Life goes in one direction – into the future. I don’t have to tell you we get older each moment of the day and not younger. Life is a progression from young to old – from the easy to the difficult – from the naïve and innocent to the wise and guilty.

In the beginning we were helpless children. We are God’s foremost creation yet we remain unable to survive on our own for longer than anything else that God has made. As babies we are seen as innocent, cute, helpless little creatures that have so much ahead of us. Babies seem uncorrupted by this world. Healthy children seem to have so much going for them. They don’t have a care in the world.

And when they get older – go to school – still, adults envy children. They have so much energy and so little responsibility. They live care-free of all real problems in this world.

Teenagers are in the prime of their lives. They go out with friends, have fun at ball games, and still don’t have to worry about all the stressful things that adults need to take care of each day. Life just gets better and better.

Then, as adulthood makes its not-so-subtle entry into a person’s life, bills, work, responsibility, caring for a family and so many other things are put before us. And through it all, there are good times and there are bad. Getting older is a pain. Those who are seniors will even say so in more ways than one. There are times of feeling like death and there are times of vivacious feelings toward life. But any way you slice it – that seems to be what life is. Just like in the text for today – there are times of mourning and there are times of dancing. There are times of sackcloth and there are times of gladness.

And with life, that is the good and the bad, seems to always end with the bad – death. Death is the mourning and the sackcloth mentioned in our text – Psalm 30. You see, sackcloth is a dark-colored material of goat or camel hair used for making grain bags and garments. A garment of sackcloth was uncomfortable and was therefore worn by those in mourning. People in mourning over a loved one’s death would never make things comfortable for themselves. They would often tear their clothes to be like their hearts which were torn apart by the loss of a loved one. They would make their bodies feel uncomfortable to go along with the distress they felt on the inside. These customs were very specific and would last for a fairly long time. All as a result of death. All as a result of the end of God’s gift – the bad that happens at the end of life.

In life, there is both mourning and dancing. In death, there is just mourning. And why do we die? We all go through it. Death, of course, is a result of sin. This was never God’s plan. God did not introduce sin into this world. With the help of the devil man did such work just fine on his own. And today we live with this same inherited sin that came from our first parents. And its for that reason, our minds wonder to other things while pastor is sharing the Word of God. It’s for that reason why my mind wonders when I’m sharing the Word of God with all of you. We live with this condition that we cannot, at times, control. Our thoughts dominate us and sometimes cause us to act in sin.

Our Lord is clear that it is such things – sin – that causes death. And if sin so dominates us, and we allow it to dominate us – and we allow it to be our god – then eternal death can be ours as well. You see, when sin dominates – and our actions do not represent what God wills for us to do – we are braking the first commandment. We are putting other things before God. That is dangerous folks. That’s dangerous because God demands being first. Sin that creeps into our lives – and us allowing sin to dominate our thoughts and our actions – will ever so slowly edge God out of that “number one” position.

The progression from life to death – God’s gift to that which is the result of the sinful world we live in – is what it is. Life is filled with mourning and dancing. Then it’s filled with mourning – death. But that’s not all. Many people stop there. Life stinks and then you die. Wrong. Not a life in Christ. The progression of life is not – a gift of life, and then death, and that’s it. It’s LIFE TO DEATH TO LIFE!!

Today, life is about mourning and dancing. Death seems to be about mourning and sackcloth like in our text for today. But that’s not the end. Then there is “LIFE.” This is the life of Dancing and gladness. There is no mourning in this life. There is no sackcloth and ashes in this life. In the life to come there is only joy and gladness. And if heaven is heaven like I think of it – there’s going to be a lot of custard pie, chocolate pudding, the people that I love and miss, and of course my Jesus.

Each day of life seems to progress to something better or worse. Kids for you it’s something better. You are getting older, you might be on the verge of getting your driver’s license. You might be on the verge of adulthood. For adults, it’s usually the opposite. We progress to more pain in our body, changes that we don’t care all that much for, and so on and so forth. But let us not forget – that all of us in Christ have so much to look forward to. Today we talk about “end of life” issues in our world. What can we do to prepare for death? But also today I want you to be aware that we also have “Beginning of life issues.” How we can look forward to the life to come. Instead of talking about the end – lets be honest and call it what it is. It’s about the beginning.

The beginning is what Jesus gave us. He came into this life the same way we did – except without sin. There was joy and sorrow in the life of Jesus just as it is for us. But there was always more. Jesus would live life for us. And what seemed to be the end of all things for Jesus – the terrible, horrible death on a cross – was just the beginning. He lived His life for us. Our Lord keeps on making new beginnings for us each and every day. In forgiveness of sins, there is a new beginning – each time. In Christ’s life there is a new beginning – every day. For us as Christians who live our lives in Christ, death on this side of eternity – no matter how it comes or when it comes – is not the end – but the start of something brand new. Beloved in the Lord, how terrible we see death to be – how much we miss the people in our lives – in Christ – it’s the means by which God gets us from here to there – from earth to heaven. “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,” says King David in the 30th Psalm.

I’ve been to a lot of funerals. I remember being at the funeral of one particular older man of the parish. Many of his grandkids were running around – it seemed as if they were really oblivious to everything that was going on. People were trying to keep them from running around, knocking over the plants around the casket, and getting in the way of those who desired to pay their respects to the family. But after a parent asked one of the kids if they knew what was going on and how they were to behave I heard a strange response. The child said, “Yes, I know what’s going on – and we are doing what you said we should do. We are celebrating.”

The kids were celebrating with gladness. This may be inappropriate for us to do at a funeral. But I guarantee that there were similar feelings from the widow at Zarephath in the Old Testament text for today. Also from the widow at Nain after her son was given back to her alive.

Why not for us? Death is a means by which God gives life. He has turned out suffering in dancing – our sackcloth into clothes of gladness. This life goes in one direction – life to death to life. But it’s the life that’s the goal. It’s the life that’s the prize. In Christ we will get there – one way or another. In the mean time – God uses you to live, not in death, but in life – for others. Christ has lived and died for you. You have life. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen