Journey week 2 12/9/12

The Journey: week 2 Bethlehem

Rumc

12/9/12

In most of our minds, Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, traveled to Bethlehem for the Census, and returned to Bethlehem when Jesus was born.  That is because we take Luke’s story, which revolves around Mary and Nazareth and we combine it with Matthew’s story, which focuses on Joseph and Bethlehem.  We roll them up on a nice neat ball, smooth out all the rough edges and put a nice neat bow on it.  That combined story is handy, but it is not quite biblical.

Before we journey 80 miles to Bethlehem for this week’s message, I suspect the first question you’ll ask is, “How did Mary and Joseph meet if they didn’t live in the same town?”  Great question!  The idea that they were childhood sweethearts may be romantic, but that may not be true.  It seems clear that Bethlehem was Joseph’s hometown.  Nazareth was Mary’s hometown.  Perhaps their marriage was arranged by their families.  Perhaps Joseph met Mary when he worked in Sepphoris and stayed in Nazareth. When we have to say we really don’t know something as important as how Mary and Joseph met, we are reminded that although they are major actors, the story is really not about them.

Whatever the case may be according to Matthew Bethlehem appears to be Joseph’s hometown.  Nazareth is not mentioned until Jesus is at least 2 years old.  So let’s start to get familiar with Bethlehem.

I said Bethlehem is 80 miles south of Nazareth.  It is nestled in the hills of the Judean countryside.  In those days, Nazareth was a town of about 500 people.  Today is a bustling city of 25,000. 

Unfortunately, this is what one sees as they approach Bethlehem today.  It is a 21-foot tall concrete wall topped by electrified fencing, two-meter-deep trenches, roads for patrol vehicles, electronic ground/fence sensors, thermal imaging and video cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sniper towers, and razor wire.

The ugly reality is that the land of Mary and Joseph is a divided land in the midst of an age-old war.  On this map, the white area is Israel.  The Gold area is the West Bank (Palestinian control) and Jerusalem is divided East and West.  The red flashing line is the “wall of separation” that Israel is building as an attempt to secure its border.  That is what one sees as they come to Bethlehem.   Let me tell you no matter which side you are on, there is enough madness and blame to go around on both sides of this dispute.

But back to ancient Bethlehem

It was a busy town that may have had many grain mills and bakeries since Bethlehem means city of bread.  Bethlehem was Naomi’s home and Ruth gleaned in the fields outside town.  Her great grandson David’s was born there and the field where he fought Goliath was about 12 miles away.  David was anointed king in Bethlehem and used Bethlehem as a capital city for a while.  Historically Bethlehem is one of the most important cities in Judah.  In addition, Bethlehem was Joseph’s home.

The traditional site of Joseph’s home is marked in a cave in the Church of the Nativity Complex under the church of St. Catherine.  It was here that he learned his trade, which we usually think of as a carpenter, but he could also have been a stonemason.  The word means one who builds with their hands.

Bethlehem is also the backdrop for today’s story.

After the angel told Mary that she was to bear the Messiah, she went to a Cousin Elizabeth’s house on the south edge of Jerusalem where she received affirmation and support.  (We’ll talk about that next week)  While she was there, Joseph went to visit her and found out that she was pregnant.  She told him the whole story about the angel and the Holy Spirit and everything, but who could believe such a wild story?  He wanted to but it was so hard!

His life seemed to be crumbling around him.  His beloved had apparently been unfaithful, and on top of that, listening to her story she may be hallucinating or even mentally ill.  How was Joseph feeling that day as he left Elizabeth’s house?  I suspect he was feeling just like we would feel upon finding out that the love of our life was pregnant by someone else, or had impregnated someone.  How about devastated, crushed, afraid, heartbroken and embarrassed.  Maybe we should even add angry and disgusted.  How could she do this?  How could Mary do this to him?  And who was the miserable animal who had done this to Mary?

Joseph left that day with his life upside down, his guts turned inside out, and his heart in his throat.  It was only a 6-mile walk back to Bethlehem, (about 90 minutes) but it must have seemed like 40 years in the wilderness.

Haven’t we all been there?  Haven’t we all experienced that 6-mile walk?

Maybe your 6-mile walk was when you experienced the unfaithfulness of a spouse or total betrayal of someone you loved and trusted.

Did you walk the 6-mile road during a medical crisis when you thought you or someone you love might have a serious medical problem?  You all know about one of my 6 mile roads with Amber’s heart surgery.

Is your 6-mile road a road of grief?  Facing life without a spouse, parent, child, or other close relationship is a long hard journey.

How about that job you lost, or the job you really wanted.  Was that a 6-mile road?

Have you walked the 6-mile road of bankruptcy or foreclosure?

Do you know all the twists and turns on the 6-mile road of bitter failure and lost dreams?

I suspect we have all been there.   Most of us have not been to the holy land but we know very well that 6-mile road that Joseph walked that day.  But here’s what I want you to see today.  While Joseph walked that long road back to Bethlehem…  At Joseph’s deepest darkest moment…  God was still at work in Mary’s womb… and (as we’ll see) God was still working in Joseph.  And at our deepest darkest moments…  God is still with us and God is still at work.

We are not the first, nor was Joseph the first to experience the jumble of emotions that we feel when we walk that 6-mile road.

735 years earlier, when Jerusalem was the capital of the nation of Judah (the southern kingdom), the kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Aram (which is modern day Syria) were waging war.  Since Jerusalem was on the northern border of Judah, the battle was just outside their city walls.  The people of Jerusalem were sure that they were doomed. These two big armies fighting in Jerusalem’s front yard were a real a serious danger.  The people and the king were almost in a panic. The prophet Isaiah gave a word of hope to King Ahaz.

Isaiah said God will give you a sign and before long the Kingdoms of Aram and Israel will be defeated and plundered by a common enemy.  God gave the sign just as Isaiah said, and within a few years, Asyria had captured and plundered both Aram and Israel.

Do you want to know what the sign was?… the sign was that Isaiah’s wife would have a child and before that child was able to know right from wrong the two nations would both fall to Asyria.

Isaiah put it this way:

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you^[c] a sign: The virgin^[d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and^[e] will call him Immanuel.(which means God with us)^[f] 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, ¹⁶ for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 

Bottom line…  Isaiah’s message was that God was still working even in the midst of this terrible situation.

720 years after that prophecy was fulfilled Matthew is writing about the birth of another child that would be a sign,  another child who will be called Emmanuel, another child that will prove that even in the midst of our deepest darkest moments God is still with us and God is still working.  Of course the Child Matthew is writing about is Jesus.  But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

I said God is still working.  We see God’s hand was working in Joseph even while he walked back to Bethlehem.  It was a long enough walk that he began to think again.  His head cleared and he began to think clearly again.  He was no less devastated, no less crushed, no less afraid, no less heartbroken, and no less embarrassed.  But God began to change his heart.  He began to think, “I do not want to see Mary killed for this.”  (That was the punishment for adultery, and this would be considered adultery.)

Maybe I will just end the engagement quietly. He would let people think whatever they are going to think about him.  He would still have to pay the bride price that was due at the wedding.  That was his legal obligation.  But then it would be over.

Having that settled in his mind he arrives home and falls exhausted into a deep sleep.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew continues:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” [g] (which means “God with us”).

Now you see why I was talking about Isaiah.  Because Matthew quotes him right here the First chapter verse 23.  By quoting this passage Matthew is remind all who would read this story  that  God is with us and God will save his people.  Isn’t that what the incarnation is all about?  God with us?

God was with Israel and it was saved.

God was with Joseph and he got up from that dream and took Mary as his wife, becoming the guardian of the Christ.

In this story, God speaks two words to us today.  The first word is Immanuel, which means God is with us.

The second word is Jesus, which means God saves.

No matter how bad things look, “Immanuel” God is with us and “Jesus” is our savior.

No matter how dark your 6-mile road gets.  The God who is the creator of light is working in you - God is with you and Jesus saves.

No matter how impossible your situation may seem.  The God for whom nothing is impossible is working in you - God is with you and Jesus saves.

No matter how much you have been hurt, or how much your heart aches.  The God who healed bodies and cast demons out of the possessed is working in you- God is with you and Jesus saves.

No matter what kinds of obstacles are thrown up in front of you.  The God who calmed the storm is working in you- God is with you and Jesus saves.

No matter how weak and weary you are.  The God who gave Jesus the courage to pray “thy will be done” as he faced the cross is working in you- God is with you and Jesus saves.

No matter how hopeless your life might seem.  The God who raised Jesus from the dead into glorious life is working in you - God is with you and Jesus saves.

My friends, never forget those two words.  Immanuel and Jesus.

God is with you and Jesus saves.

AMEN

Journey week 1 12/2/12

Journey Week #1

LIGHT

Is there any story in the Bible that we know better than the Christmas story?  I would say Christmas and Easter might tie, but I think it is safe to say that we all know the Christmas story pretty well.  But it is also safe to say that we might not know it quite as well as we might think.

Therefore today we begin our journey to Bethlehem by starting where Luke starts, in Nazareth.

Nazareth is in the northern part of Israel.  In the part they call Galilee.  Do you see Jerusalem and Bethlehem way down at the bottom in Judea?  Then Samaria in the middle?  Nazareth was just a little town.  Not Reinbeck little… closer to Morrison perhaps 300-500 residents.  In fact it was so little that it is not even included on either the Roman, or the Jewish lists of Galilean towns of the day.

It was not just unimportant, it was despised.  When Nathaniel heard that Jesus came from Nazareth, he asked, “Nazareth?  Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Nazareth was like Morrison in one other way. Like Morrison Nazareth was 4 miles from its nearest neighboring city: Sepphoris.  In fact Nazareth didn’t have many businesses or jobs, so most of the people from Nazareth walked for an hour to travel the 4 miles to Sepphoris in order to work. 

Sepphoris was a very important city with lots of jobs and theatres and stores.  It was a hotbed of political activism which caused the Roman governor Varus to almost destroy it somewhere near the time of Jesus birth.  But it was soon rebuilt. It was also the center of Jewish spiritual life in Galilee. Politically, religiously, commercially, Sepphoris was an important place.  Nazareth was not.

Sepphoris and Nazareth couldn’t have been more different.  Symbolic of that difference is that the homes in Sepphoris had beautiful hand laid tile mosaic floors in them, like the one we see up here.  (That is called the Madonna of Galilee) While the people of Sepphoris lived in that kind of luxury.    Many of the people of Nazareth lived in caves. 

That is where Mary lived.  Mary lived in poor little Nazareth. She may have even lived in a cave that looked something like this. Depending on their resources, their home may or may not have had any above ground structure.  They may have even shared the cave with their animals. Putting the animals by the entrance and living in the rooms further back.

  This is the church of the annunciation.   This church is built on the spot where we believe God spoke to Mary through the Angel Gabriel.    Inside the church is a little cave entrance.   Inside that cave entrance is what people say was Mary’s house.   Well it wasn’t really MARRY’s house.  It was her father’s house.  It wasn’t really her house because Mary was only 13 or 14 years old.  Does that surprise you?  Mary was just a little girl.  Now, you have to understand that women had a life expectancy of 25-29 years old.  So in order to have 10 or so babies before they died, they had to start when they were 15.  It was not unusual for a 13 year old to be engaged as Mary was.  

Now are you getting the picture?  Mary was just a little girl from a lower middle class, or perhaps even a poor family.  They lived in a cave in a comparatively poor, relatively unimportant, actually, an insignificant town in a nation occupied by the Roman Empire and rules by governors who were puppets of the military.

Mary was just a kid; like any of our children or grandchildren growing up in small town rural Iowa.

But not for long. 

·         Of all the girls, in all the villages, all lover Israel.

·         Of all the girls born to underprivileged families all over the world.

·          Of all the girls who lived unremarkable lives in of the unexceptional families, in all of the unimportant towns in all the world. 

God chose Mary from Nazareth to be what the Eastern Orthodox tradition calls Theotokos. The mother of God.

·         Is there anything the prepared her for that? NO, but God called her anyway.

·         Is there anything that qualified her for that? NO, but God called her anyway.

·         Is there anything that made her uniquely capable of bearing the son of the most high God in her womb for 9 months?  Nourishing him with her blood.  Protecting him from harm and eventually giving birth to the God child? NO, but God called her anyway.

·         Is there anything that equipped her to bear and suckle and raise the anointed messiah who was coming into the world to redeem God’s people from their sin? NO, but God called her anyway.

·         Is there anything that could have prepared this young woman to stand at the foot of the cross while her baby died for the sins of all mankind? NO, but God called her anyway.

What does that say about the nature of God?  Our God is a God full of surprises.  As far back as Noah, and Sarah, and Moses, and David, and even including the fisherman disciples; God has always been prone to call the ordinary, the average, even the disabled and disadvantaged to be the mighty servants of the most high God.  One of the fascinating things about the genealogy is that traces the birth of the messiah thorough 2 prostitutes, 2 widows and one 13 year old girl from a poor family.

And we should expect no less from God today.

Shouldn’t we expect that God might call any one of us, from our tractors, or desks or kitchen tables to do something important?

Yes- because that’s just the way God is.

Even more amazing than God’s choice of Mary- is that she said yes.

·         A lesser person would have run away tearing her hair out and screaming.

·         Any normal 13 year old girl would have been worried about what her fiancé, and friends and “oh man” her parents would think.

·         Most of us would refuse to have any part of a plan that would likely end with us being stoned to death.

YET… YET… how did Mary respond?  She was perplexed.  She wondered how this could be.  She said; in essence, explain it to me one more time.

And amazingly enough she said OK.  Actually she told the angel--- let it be to me as you have said.  In the context of an angel appearing in your bedroom, the prospect of what others would think, the likely legal ramifications.  In light of the fact that on average one in 20 women died giving birth. Those must be some of the most amazing words in all of scripture.  “Let it be to me as you have said.”

Would you?  Could you have said “yes?”  Could you?  Would you say yes to God if you were called today?

Could you?  Would you?

·         Your angel might come as a friend asking for help. 

·         Your angel might come in the lonely person you see at school or in the park.

·         Your angel might come as an elderly person who needs help shoveling their snow.

·         Your angel might come as the man with the red kettle standing outside of Wal-Mart.

·         Your angel might be the nominating committee calling asking you to do something a little out of your comfort zone.

·         You angel might come as a tugging on your heart to step out and risk getting involved in that new ministry you see advertised in the bulletin.

·         Your angel might come as an idea for a new ministry that you think is a little off the wall, but you just can’t get out of your head.

I don’t know how your call will come.  I don’t know when.  But I am confident that you are called.  I am confident that if God can use a poor little girl from a nowhere corner of the world, God can use you.  God wants to use you.

How will you answer?   It’s up to you…  

“What about the Second coming and resurrection?” Burning Questions/death 11/25/12

"What about the Second coming and resurrection?"

Burning Questions/death

11/25/12

 

Maybe you've heard the story of the little boy who decided to write a letter to God one Christmas. He started out by writing: "Dear God, I've been a really good boy this year." Unfortunately, he remembered that God was all knowing and all seeing and he decided that he couldn't lie to God. So, he crumpled up that letter and started over. This time he wrote: "Dear God, I know I haven't done everything I should have, but I really tried to be good." He stopped and crumpled up that letter, too. It was obvious that he was struggling with what to write to God.

As he sat there thinking he looked up and saw his mother's favorite piece of sculpture on the mantel. It was a beautiful rendition of the Madonna, the mother of Christ. The boy perked up and ran out of the room. He came back with a towel and a shoebox.  He walked over, carefully picked up the Madonna, gently wrapped it in the towel, carefully put it in the shoebox, and then hid it in the closet.  He immediately went back to the table and wrote: "Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again . . ."

 

You know what?  I get tired of people trying to blackmail God, bribe God, and hold God's doctrines hostage.

As I have studied for this last message in the Facing Death with Hope series, which is also the last in the Burning Questions series, I have read more strange ideas than I care to think about.  The difficulty in preaching this sermon is not getting to the truth of the Gospel, but peeling  away the layers of misconception that have been piled up against our Christian hope.

I hope, today, to push all of that aside in order to set free in our hearts the great hope of the future God has prepared for all of us.

 

First, how many of you have read any of the "Left Behind[i]" series? 

Even if you haven't you probably have picked up on the popular ideas of the end times like the rapture, tribulation, and the beast.  The thing we have to understand about almost all of the popular ideas about the end of the world is that they are speculative fiction at best.  The problem with books as popular as the "Left behind" series is that people including some pastors forgot that it was fiction.

21 centuries have provided ample time for some really wacky ideas to develop about the end times.  So, let's see if we can get back to what Jesus tried to teach. I promise you, it is not as complicated as some have tried to make it.

 

Before I share these two indisputable truths with you we need to know that what we are talking about things that are way beyond human knowledge.  With our weak little human minds, we can't even begin to understand the mysteries of the end times, like how will Jesus come back?  What will happen in the last days?  And how God's Kingdom is going to come?  We all pray "Thy Kingdom Come on earth as it is in heaven."  But to understand it is an entirely different matter.  

There is a lot of speculation about how God is going to do this.  It runs the gamut from pre-millennialism, to post-millennialism to a-millennialism to preternism; we hear about tribulation, rapture, lakes of fire, and more.

Much of that comes from the book of revelation with a sprinkling of things from Daniel and Ezekiel and the gospels and Paul. It comes from what is called apocalyptic writings.  The thing people forget is that apocalyptic writers were attempting to communicate the deepest mysteries of God.  In order to do that, writers relied on symbols, images, poetry and coded language to attempt to communicate those truths of God which are beyond human language.   

The monsters point to various manifestations of evil.

Plagues to human suffering.

The tribulation speaks the truth that evil and suffering are still with us even as we approach the new age to come, and there is nothing we can do to change that.

The rapture is a relatively new concept that emerged in the 1880's as James Darby tried to understand the future hope of resurrection.  Reading passages like the one we read from 2 Thessalonians today, he came to the conclusion that there would be 2 resurrections. One for the living (which he called the rapture) and one of the dead.  The so-called rapture became another one of those popular ideas that just is not really supported by a careful reading of scripture.

You see there are a lot of beliefs that have been tacked on to the Bible and it can sometimes be difficult to tell which are which.

 

In the midst of what might seem confusing, I want to tell you today that there are really only two things that are clearly fundamental to the faith about the end times.  If you remember these two things you can sort out what's truth from fiction, and you can decide for yourself what you believe.

 

First, Jesus says, like McCarthur, "I shall return."  Or like the Terminator, "I'll be back."  Jesus says, "I will come back."  We find this in a number of places, but from today's reading we see it in John 14:3.  "³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

This is what we call the second coming.  Next week we will enter the season of Advent.  We think of advent in terms of a time of preparation for Christmas.  Advent, however, not only looks back to the first coming (Christmas), but looks ahead to the second coming of Christ.  Advent is a time for singing not only Emmanuel- "which is God with us" but also singing Maranatha- "Come Lord Jesus Come!"  So this is a perfect time to ask, "What do we expect?"

First, expect him to return.  There is no doubt that Jesus expected to return, that his followers expected him to return, and that we should expect Jesus to return

Second, expect him to return in bodily form.  Jesus does not teach that he will come in spirit, or in political power, or anything else.  Acts 1:11 says  "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.".  And we should expect that in bodily form.  Now be careful not necessarily like these bodies.  Remember after he was resurrected he apparently looked like himself, people could touch him, and he ate as usual.  However, he also walked through walls, was instantaneously transported from one place to another, and was able to appear in a way that the disciples on the road did not recognize him.  So bodily, but not necessarily fleshly.

Third, don't worry about when.  Do not get sidetracked about WHEN he will return.  The clearest word about when comes from Jesus himself. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."^[ii] Did you catch that?  "Neither the angels, nor the son will know."  Unless we think we know more about God's plan than Jesus, we need to just watch and wait.  Jesus says over and over believe, and watch, and prepare.

Let's be honest.  The disciples thought he would come back in their lifetime.  There are even places where Jesus seems to think it will be soon. Luke 21 says "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened"^[iii] That sounds like a, "I'll be right back" to me.  But what did he say?  Jesus said, "Not even the son knows when this will come to pass." It will surprise us like a thief in the night.  No one knows when the thief is coming and we won't know when Jesus is coming back either.

Trust and watch and prepare.  Trust that Christ shall return because he said he would.  And watch in hopeful expectation that he might come at any time.

Finally regarding the return of Christ, when Christ comes everything will change.  Revelation says there will be "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.[iv]"  That is really about as far as we need to go.  Let's let other folks argue about premillennialism and postmillennialism.  Let's let other people argue about Pre-tribulation and post-tribulation.  Let's let other people debate about when and what Jesus will do when he returns.  Let's just get to our job of watching, and waiting, and preparing.  We prepare our hearts and minds, but we also work to prepare the world for him.  Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.  Maranatha- Come Lord Jesus Come.

 

The second thing that we can say with certainty is that when he comes, he will take us home.  There will be a bodily resurrection and we will be with him forever. The Apostle's creed calls it "the resurrection of the body." 

¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.[v]  Do you remember a few weeks ago I said when we die we don't do directly to heaven?  Remember Paradise and Gehena?  That is because when Jesus comes back he will raise the dead (both righteous and the unrighteous,) and take all the souls of the dead and the living to final judgment.  In the twinkling of an eye, the sheep will hear "'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.[vi]"  And the goats will hear "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.[vii]"

Let me tell you three things about our resurrection hope.

First, when we talk about a bodily resurrection we have to apply the same rule we did for Jesus bodily return.  Our bodies will be raised, but not necessarily these bodies.  We will be raised in a spiritual body that is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading![viii]"  Does this look imperishable, undefiled, and unfading to you?

Second, God's time is not our time.  Our bodies are locked into time.  However, for the souls in paradise there is no time.  It will seem in the twinkling of an eye that we are accepted into heaven.  It will be even better than the express lane at Wal-mart.  No waiting in the kingdom.

Finally -don't worry… for those who have faith there is no need to worry.  We stand ready and awaiting the return of Christ and our entrance into eternal life.  That is the hope for the future on which we stand.  Today we stand with one foot in the here and one foot in the hereafter.  Or you might say we stand squarely in the world, but our hearts are really in heaven. 

 

·         Jesus is coming back. 

·         He is coming back to take us home.

Those are the two indisputable truths that Jesus teaches about the end of the age.

There are other doctrines and images that might be important to you.  That's OK.  If they bring you hope and help you to hold firm to these two indisputable truths, we can have a variety of beliefs about the end of the age.

 

But mostly we must believe.  We must look forward to a future with Christ.

We should ache for the kingdom to come. 

We live in that strange in-between time.  Like the time on our calendars between Christmas and New Years.  It is kind of a weird week because we still have Christmas in our hearts, but New Year is just around the corner.  This time in which we live- between the first and Second Advent of Christ- is a little like that.

It is the between time- We know Jesus but we wait with hopeful expectation of that which is yet to come.

The gospel singers call this Beulah land.  (You thought I had forgotten your questions didn't you?)  We live in Beulah land.  Which is a reference to Isaiah 62:4.  The Israelites are told that when they return from exile they will no longer be called forgotten but they will be God's delight.  Their land will no longer be called barren but will be called Beulah which means"married" or in relationship with God.  It is said that Beulah land is not heaven but you can see heaven from there. 

It is certainly where we stand as we gather on this Christ the King Sunday.  We are somewhere between the first advent and the second coming.  And we have seen just a glimpse of that which is to come.  Somewhere between the cradle and the crown. And we have seen just a glimpse of the reign to come.  Somewhere between the last supper and the communion of the saints and we have seen just a glimpse of the banquet to come.

And that is our hope.  That this world with all of its pain, and injustice, and sickness, and cruelty, and hatred, and greed and lust is not all that there is.  That there is more, and (no matter how smart people think they are) that "more" is in God's hands.

So we go back to a phrase I have used a number of times in this series.

We live like those

who are prepared to die.

So that when we die

we shall go forth

as those who are prepared to live[ix]

 

---

[i] 16 novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, first published 1995-2007 by Tyndale House,

[ii] Matthew 24:36

[iii] Luke 21:32

[iv] Revelation 21

[v] 2 Thess. 4:16-17

[vi] Mattehw 25:34

[vii] Matthew 25:41

[viii] I Peter 1:4

[ix] UM Hymnal Service of death and Resurrection

Facing death with hope: #6 Death and rituals

Facing death with hope:  #6 Death and rituals

RUMC

11/11/2012

 

If you were to survey funeral rituals, you might find…

·        Bodies washed by the family or watched in an all-night vigil.

·        They might be embalmed, buried before sunset, or cremated and shipped in cross-shaped urns.

·        You would see graves, mausoleums, columbariums, and family mantles.

·        You might find long lines, hushed voices, quiet tears, or loud wailing and calling out the dead person's name.

·        You might find photo displays.  Videos, power point presentations, and any number of mementos gathered together.

·        There might be chanting psalms, somber as lent with flowers everywhere, communion, eulogies, or you might find silence, or loud singing, or trombones or drums. 

·        Of course, some will say, "Let's send a card instead" and others will attend by webcast.

·        There will be private family burials, walks to the cemetery with coffins carried on the shoulders, funeral coaches, chartered buses, orange-flagged cars ignoring red lights, or pedestrians stopping to remove hats.

·        You might see the coffin lowered or left behind.  Sprinkled with water, ash, or handfuls of dirt.

·        You might see fasting or casseroles, or cocktails and appetizers, or ham sandwiches on those little buns and fancy jello.

Christian funeral rituals vary so widely in part because the Bible doesn't say much about how to do them.

The passage we just read reflects the normal funeral customs of the Jews in Palestine in the first century AD.  It was the women's task to prepare a dead body for burial.  The body was washed, and hair and nails were cut.  Then it was gently wiped with a mixture of spices and wrapped in linen strips of various sizes and widths.  While this was happening, prayers from the Scriptures were chanted.

 The body was wrapped in a shroud, but was otherwise uncovered.
Tombs were visited and watched for three days by family members and friends.  On the third day after death, the body was examined.  This was to make sure that the person was really dead, for accidental burials did sometimes happen in those days.
          That is very different from our custom.  There are as many funeral traditions as there are communities, and each community would consider the funeral traditions of other communities somewhat bizarre.

The Bible doesn't tell us how do funerals.  However, the Bible is absolutely clear about a few things about which we have been talking: 

1.     First, since the 3^rd chapter of Genesis the Bible sees death as the natural conclusion to this life.  The Bible records many, many deaths very matter-of-factly.

2.     Second, the Bible teaches that grief is real and it is hard.  Abraham is probably the first example of many in the Bible who mourned for loved ones, including Jesus himself who wept for Lazarus.  Jesus taught, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

3.     Finally, the Bible teaches that death is not the end, but rather a journey to the next life, a better life, Eternal life in the presence of God.

 

From those Biblical teachings, we can draw three conclusions about funerals.

1. The funeral is for saying goodbye.  Since death is a natural conclusion to this life, the funeral should help us to remember and celebrate the life of the deceased and say goodbye to them.

2. The funeral is for comforting.  Since death is so hard on those who are left behind, the funeral should provide an opportunity to be surrounded by friends and family (many of whom have been through other deaths and losses) who can support us, care for us, and encourage us, reminding us that in spite of how we may feel at the time, this is not the end for us.

3. The funeral is for celebrating.  Not trite celebrations like some funerals today.  Since part of the Christian message is that death is not the end, we must celebrate that claim both holding it close to our hearts, and holding it up for all the world to see.

 

In Christian theology, the funeral is one step in our journey.

·        Just as many of us were first carried into the church by parents and grandparents, it is appropriate that at the funeral we be carried out of the church by those who will follow us.

·        Just as we were baptized into new life in Christ, now using that same baptismal image we are baptized into eternal life with God.

·        Just as we worshiped here week after week, we will be brought to be present in worship one last time.

·        Just as we journeyed through this life with God, the journey to the cemetery is the next logical step in our journey to eternal life with God.

Therefore, taking all that as background let me answer a few questions.  Some of these are from the burning questions you turned in.  Others are questions I am occasionally asked in conversation.  Let me be clear.  There are no Biblical answers to these questions, but drawing from the principles of the Bible, here are my best answers.

1- Is a funeral necessary?  NO but it is important.  For two reasons.  First, you are important to God and everyone deserves to be remembered and celebrated by those who are left behind, even if it is only 5 or 6 people.

Second, the funeral is really not for the deceased.  Remember I said it is for comfort?  Grief is a long hard journey.  An important step in the journey is expressing our grief.  Robyn calls that mourning.  Expressing or ritualizing our grief.  Although it is certainly possible to grieve without a funeral, there is a reason we have funerals.  They work.  They work in helping us to come to grips with the death, normalize the experience and begin to integrate that into our lives.

2. Does a funeral have to be in the church?  No, but for a baptized Christian the church is the most appropriate place.  I have done a lot of funerals in funeral homes and frankly no matter how nice they are it isn't the same.  The church is designed for worship it is your spiritual home, here we are surrounded by the symbols of the faith and the collective memories of the community of faith.  To me that makes a big difference.

I even encourage church funerals for non-baptized people.  Every person is loved by God and I think this is one way we can show God's grace, by welcoming and, hopefully, blessing those who mourn.  Many times the person may not have been religious, but members of the family are and they desire a religious service.

In cases where they do not want a religious service, that falls outside the ministry of the church.  We simply do not do non-religious services.

 

3. What about cremation?  Is cremation acceptable for Christians?  Yes.  Christian tradition has discouraged it because we expect a bodily resurrection.  You know what "the perishable must put on imperishability and the mortal must put on immortality" That is a spiritual body.  These bodies deserve respect but are not needed in the age to come.  If they are what about those who died many years ago and their bodies long ago returned to the earth.  Frankly, God makes us ecofriendly because when we die our bodies will just be recycled into the earth.  Cremation speeds that process up.

The phrase "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" has made its way into our funeral services and comes from the Anglican funeral service.  They took the idea from Genesis 3:19

19 By the sweat of your brow
    You will eat your food
Until you return to the ground,
    Since from it you were taken;
For dust you are
    And to dust you will return."

 

One concern I have is that direct cremation without any viewing might skip over an important step in the grief process.  There is something about seeing the body that is important to many people as they grieve.  However, there are ways to have a viewing and visitation and still have cremation.  The funeral director can help us with that. 

 

4. What about body or organ donation?  What greater gift could there be than to give the organs we no longer need to improve someone else's life.  Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for a friend."  I think giving our organs to people we don't know is a final act of generosity.  Body donation is a little harder because there are no remains available for a year or more and the family might feel a little like they are limbo. 

Even if the body is donated, or if it is lost at sea or any other reason the body cannot be present we still have a funeral.  It is just called a memorial service when the body is not present.

 

5. Finally, I want to answer one more question.  Should I pre-plan my service?  Yes and no.  Yes, you should if possible make the basic arrangements and make some preliminary decisions.  It is always easier for the family if the service is prepaid, or if there is a funeral fund available.

I say no to detailed preplanning, not because I don't value your input, but because I think the exercise of making some of the final decisions for a loved one's funeral is an important final act of love.  You can take a lot of the load off of your family by caring for the financial aspects and leaving clear indication of your preferences, but I would discourage you from planning it down to the last detail and locking it in.

In your bulletin, I have provided a guide sheet that can be used to guide you in making suggestions for your funeral.  This only includes the things for which I am responsible.  It does not include cremation or anything like that because that is really the responsibility of the funeral director.  There are 2 booklets in the back.  One from the funeral home and the other from me, which answers even more questions about funerals.  You are welcome to take one or both.  If we run out, put your name on the page provided and I will make sure you get what you want.

My guide is just that, it is a guide that will give us suggestions for the service.  However, let me tell you.  I will always follow your family's preferences because they are the ones who need to remember, be comforted, and celebrate Christian hope.  When you die, you are better off than any of us here and we need to plan the service to meet your families' needs.  Families frequently, however, want to know what mom or dad wanted in the service.  This guide will tell them.  It is a great starting place.  You can give it to someone who might be planning your service, you can have us keep it in the office for you, or you can probably arrange with the funeral home to hold it for you.

 

Those are the things I prepared.  Did I miss any burning questions that we can address at this time? 

The details of the questions are not as important as three things I want you to remember.

Every person is a child of God and deserves to be remembered.

Every family member is a child of God and deserves to be comforted.

Every one of us is a child of God.  We come from God and when this life is over, we will return to God.