my first wife died after 3 years of marriage. I didn’t understand, but unlike my friend, I did not allow the question to stop me in my tracks.

Instead, I came to believe a few things about questions and God,
and that if I’d embrace humility, serenity would follow.

I came to accept that the answer: “I don’t know” is acceptable.
I came to accept that my answer may change (look at the source of my answer: a young man!). 
I learned / decided to trust in God (look at THAT source!)

•The Sadducees don’t seem humble, genuine.
(confession: it’s tough to maintain humility when you know you’re right.)

Also, Sadducees don’t like change; want to maintain status quo (of power and inequality) (and Jesus threatens power and status quo and pride (opp of humility)

•Jesus’ reply:
You don’t know scriptures, and you don’t know power of God.
Scriptures are living. God is living.  You treat them as inanimate.

EB White (Charlotte’s Web) wrotee of humor, saying
Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the purely scientific mind. 

So also the Sadducees, who demanded cut and dried answer,
rather than organic messy answer.

•From 2 Corinthians 5: IF anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.

God doesn’t leave us powerless

but meets us, reconciles us, empowers us, sends us.

• into Communion liturgy

Matthew 22:23-33  (Common English Bible)

23 That same day Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus. 24 They asked, “Teacher, Moses said, If a man who doesn’t have children dies, his brother must marry his wife and produce children for his brother.[Deut 25:5]  25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married, then died. Because he had no children he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened with the second brother and the third, and in fact with all seven brothers. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 At the resurrection, which of the seven brothers will be her husband? They were all married to her.”

29 Jesus responded, “You are wrong because you don’t know either the scriptures or God’s power. 30 At the resurrection people won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like angels from God. 31 As for the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what God told you, 32 I’m the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?[Ex 3:6] He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living.” 33 Now when the crowd heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (Common English Bible)

16 So then, from this point on we won’t recognize people by human standards. Even though we used to know Christ by human standards, that isn’t how we know him now. 17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!

18 All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation.

20 So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as Christ’s representatives, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God caused the one who didn’t know sin to be sin for our sake so that through him we could become the righteousness of God.