Gratitude For
Life In Love
Sermon for MCC
New Haven
November 3,
2013 / All Saints / All Souls / Day of the Dead
Rev. Brian
Hutchison, M.Div.
Ephesians
1:11-19
Luke
6:20-31
I
pause often to think about those I have known over my lifetime that have passed
through the veil from this life to the next. I think of relatives who held iconic places in my mind as I
grew up- “the hermit uncle”, “the aunt who was taken too quickly”, “the
grandmother who struggled all her life for her children”, “the soldier cousin
who died for his country”, “the grandfather who loved his family
selflessly.” This past Monday, my
paternal grandmother Dorothy Hutchison passed into the Arms of God at 91 years
old. This past week, I have been in mourning. Please pray for me and for my
family. She was a wonderful woman and I know she watches over me from the other
side.
I also
think of the friends and acquaintances I have lost: Twig- the perpetual
jokester, Holly- the fighter in the face of adversity, Lexy- the warm hearted
transgender woman, Scotty- the resilient, adventurous, and childlike. The list goes on.
I
am sure you have your own list, those who have made an impression on your soul;
those who have laid their handprint on your heart. Pausing and thinking of them can bring sadness. I sometimes regret that they are not
here in body any longer to be family together- to joke together, go out
together, share stories together. And
it’s okay to feel that sadness and allow it to pass through the moment of
remembering.
And
it’s okay to feel anger that their passing was out of our control. These people were something to us- on a
very essential level, they were and are a part of us. When we take in the breath of another in their presence,
when we receive the life of another into our own, our lives become woven
together. And so when those we
love die, it is as if our life’s fabric quickly tears where our life met
theirs. We know how painful it can
be.
There
are several things that we hear from people who want to comfort us when someone
we love dies. They say- (and we
sometimes do it too), “It’s okay, s/he is in heaven now” or “Don’t be sad- we
need to celebrate his/her life!”
The best of intentions can be the wrong thing to say.
Yes,
it is a central teaching of the church that there is life after death. We have been told that the faithful who
believe will experience a bodiless heaven that is free of suffering and full of
the joy of God. I believe this to
be true. I don’t believe that the
next life looks exactly as the writers of scripture envisioned it with literal
golden streets and such, but I believe in Eternity. But the danger that too many have fallen into is an otherworld mentality. When the bereaved are grieving, hope
that the beloved is in heaven doesn’t make everything better. After all, heaven is far away, in the
sky, where God and all the angels are.
Or is it?
In
his most recent book “Eternal Life: A New Vision”, Bishop John Shelby Spong writes
about the damage that an otherworldly view has done to the world. We don’t preserve our earth as we
should because after all, no damage can be done to heaven, and we’ll be there
forever, right? In short, a
distant heaven does us no good.
And it isn’t even the heaven Jesus taught about. Jesus talked about heaven as the Counter-Kingdom,
Kin-dom, Realm, Commonwealth, or Dominion of God. And that place is not in the sky.
In
the Gospel reading today, Jesus teaches what we call the beatitudes. What we take from them is that those
who are truly blessed (or happy) are not those we would typically see as blessed:
the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are persecuted. These are all things that we do our
best in life to avoid. We work
hard to have money, to have food on the table, and to be happy.
Here’s
the deeper meaning: blessedness or happiness is found in gratitude and humility. In the worst of circumstances, we are
most likely to appreciate the blessings of life. It is when we lose a loved one that we most value the
precious gift of life. It is when
we are at a loss that we recognize our humanity and our mortality. We are most human. We have needs, and we recognize the
needs of others.
I
call the beatitudes the “be-attitudes”. Jesus is calling us to be, to embody new attitudes toward life.
The usual attitude is: “hate your enemies- they deserve it. Curse back at people if they curse at
you- don’t let them walk all over you.
Don’t give anything away- what if you ever go without? No one will be there for you.” Jesus’ new attitudes turn all of that
around. Love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Turn the other cheek.
It’s
not easy to be these attitudes!
But what’s popular isn’t always right and what’s right isn’t always
popular. If it’s popularity that
you seek, you’re not seeking Christ.
The Christ Kin-dom is about righteousness (which is just a fancy
religious word for right relationship).
When
we live out these attitudes, we actualize Heaven among us. We all experience little pockets of Heaven
from day to day: People who
express underserved kindness to strangers. Ways that nature shows us the grace of God. It is in these things that those who have
gone before us dwell. The Great
Cloud of Witnesses is ever present.
Because they, as we, are in the Mind and the Heart of God.
Each
second that goes by dies and enters Eternal Life. Each cell that dies in our body from day to day is replaced,
regenerated to create new life.
All is part of this great cycle.
In the words of St. Therese of Lisieux,
“What a treasure this life is!
Every second belongs to eternity.”
We are called to a shift in perception. All is a part of the Life of God. All those we love, across the world and
in our presence, and in the next life are present to us. We are not alone. And though death brings pain and grief,
it does not have the final word. Amen? Amen!
“May the blessing of
God not bring saints to us alone, but make of us saints greater than any we
imagine.” -Daniel McGill
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