Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your Word, granting us a renewed and strengthened faith, that we might find comfort in your grace, and hope for the future. Enable us to trust in your gift of eternal life, accomplished for us through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ, so that we might live our lives in the confidence of being reunited with all your redeemed saints, in the life to come. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Let me begin by expressing to you, Deanie, [and extend this to Sierra and Jesse], to Charles Nancy and Chucky, to Tom and Shirley, and the rest of Pat’s family and friends, not only my own personal sympathy, but also the sympathy of our congregation. Many of us share with you in the numbness of these last few days. Clearly, the suddenness of Pat’s death has left us all in a state of shock. But I assure you that we lift you in our prayers and concern, that God’s grace might bring you his peace.
To say that this has been a tragic and stressful year for you would be a gross understatement. Even after 25 years of ordained ministry, when I joined you Saturday evening, I felt so inadequate. I could find no words to express my consolation. I could only share in your grief, with tears of my own. From a human perspective, there is little that any of us can say.
But thanks be to God, that the Gospel reaches out to us with words of hope, that can help us, and guide us, in our grief. As a result, I have decided to take a somewhat different approach this morning, and let Scripture speak to us all, for its message is familiar, and touches our lives in a unique way.
In our second lesson that I read, John tells us that there was a family living in Bethany, whom Jesus loved. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, became seriously ill, and so they sent word to Jesus, beseeching him to come to the aid of their brother. Being persons of faith, we can only imagine the litany of prayers that these sisters, and their closest friends, ceaselessly offered to God on their brother’s behalf.
But for some reason, known only to our Lord, Jesus did not respond to their prayers and urgent request for the healing of Lazarus according to their timetable. John tells us that Jesus delayed his departure to come to the aid of Lazarus for a couple of days. One can only imagine the pain and frustration that Lazarus’ sisters and friends felt, waiting for Jesus to respond with his saving grace.
Several days later, when Jesus did finally arrive, Lazarus’ sisters, family and friends, had given up hope that they would ever relate to Lazarus again. Lazarus had died, and they grieved and mourned, with many tears and sleepless nights. And the ordeal of their watch and vigil, praying for this man whom they loved, drained them of nearly every ounce of energy and strength that they had, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
And so, when Jesus did finally arrive, the family expressed their pent-up emotion. They said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here. Lord, if you truly loved Lazarus and us, you could have saved him, and us from this grief. It seems hopeless. Yet even now, we know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
And Jesus, seeing their grief, and feeling their pain, was himself moved to tears. Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, cried with and for this family whom he loved. And then he responded with an act of God’s grace that called Lazarus back to life from the jaws of death. And as a result, Mary and Martha, and all those who loved Lazarus, were given an opportunity to experience a glimpse of the grace of God and to grow in faith.
But what happened that day in Bethany, was but a glimpse of God’s grace. For the truth is, Lazarus returned from the throws of death, to live but for a short while. Although the Scriptures are silent about how long Lazarus lived following that day when Jesus called him from the tomb, all Biblical scholars agree, that his earthly life was finite.
Have we not lived this story over the past several months? Our brother Pat was gravely ill as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. And each of us through our prayers without ceasing, beseeched our Lord to come to Pat’s aid. And I can remember the frustration we all felt, when our Lord’s aid was delayed, and his recovery seemed in jeopardy for days on end. We can all remember the pain and frustration that those long days in that small waiting room at St. “E’s” brought into our lives.
But then, by the grace of God, healing came upon Pat. He slowly, but surely gained in strength, and before any of us could imagine, he was discharged from the hospital and back home. And for a period of time, we were given a glimpse of the glory of God.
We were so thankful, not only for Pat’s recovery, but for the grace of God working through all those persons who prayed for his recovery, all those persons who sat with us and cried with us and shared in our grief. We were given a glimpse of the grace of God working through those who were willing to give of their time to cut wood, tend the cattle, and donate blood. In short, we were given a chance to experience God’s grace in a new way, working through the lives of others, enabling us to grow in faith.
But what we experienced through those last few months, was only a glimpse of the grace of God. Like Lazarus, Pat came out from the throws of death, only for a short while. And so, today we again gather in grief, again lift our prayers to God, again look for his comfort and healing. And it is my hope, that the glimpse of God’s grace that we have been given, might enable us to trust anew his ultimate promise of grace, bestowed upon us through our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection.
The truth is, as meaningful as these glimpses of faith may be, the crux of the Christian faith does not rest on the improvement of life here on earth. As Paul said in our first lesson, “If for this life only, we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people, most to be pitied.” After all, even if we are to live to be a hundred years old, what is that, compared to eternal life in the presence of God. And eternal life is what our Lord, the Son of God, promises to all who are baptized into his death and resurrection.
And it is this ultimate promise of God’s grace that alone can bring healing to the pain and grief we experience in this hour, And if I might, I would like to begin expressing this promise of God, by sharing with you something that I have learned from my jet-set daughter.
My daughter Amy has lived and worked in many countries. She has lived in Maui, in Poland, in Switzerland, and currently, she and her husband are teaching in an international school that is located in Nairobi, Kenya. Needless to say, I don’t get to see my daughter very often. However, I do cherish the moments that we are able to get together, for she and her husband share with me many of the insights that they have gained from the cultures in which they have lived.
There is much we can learn from our neighbors in other countries. One issue may be how we approach our understanding of life and death. For instance, when one of our loved ones dies, we normally say something like, "She had departed," or "He has left us." And as a result, we tend to focus on the loss that we feel because the person whom we love is no longer with us.
But Christians in Africa take the opposite approach. When they talk about the death of a loved one, they say, "She has arrived," or "He has reached his destination." What a beautiful expression of the Gospel! For a person who has been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, their death is not the end of life, but the beginning of a new life, a much more glorious life than we have ever experienced, here on earth.
To be sure, there is grief felt by us today. There is that desire to have more time to experience the joy and love Pat brought into our lives. There is anxiety about the future that life will bring without his supporting presence. But along with our tears of the uncertainty of grief, God enables us to shed tears of joy. Joy in the sure and certain hope of being reunited with Pat in the presence of God, through the forgiving and redeeming love poured out for us in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Think about the opposite message between our saying, "Pat has left us," and "Pat has arrived." And then think about the promise that Jesus made to his disciples, just before his own crucifixion. According to our Gospel lesson, Jesus said, "In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also."
To be in the presence of the risen Christ is the destination of every person who has been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. It is the promise of the Christian faith. And it was basis of Pat’s faith. According to our Gospel lesson, Pat has "arrived" at the destination of his faith. And according to that same Gospel, we will one day join him.
So hold on to your memories of Pat, and be prepared to greet this man of faith, for I believe that he will be there to greet us and welcome us into our Lord’s presence with his penchant for life, and his love for us all. After all, in the time of God’s eternity, Pat has just left us for a short time.
Amen.
