Father Peter F. Hansen

Sermon for the 6 th Sunday after Trinity

July 27, 2003

Already Dead

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. ”

Are you alive? How do you know? If you are alive, and not dead, what is your life to you? If you are dead already, what can stop you?

     The last frontier is not space, nor was it ever Alaska or the West. The last frontier was and always will be death . We understand death simply as the end of this life, the dying of the body and release of the soul. But we tinker with a mystery we can hardly fathom and the true value of life and death is beyond our ordinary vision, until we know something else about people.

     On the day God created man He took a lifeless form and breathed into him the breath of life and the man became a living soul . That man later sinned against God and something weird happened. Something died . What was originally a living soul that would never see death, in a world where death never occurred, now became mortal , subject to die in time. Something in him died that day, was already dead when he cowered in the bushes, hiding from the sound of God's approach.

     The natural man fears death because he is subject to death. A blank wall hides the mystery, but the man sees bodies: lifeless, pale, stiff, unbreathing. A dead body is a shock to most people when first they view one. I have seen many and it's no longer strange to me, but it is still a powerful thing: this was a living person but now is only a corpse, a thing, lifeless clay. I hold this mystery in awe and treat a body with respect. But the person is no longer here. This is only the body, the vehicle of a soul, discarded, left here for us to simply bury.

     We fear death because we instinctively want to live. That's a good instinct . We should love life and embrace it. It's God's gift to us. But this life, our existence in this world as living souls, has a short duration. There is more, but not here . While we live, we should make the most of it. We should keep this life sacred, safe from unnecessary harm, be healthy, eat well, and use exercise and rest to make our bodies strong. It's funny that as science makes progress toward its ideal of a godless worldview, it keeps confirming that every one of the things God has called sins are also unhealthy and lead to an early physical death . The longest living people in our culture statistically are the faithfully married Christians . Go figure.

     But there is a time for some of the bravest souls to face death and master it. I am speaking of war . We don't love war, but we mustn't fear it either. At times war is necessary to stop an aggressive foe by force of arms. Every American war has been waged with the intent to perpetuate our nation against those who sought an end to our society. I know some wars are controversial and may be difficult to see in this light, but think of WWII, the War of 1812, the Revolutionary War. These conflicts were fought with the determination to defeat powers seeking to bring our life as a nation to an end . In light of 9-11 , the single greatest atrocity of terror in human history, our present War Against Terrorism seeks also to bring down those who would kill our families, even here at home, and end our way of life by fear.

     Every soldier who faces the enemy and must master his fear of death gets a lesson that every Christian ought to receive as well. His commander will tell him:

    “You are facing an enemy who is dedicated to destroy your family, your country, your faith, your home, your way of life. You have been honorably chosen to face and to stop this enemy's intended course of destruction. Your wife and your children are depending on you. This is your moment to serve them and to save their lives. But you have to count yourself as already dead . You can't save your life. If you try to, you will run from the battle, with the sound of the guns at your back. But that will not save you, nor will it save your family. The enemy will only hunt you down like a dog. Your family will die at his hands. You have to face him and destroy his power today. The only way you can do that, and not to run away, is to face your own death right now. Write a letter home, telling your wife, your mom and dad, that you have died in battle and that you have made the ultimate sacrifice in order to insure their freedom and well-being. Say that you were willing and glad to be able to do this and to serve them and your country in the struggle to maintain freedom against oppression. God willing , we will never have to send these letters. You can go home and tell them yourself. But right now you must count yourself already dead . Your life is a sacrifice you are giving for freedom. Make it count. Win the field. Fight a glorious battle others will sing about.”

     A soldier who considers himself already dead can go into battle prepared for the terror of bullets whistling by, of other human beings trying to kill him. He will not shrink from charging the hill and saving his comrades through acts of incredible bravery. We give such men medals. They only considered themselves dead already.

     You and I are soldiers too. We sing “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war,” with gusto. But what do we mean? Who are we fighting against, and for what? The same enemy, the same battle as every noble soldier : anyone who would destroy our homes, our families, our way of life, our freedom; the one who would take our children away and show them other ways, teach them to curse us and defame us, to consider our faith an affliction they once bore. If you will look, and not very hard either , you will find your enemy all right. St. Paul reminds us, however, that we war not against flesh and blood , but against spiritual forces arrayed against us. St. Peter says he is like a lion, stalking us, waiting for a weak member of the herd to stray or straggle so he may devour her. We have an enemy . He has been here from the beginning. He deceives, he accuses, and he destroys. We have our war, and we are the soldiers who have been chosen to face this enemy.

     But our fear of facing a demonic realm may unman us; betray us when the battle gets hot. At such time we have to consider ourselves already dead . For it's true, you know. You, who have taken the Name of Jesus Christ , are indeed dead with Christ. You went down into the waters of Baptism and you died —died to your old life, your old selfish self. That person is no more. His body was borne away and buried, so to speak. The new man emerged from the water like the Son of Man emerged from His tomb —not merely alive, but immortal . No weapon can be found that can harm Him anymore. And no weapon formed against you will prosper. Even if you die in the battle, what of that? You are already alive in God's eternal kingdom, immortal where it counts. What fear can the enemy hold over one who is already dead? Laugh at his threats. Have a good belly laugh, but after that you must get a real deadly glint in your eye, a steely determination that says: “You can do your worst to me, but my children, my wife, my husband, my church, my city, my country are off limits. I stand against you and I will fall here if I must. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ is with me. You have no power over Him. In Jesus I stand and you must back down.”

     No, the fewer the better in some battles. That's how I feel in the pro-life cause. Some long for hundreds and thousands to stand and oppose. I look for a handful of committed souls who consider themselves already dead. These will not depart in haste when the battle gets hot and our livelihoods are threatened, our names besmirched. And there are 1,000 such battles: in the schools, in entertainment, at church conventions, at work, in your homes, even with your loved ones. A thousand battles, and you cannot shrink from the fray. The innocent ones depend on your knowing you are already dead. With St. Paul, you can say: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philip. 1:20-21 Or with King Henry as his valiant but badly outnumbered English entered battle with the French, as he shouted out:

    “And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered—We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.”   

     Fight well, my brothers. You are already dead. And you are already alive in an eternal kingdom. The enemy can't touch that. What have you to lose? And what to gain? Greatness, honor, the salvation of our loved one . Go forward and fight bravely, and with honor save the day.                                                        PFH+