Friday, November 6, 2020

Year A Proper 27 2020 Feedback on Death

 Year A Proper 27, 8 November 2020

Video Service from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Feedback on Death” 


Collect: O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Amos 5:18-19 and following:

Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, not light;

as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear;

or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a snake.


1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.


Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus said, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”


People find what they are looking for. If you look for good, it is there. If you look for bad, it is there. I am always fascinated when people justify their argument with “That’s what the Bible says!” I have studied the Bible a lot. It says a lot of things. You can justify and rationalize most anything if you look hard enough. And some people do.


In my work in graduate school looking at social interactions, our professors used a phrase, “Feedback says more about the giver than the receiver.” It took me a while to really see what that axiom was saying. Feedback to me, I always thought, was about me. Not so. Someone is revealing their hand, what is going on inside them. When someone says something to me giving me feedback they probably think they are talking about me, like I am some objective thing apart from them instead of a part of an interactive system. Actually feedback says what they are perceiving and receiving much more than what it says about me. Now it might be about me, and it is my responsibility to look for and utilize that, but as a consultant or processor of their feedback I have to look for what they are thinking and feeling, and see how they are expressing that in what they are saying supposedly about me.


Now you are probably asking, Father Rock, why on earth are you bringing this up? That is a great question! If we look at the readings from our Lectionary that password that unites all of today’s readings is “Judgment Day.” Amos is terrified by it, and encourages his readers to do the same. Paul in I Thessalonians is encouraged and hopeful, getting meet Jesus in the clouds! It is hopeful and beautiful. How they see this event tells us much of the mindset of these two leaders. 


Amos the Prophet sees a harsh and scary day, and offers little hope.

Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, not light;

as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear;

or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a snake.

It is a hard day, because Amos sees no hope in it. Now his job was to forewarn God’s children that the path they are on will lead to destruction. He is doing his job, and he is doing it rather well. Dark. Hopeless. And the emphasis is definitely on Judgment.


Paul, in I Thessalonians, oozes hope. He is talking to God’s Children who had only heard the images of the end of time from people like Amos. Paul has hope. Paul shares hope. Paul gives hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. ...we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.

There are no worries here. Dead or alive, we are alive in Christ.


At Sarah’s memorial service yesterday, that was the tone. At the beginning of the bulletin, we shared some words from the instructions, the rubrics, in our Prayer Book. 

The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all meaning in the

resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we too, shall be

raised. The liturgy, therefore, is characterized by joy, in the certainty that

"neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,

nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else

in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ

Jesus our Lord."

We wore white because it was an Easter liturgy. Our funeral rite is about Resurrection not Death.


The difference between Amos and Paul was simple. The difference between Amos and Paul was Jesus. Paul had hope because of Jesus.


In the parable Jesus told, he described the Kingdom of Heaven with 10 bridesmaids. 5 thought they were fine, and did not prepare and cover their bases. 5 hoped for the best, but were ready for the worst. Five were foolish, and five were wise. Five were prepared, and 5 were not. Five took the time, and five did not.


With all the traumas we have all felt this year, (see Wednesday, November 4th’s sermon) it has really come out. Some are not responding well because they have not been prepared for what may come. It is not easy to do the daily personal work of faith to trust in God even when there is no light. But daily I pray, read God’s word, and focus on my interior life so that I can be ready come what may. I can speak for me, have the recent times been hard? Yes. For all of us. But I know I am in a better place praying, reading my Bible, and doing my interior work than if I did not.


My hope is in Jesus. And Jesus is bigger than anything and everything that I could face. And it follows, as Paul said in Romans, “If God is for us, who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31)

Sarah’s passing is fresh on my mind. A few weeks back I was able to visit with her for the first time. With the extraordinary nature of her diagnosis I was allowed to do a home visit. And while I was there, she asked me to do Last Rites, or the official title “Ministration at the Time of Death.” Now, I am always ready to do this. As a priest, one never knows. Sarah did not seem to the point where she needed it, but like one of the Bridesmaids in today’s story, she wanted to be ready. She did not want to be caught unprepared. In my 30+ years of ministry she was the only person well enough to ask for Last Rites. It brought her a comfort because she had the hope of Christ. As I hope we all do.


When the time came for us to do the Ministration at the Time of Death again, it was a different feel. Her energy was gone. Her family had gathered to celebrate who she was in Christ, and acknowledged that Christ himself would soon be welcoming her home. As sad as it was for us, it was a victory for her. It was the victory of Easter right here on Virginia Street in Ashland.


Feedback says more about the giver than the receiver. How we face death says a lot about who we are, not about Death, really, and definitely not about God. Amos had no hope. Paul gushed hope. We open our Burial Rite with these words, because we are a people of Hope! 


I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord.

Whoever has faith in me shall have life,

even though he die.

And everyone who has life,

and has committed himself to me in faith,

shall not die for ever.


As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives

and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.

After my awaking, he will raise me up;

and in my body I shall see God.

I myself shall see, and my eyes behold him

who is my friend and not a stranger.


For none of us has life in himself,

and none becomes his own master when he dies.

For if we have life, we are alive in the Lord,

and if we die, we die in the Lord.

So, then, whether we live or die,

we are the Lord's possession.


Happy from now on

are those who die in the Lord!

So it is, says the Spirit,

for they rest from their labors.


Friends, we are a people of the Resurrection. Judgment Day can be seen a lot of ways, but how I see it is a mirror of my interior life. Are you an Amos? Are you a Paul? We are all the Bridesmaids, are we doing the work daily to be ready? It is up to you. Everyone is invited to the party, and may we all be ready when the time comes. 


And because we never know the day or the hour, the time to get ready is now. 


[Singing] People get ready, there's a train comin'

You don't need no baggage, you just get on board

All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'

You don't need no ticket you just thank the lord...




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Blessings, Rock