Tag Archives: GRACE

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 11, 2015
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Staring Into the Face of Death — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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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

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on November 1, 2015
Tags: , GRACE, Saints   

All Saints — Rev. David J. Schreffler

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November 1, 2015
Sunday

“So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:41-44

“The Body of Christ, the community of the baptized, and the Communion of Saints – we are all Lazarus. We stinketh, until Jesus calls us out, frees us, and gives us life. In fact this is what binds us together, the biologically alive church and the biologically dead church: we haven’t all been called out of the tomb and unwrapped. In this sense, the raising of Lazarus isn’t just a miracle that Jesus performed thousands of years ago in a land far, far away. It’s the work of Jesus today.

And, I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that Jesus still calls us out, because I still need it. I still stinketh. And some days I stinketh more than others. I still find myself from time to time bound up and wound up; by the expectations of others, by my own insecurities, by my sin. But, the promise of the story of Lazarus is that, like Lazarus, Jesus loves us. He weeps for us. He is deeply moved by us. And he brings life to our death, freedom to our bondage, and a shining light to our every darkness.” (Rick Morley, Who Stinketh, October 23, 2012)

Today is the day we celebrate the people in our congregations who have passed away since last All Saints Sunday. It is a day to lift up the names of the saints who have received their crown, the fruit of eternal life, their room prepared for them. We ring bells, we name names, we light candles, families gather to read a scripture lesson. But when all is said and done, when we gather as a family around the grave of a loved one, most of us have one feeling that remains deep within our gut: death stinks.

This week I will participate in the grave-side service for the nephew of close friends. They young man was 25 years old when he died of a drug overdose. He had been clean for a short time, but life became too difficult, a path appeared in front of him, and he chose the path of least resistance, turned again to drugs, and over-dosed on heroin. For the immediate time now, and for the next year, this family will try to deal with the fact that death stinks, and sometimes it not only stinks, but it is painful beyond words. As a pastor, I see the times when death feels like an old friend. Death for some people comes as a relief – it is the relief from pain, suffering, and/or a long journey. But in a case like this, death is unresolved – it is not welcome, it is not a friend, it is not an acceptable end to this life. In other words, in this case death “Stinketh”.

There will not always be good answers for the questions life presents. But even if life “Stinketh”, we must remember that Jesus defeated the “Stench” of death – and gives us all the promise of new life.

Pastor Dave