13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
(I Thessalonians 4)
This is a paragraph I have preached on often at funerals about what I call "The Great Reunion," the reuniting of the people of God who are present with those who have gone on before, at the coming of Christ. The purpose of Paul and his teammates in writing this letter was to encourage believers to look forward in hope, and not give up because life for them was difficult or because their loved ones in the Lord had passed away before Christ's return. The emphasis is on the latter. We will grieve when a loved one passes from the earth, but that grief will not be hopeless when we and then trust in Christ. We know that they are safe in His care and we will be reunited with them, but especially with Jesus.
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