Resurrection Now!

Luke 20:27-38

People say, “There’s no such thing as a dumb question.” And that’s mostly true, mostly. But then someone asks me: If vegetarians only eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat? Or, if God wanted us to eat vegetables, why did God make bacon taste so good? Or, how long is eternity, exactly? Longer than this sermon? All that is to say, sometimes people ask questions not because they want to learn anything, but because they want to stump you, trap you, or prove a point.

In today’s scripture lesson, the Sadducees bring Jesus a question that is less about curiosity and more about cornering him. Earlier in the chapter, Luke tells us that the religious authorities were watching Jesus and sent spies pretending to be honest in order to trap him by what he said and hand him over to the Roman authorities. They begin by asking, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” A few verses later they ask, “Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?” Jesus responds, “Give Caesar what is Caesar’s and give God what is God’s,” and of course everything belongs to God.

Now it is the Sadducees’ turn. They come to Jesus with a question meant to make resurrection seem absurd. They tell a story about a woman who marries seven brothers, each one dying childless. “In the resurrection,” they ask, “whose wife will she be?” This is not a sincere question. It is a trap.

The Sadducees were the religious establishment of Jesus’ day, the priestly families and wealthy elites with political influence and plenty of social capital. They ran the Temple, held seats on the Sanhedrin, and had a great deal invested in keeping things as they were. They accepted only the Torah, the first five books of Scripture, and because of this they rejected any belief in resurrection, angels, or an afterlife. For them, this life was all there was, and for them, this life was quite good.

Jesus refuses to be boxed in by their logic puzzle. Instead, he flips the whole thing around and essentially says, “You are asking the wrong question.” Resurrection life is not a continuation of this life with all its categories, claims, and cultural structures. It is not about whose wife she will be or who belongs to whom.

Jesus calls us “children of the resurrection,” a distinction he uses only here. It is a big one. It means we are not defined by roles, relationships, status, or privilege. We are not simply husbands or wives, successes or failures, insiders or outsiders. Children of the resurrection belong to God first. Children of the resurrection are held by a love that cannot be taken away. Children of the resurrection live in a different kind of reality, one shaped by God’s future breaking into our present.
One of my favorite theologians, Jürgen Moltmann, puts it this way: “[Faith] sees in the resurrection of Christ not the eternity of heaven, but the future of the very earth on which his cross stands.”

Jesus is not talking about someday. He is not talking about what happens after we die. He is talking about now. The resurrection life is already happening. The risen Christ is already loose in the world, and that means our lives can look different now.
When we believe that God’s love is inseparable and unconquerable, when we trust that we are held by a steadfast love that will not let us go, when we live like resurrection is not just our destination but our identity, it changes us. It opens us to love more deeply. It makes us a little braver, a little freer, a little more generous. It shapes not just what we believe but how we live, and yes, even how we commit our resources. Resurrection people understand that our lives are not small. What we give, what we offer, what we pour out can ripple far beyond us.

Which brings us to Pledge Dedication Sunday. When we bring our pledges forward, we are committing them to the ministry and mission of Christ’s church. This is not just a financial act. It is an act that lives into the resurrection. It is our way of saying, “We believe that God’s future is breaking into this world.” “We believe we are called to live as resurrection people here and now.” “We believe our giving can be a glimpse of the kingdom in ways both ordinary and extraordinary.”

Our pledges are symbols of trust that God’s love is at work in us, that God’s kingdom is coming through us, and that our lives can reflect the steadfast love that holds us, claims us, and will never let us go. This is what children of the resurrection do. This is what resurrection life looks like. We step into God’s future. We live like love wins. And we offer ourselves fully and joyfully, recognizing that the resurrection life has already begun.

So maybe there are such things as dumb questions, the ones meant to corner or confuse or distract, the same kind the Sadducees bring to Jesus. Questions that stay small, questions that miss the point, questions that keep us focused on the wrong things. But Jesus invites us out of all that, out of the traps, out of the narrow frames, out of the debates that do not lead anywhere. He calls us to ask bigger questions, resurrection questions.

Questions like: How is God calling me to live today? How can my life reflect God’s steadfast love in real ways? What does it look like to trust that the resurrection is already at work in me? These are the questions that open us up, stretch our hearts, and draw us deeper into God’s life. And today, as we offer our pledges, we are answering those questions with our lives. We are saying we want to be part of what God is doing here and now. We want to be children of the resurrection, living, loving, and giving in ways that point beyond the world’s worries to God’s wide, welcoming future.
May our questions and our gifts reflect that hope.

Let us pray:
God of the living, you call us your children, born not only into this world but into the wide promise of resurrection life. Open our eyes to the ways your future is already breaking in, quiet as mercy, bold as hope, steady as your love that never lets us go. Set us free from the small, anxious questions that keep us stuck in fear or scarcity. Lift our hearts to the bigger questions that draw us into your life: How can we love more generously? How can we live more faithfully? How can we give ourselves to the work of your kingdom here and now? Make us true children of the resurrection, people who trust your grace, who embody your compassion, who reflect your steadfast love in everything we do. May the power of Christ’s resurrection shape our steps, guide our choices, and renew our lives this day and every day. Amen.