EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 2.5 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Nov. 4, 2018.
Happy blessed All Saints Day to you all.
Does that sound a bit weird? ... Such a sacred and holy day, but such a stoic a topic at the same time. … Man, we have a complicated relationship with death, don’t we?
After all, to be human is to know one certainty: Each of us will die.
I do not say that to be flippant. ... By all means the topic is far too sacred for that. … But what I mean is that ... rich or poor. … Black or white. … Man or woman. … We will all die. ... And, I don’t care who you are, this is never an easy reality with which to come to terms.
But I wonder if this topic isn’t even a little more challenging for us Christians. … Because, after all, we all know that we are going to die. … Our loved ones are going to die. … But we also believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ conquered death those two thousands years ago, hanging on that cross on that lonely hill in Jerusalem. And he did it for us!
And so how do we balance the tension in something that is so frightening and yet so fundamental to being human, but also knowing that in the end, the grief we share is only over our physical bodies. … And that, just as today’s scriptures tell us, there is so much more that awaits us … and our loved ones … after death?
A tough conversation indeed. … But interestingly enough, death is what we are recognizing today. After all, it is All Saints Day. … And, as today’s bulletin states on the front: “On All Saints Day we celebrate the victory won for all the faithful dead, but we grieve for our beloved dead as well, knowing that God honors our tears. We bring our grief to the table and find there a foretaste of Isaiah’s feast to come.”
In other words, I think that it is completely understandable and appropriate that we Christians live in such conflict with death. And I think that All Saints Day is an opportune time to work through some of this.
Such grief … but such joy as well. … On one hand, we are acutely aware that to die is to give up our earthly body, and the only life we’ve ever known.
But, to die also means to inherit that heavenly kingdom forever, where we are told that our earthly bodies matter none. … We give up our temporal earthly lives for God’s eternal ones. ... Can there be any more bittersweet news than that?
As you know, death has been prevalent in our congregation this year, but especially recently. … Later today, we will celebrate three more of our very own special saints who passed this year.
But, as a pastor, these past two and a half months have been a growing experience for me like none other. In addition to being privileged to walk this path of mourning with the Nelson and Nord and Ness families, I’ve been called upon to minister to those grieving the loss of their loved ones every week in my clinical work at Sanford.
Sacred and holy work all of it. … And I am humbled each and every time a family asks me to walk that journey with them. The experiences have given me new insights into what it means to be a pastor … what it means to love ... what it means to be human … and frankly why All Saints Day is so important.
And what I’ve learned is: First, despite the trepidation we feel over it, death is holy and God is present even in our deaths. … Second, death his holy because God specifically knows what it is like to feel death as we humans do. We know this for a fact. … And third, our grief and pain over death is completely human, completely understandable and completely justified, despite all of all the goodness we have to look forward to in God’s kingdom.
And I’d like to take a few minutes to unpack each of these, but in reverse order.
So first, I think it’s utterly important for us to know and understand that mourning and grieving death is a perfectly human response, and it is acceptable. … You may ask, “Why does he say that?” … Well, from time to time, I will run across some who will try to bury the pain and hurt of death underneath a veneer of faith. They somehow have been convinced that because they believe they will one day be resurrected by our God, that they are not supposed to mourn one’s passing here on earth.
I sometimes see it when I talk with loved ones at funerals or when I get wrapped into questions of death with others. … “Well, if you’re so certain about resurrection,” they ask, “then why do you mourn your death?”
And the answer to that is … God values our earthly lives, as much as he values our heavenly eternal lives. … After all, God created us, and employed us to be stewards of his earthly creation. … And so why would he have gone through all the trouble of giving us this earthly life, if it didn’t matter? … If it didn’t mean anything?
I am certain that God absolutely does not see our time here on earth as wasted or immaterial. … In fact, I believe that he sees our time here as holy as the time we will spend with him in the kingdom. …. Because this isn’t a transactional relationship we have with God: He didn’t put us here to earn our way into heaven, after all. … We know this as Christians. We already have God’s grace.
And so it makes absolute sense to me that if God put us here for a purpose, whatever that purpose is for each us, then it is special. And thus it makes absolute sense that we would mourn the passing of that special gift. That makes us human.
Now, second -- again in reverse order -- as much as I know that our lives our holy, and we should never forget that. … This past couple of months has also taught me that death is holy. … And I know that our deaths are holy because God did not leave us alone in our earthly suffering.
Our creator ... the one who gave us life, cares so deeply for us that he entered into the flesh -- he became incarnated -- so that he could walk this earth and understand what it was to be human. … Remember, if we truly believe that God’s son dwells in him and He in his Son, then God absolutely knows what it is like to be human and face the fear of death. And he did so because of his extreme love for us.
Additionally, not only does God know what the fear of death is because he took on our flesh and walked this earth, God also knows the immense grief caused by a loved one’s death. … After all, Jesus was God’s only son. … And I just cannot believe that our God in heaven did not acutely feel the pain of his son’s death. … In fact, I think that it caused him more anguish than we can ever know for him to watch his very creation -- we humans -- take the life of his one and only son whom he gave to the world. … Can you imagine?
And so I know that there is holiness in death because God knows our pain, grieves with us in our losses and doesn’t diminish our earthly lives in the least. … God absolutely knows that death causes a disturbance in our lives and a disturbance in his creation.
After all, didn’t Jesus himself cry at the news of his friend Lazarus’s death? ... And so, I unequivocally believe that our God sees the holiness in death, and completely understands our human response to it.
Now, finally, the last of the lessons these past few months has taught me: And that lesson is … God is present in every death. … Well, you might think, “Of course he is.” … He promises us that all over the scriptures. We are promised that if we believe in him, and accept His Son as our Lord and Savior, than he will grant us eternal life.
But what I’m talking about is that I am certain that God is right there in the absolute holy moment of death. God is present in tangible ways, and if we just take the time to look, we can see him. … But that is hard, after all, when it is your loved one who is dying.
And it is perfectly OK at this point if you look at your neighbor and ask, “What is he talking about?”
Well, what I can share with you is that each of the times in these past few months that I’ve been called to walk alongside a family in mourning, I can unequivocally attest to seeing God in the room and in the process.
No, not necessarily a physical manifestation of God. Not some looming specter in the corner. … But in each case, there was absolutely the voice of God present ... or maybe it was a work of the Spirit that stood out … or sometimes I saw the hand of Christ at work.
I hesitate to spoil those sacred moments that I now carry with me by speaking them out loud here, but rest assured that those moments have convinced me of the holiness of death. And whereas I previously was terrified at the prospect of sharing a family’s grief, now I see it as an honor. … Because I now know, that there is holiness in that moment, and that we are not there alone in that moment. God is there, as well as the Spirit, and the same for Christ. … And in that moment, God is defeating death, and he is bringing his people home. … And that is why it is that we celebrate and recognize All Saints Day.
And that is the Good News for this Sunday. … Amen
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