Sunday 5th November
Revelation 7: 9-17
Matthew 5: 1-13
In life, in death, in life beyond death God is with us.
For centuries the Church celebrated two important feast days. In church speak they are All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day, and spread between them like butter on bread is Halloween.
We have forgotten many of the ancient rituals which shaped our forebears in faith. These days Halloween is symbolised by pumpkins and children dressing up, and importing trick or treat from the USA.
However, these feast days at the turn of October -November commemorate the two great realities we know of living and dying.
“Halloween begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church.” (from Wikipedia)
This community of faith is deeply shaped by many people who are no longer with us. Some we knew well, and others died long before we became part of this congregation. They served, loved and contributed in building this community of faith.
Today we particularly remember those who have died in the past year. Many of you will have vivid memories of members of your own family and brothers and sisters in Christ. They shared their gifts and graces, their quirks and qualities – but that’s what it takes to make a church. We are a tapestry of the past weaving together the present into the future.
* * *
During this year I experienced these two great realities.
My dad died suddenly at 84 years and it was the end of a generation.
Our first grandchild was born, the first of the next generation.
Both these events are great mysteries – the birth of a helpless baby developing her own personality in such a rapid time , and the cessation of life of my dad who, for better and worse, had influenced his three sons in profound ways.
For much of the time we take our life, and those close to us for granted. When a parent dies the unthinkable happens, when a spouse dies the impossible occurs, when a friend dies it is with disbelief the news is received. How can this be? It happens to other people.
It doesn’t matter whether we have faith, or not, the realities are still much the same – loss, grief, confusion and questions.
Thirty years ago my sister-in-law, Helen died from a cancer. Her death was long before ‘her time’, and only eighteen months previously had given birth to her first-born. I recall the early morning phone call Rosemary received with the sad news. For months Rosemary was often angry with life, with God, with a sense of ‘why?’
In life, in death, in life beyond death God is with us.
A favourite saying of mine ( it doesn’t come from the Bible) is
“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”
It’s found in John Lennon’s song ‘Beautiful Boy’ sung to his young son. Months later he was dead, gunned down in New York.
Life happens, death happens – it’s not God’s plan but something that just is which can cause immense joy and immense pain.
Suffering and death are woven into the universe, as well as joyful life.
It’s the thread connecting the story of the God’s people, the story of saints and sinners, the story of Jesus, the story of humanity .
We are connected through time and space through these heart experiences of being human.
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We gather around the Lord’s Table today as millions of saints and sinners have done over many generations.
At the Passover meal Jesus told his disciples his death was imminent:
While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples. Take and eat, this is my body.
Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them, Drink all of you, this seals God’s covenant, my life poured out for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus is many things, but one way of understanding him is as the bridge, the fulcrum between earth and heaven.
Our worship is earthed through this man born into the fullness of humanity and who died after a tragically short life proclaiming “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Birth is a mystery – but we have come to understand many things about it because we are alive.
Death is a mystery – and there is little we understand beyond the facts of cessation, but Christian faith grasps a deeper reality about that which is little to say from our experience.
The mystery of Christian faith is that Christ has died and Christ is risen -in Love for the world.
In life, in death in life beyond death God is with us.
Rev David Carter