November 11, 2015

“Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” Luke 7:11 – 16

“It is inevitable that we should be sad when those we love depart from us by dying. Although we know they are not leaving us for ever, that they have but gone a little ahead of us, that we who remain will follow them, nevertheless our nature shrinks from death, and when it takes a loved one we are filled with sorrow simply because of our love for that person. In the death of those who are close to us we experience both sadness at the necessity of losing them, and hope of getting them back.” Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, (354 – 430) Sermon 172, “For All The Saints”, volume II (p. 987)

I struggle with many different emotions when I meet with a family who does not want to hold a public service for someone who has passed away. Mostly I struggle with the reality that someone or perhaps the entire family is hoping to deny or delay the hurtful feeling that surrounds a death. Death hurts – it hurts to loose a loved one, it makes us sad, it gives us feelings and emotions we just do not like. But avoiding those feelings is not doing any of us any good. We cannot shrink from death, because death will not shrink from us. Death is all around us. We can try to run from death, but we cannot hide. One of the lessons we learn from the story of the Widow from Nain is how the community surrounded her in her grief. They did not shrink from her. They came together and allowed her to grieve personally, and she allowed the community to grieve as well.

There are so many ways that our society is trying to deny us a sense of community. We can drive home from our cubicles at work, sit in our cars to open the garage door, pull into the garage and close the same door, and never have to get out of the car or talk to any of our neighbors. We repeat the same actions when we leave in the morning. We are finding more and more ways to isolate ourselves – all to our own detriment. Funerals are one of the last ways that we can come together as a community and show our love for each other. Let us not deny this act of comfort, community, and caring simply because we would rather run away from death than face it head on.

As I write this devotion, a two year old child has been killed when struck by a car while attending a homecoming parade in Stillwater, Oklahoma. This young family will need the community to rally around them as they face this devastating loss. This is not a time to stick our heads in the sand, but a time to stand together as people of G*d and lament the brokenness of humanity and the fragility of life.

Of course, staring right into the face of death is just what so many of our Veterans have done, for so many years, protecting our country and rooting out evil in the world. Today we honor those Veterans who gave their life in service to this country, and those Veterans who struggle with moving on with life once they return home, and Veterans and families who have experienced a loss of brother, sister, father, mother, uncle, aunt, or comrade. On this day we stand together as grateful people and say thank you to all Veterans.

Pastor Dave