God’s life even in death

Sunday 5th December 2010 by Mavis Wilson

Readings: Genesis 23:1-8, 25:7-11; Romans 8: 31-39; John 11:17-27.

Life is very precious and we do all we can to preserve and protect life. Some people spend the whole of their working lives protecting the life of others – doctors, medical staff, emergency service personnel, for example. We do not usually spend a lot of time thinking about our death and if we did so we would probably be rather neurotic.

The traditional themes for Advent in the Book of Common prayer - those rather sombre ones of death, judgement, heaven and Hell, have been somewhat watered down in more recent years into Patriarchs, prophets John the Baptist and Mary. All worthy enough but this year it seemed important to dare to look at the more sombre themes and see how they affect us all. This week we consider ‘God’s life even in death’.

The only two certainties about human life are that we each have a beginning, our birth and an ending, our death. We cannot remember our birth and most of us prefer not to imagine our death. But a realistic look at our end and a sensible preparation may bring us some unexpected blessings.

In todays OT reading we hear about Abraham who had set out many years before on a journey of which the end was completely unknown to him. In the course of his long and demanding life journey he had learnt to trust God in a profound way. But neither his trust in God nor his many blessings prevented him from being bereaved and when his wife died he made plans not only for her burial but also for his.

The passage tells how he has to do a deal with his Hittite neighbours who own the land which he needs for a burial place. Rather like people coming to the parish office to book a space in the churchyard! Abraham’s negotiations are a kind of sophisticated dance of offering and bargaining and there is obviously a lot of mutual respect between the two parties; but in the end he buys a cave and there Sarah and later he too are buried.

How practically prepared are you for the arrangements for your death? How do you want to be cared for when you may become too old to care for yourself? In my experience of taking funerals the more the person who has died had made it clear what they would like the better it is for the people who are left behind grieving and the less sense of guilt there is if people have been able to be open with each other during the last years and months of life.

Making a will, planning a service, being clear while allowing others freedom to make decision too is a great blessing and makes for a good ending. A funeral then becomes something done within a pattern of good relationships and hopefully with a trusting sense of God’s presence and in a spirit of thanksgiving. All this is life giving for people left behind.

But there are more than practical preparations - as we face in to death we need to be spiritually in a place of peace with God. As Christians we believe that Jesus is always present with us, but it is so easy to lose touch with him. We need to practice God’s presence in the every day experience of our lives.

How could St Paul be so definite that nothing could separate him from the love of Christ?

For two reasons I think. Firstly he had really discovered the truth about what Jesus had done for him. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He writes at the beginning of Romans 8. He understood that God had accepted Jesus’ work on the Cross as setting aside all the old claims of the Law which would have certainly reckoned him, and us, sinners. By God’s grace Christ came to overcome all the powers of death and sin for us and to set free from their influence all who trust in him.

Secondly Paul had lived through myriad testing experiences in his Christian discipleship and had found Christ to be faithful and present with him in them all. He had endured trials of all kinds. He had been ill. He really had fought against destructive religious, civil, political and demonic powers and had been rescued form them. He had trusted God, like Abraham, in every circumstance of a challenging life. No wonder he could be confident that nothing could separate him from God’s love - not even death. He had already put God to the test and found God faithful.

Is that the God whom we know? Do we have that kind of relationship with Christ by the Spirit? Do we bring all the circumstances of our lives to him in prayer? Do we ask for his presence and help every moment of every day? If our lives over the years have tested God’s faithfulness it will be easier, much easier to face death with calmness and hope.

We need too to have a clear conscience before God. That may involve keeping short accounts with others and not letting the sun go down without making peace with anyone whom we have hurt or offended or who has hurt or offended us. We need to be free of any sin or evil doing which might be on our conscience and here too the habits of a lifetime may help. We need to confess our sins and shortcomings to one another or to a soul friend or confessor. Maybe you think this is not a part of the tradition of the Church of England but it is. The group of curates who I tutor listened to a wise and experienced priest who hears people’s confessions and from experience I know that this can be a most liberating and life giving thing to do. That is why the notice about Advent and speaking to one of the clergy appeared on the Newsletter last week. It is just an invitation to people to come and receive something which they may find liberating and life giving.

In today's Gospel reading Jesus stood in front of a tomb containing the body of his friend. This incident is recalled in every funeral service where we use a prayer about Jesus grieving at Lazarus’s tomb. Jesus shouted out to Lazarus the command to come out. All Jesus’ faith in God’s trust in him was tested. He summoned every ounce of energy to call upon God to hear him. And Lazarus came out of the tomb - a mighty sign that Jesus embodied the life which could not ultimately be defeated.

That did not ultimately protect him form facing his own death. In that experience on the Cross he too had to trust totally in the faithfulness of God to raise him from death. But that resurrection life was in him just as it will be in us if we trust him with all that we have been, are and shall be.