EPIPHANY 1C 2010-

The Baptism of our Lord

First in a Series on Death and Dying

When I was 25 years old, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with a virulent type of melanoma and within three months or so he was dead. I can remember seeing him, a 28 year old strong man with three children, wasting away. Before his funeral, we dug his grave by hand in the Timbuctoo cemetery, just as we had dug the grave of his younger brother years before. Then, a year or two later, my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and she died four months later at what I now consider the young age of 63. In my twenties I was beginning to learn that death was a part of life. Now, some years a later, as a pastor, I deal with death on a regular basis. Pastor Liz and I, as we talked about this subject, decided that we wanted to do another brief sermon series on death and dying, so beginning today and the next four Sundays we are going to talk about some of the issues that arise when we face the subject of death. Today we are going to briefly deal with what I will call the theology of death, and in the coming weeks we will discuss communication, dying well, funerals, hospice, and some practical issues that we should be thinking about.

It is providential that we are beginning this series on the feast of the Baptism of our Lord, for Baptism is a sacrament which, at its core, proclaims to us the triumph of life over death. In Romans chapter 6, the apostle Paul writes:

Romans 6:4 ( NRSV ) 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

The core message of the gospel is that death has been conquered by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. While there is a whole lot more to Christian theology and living the Christian life, we need to recognize the wonderful, powerful, and liberating truth that central to the Christian message is the triumph of life over death. So this is where we begin this series on death and dying. We begin it with the Easter proclamation that Christ is Risen, and therefore, we too shall be raised to a new life with Him. Our baptism is the sacrament that teaches us this.

In the Bible, we can see that there are really two ways to view death: spiritual death and physical death.

We see this in passages like we find in Ephesians 2::

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived… (and)

4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— Ephesians 2:4-5 ( NRSV )

Spiritual death is often seen as separation from God – living a life without the awareness and presence of God in our lives.

The Christian message as we see in this verse, teaches us that in Christ we are ‘made alive’ – we receive a new principle of life.. in the words of John, we are born again, or born from above. The theological word for this is regeneration. This new life gives us the hope of eternal life, or everlasting life. One could argue from a Biblical perspective that we do not have immortal souls, which most people believe today, but that since we are spiritually dead with Christ, we only receive eternal life through faith in Jesus. If we took this view, we could say that those without Christ, upon death, simply cease to exist.

But I don’t think the Bible is real clear on exactly what happens after our physical death. What I want to emphasize is what I believe is clear, and central to our faith. What is clear for us is that, as I have said, we base our hope on life on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.. on Easter. Remember the promise of Jesus to his friends when Lazarus died:

John 11:25-26 ( NRSV ) 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Other religions have their points of view of life after death, and none of us, since we have not died and experienced it, cannot for sure say what happens. All I can say is that the Christen does not base their hope on eternal life on some vague theory of immortality, nor do we simply think that everything in the after life is going to be fine for everyone, just because we think that is the way it should be. We base our hope on Jesus, for right or for wrong.. I have long since given up trying to figure out what happens after death, or who is saved and who is not, nor do I put much stock in the books about those who have died and come back. I simply look to the scriptures of our faith and find there hope and comfort in the gospel message.

One question that I used to struggle with was why, if we receive a new life in Jesus, if we are born again spiritually, why do we die physically? What is the reason for physical death? Why do we have to go through it? Again, I don’t really know, but my home grown theology says that physical death exists to teach us, human beings, the terribleness and evil of sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Our physical death, and all the pain and suffering and sense of loss that occurs when we face it, was left for us to know that sin is not just small mistakes on our part.

The Bible does not teach us that death is a natural part of our human existence. Remember that God told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the fruit, they would die. Death was not the plan for human beings. In the New Testament, Paul calls death an enemy. Death in the bible is seen as an intruder into our human space and existence. It is for this reason, I believe, that we human beings struggle so against death. Modern medicine uses all its skills and powers to keep people alive. Billions upon billions of dollars are spent every month in this country to keep people alive in the face of death. We know that death is not natural when we experience the terrible pain of loss when one we loved died. This does not feel natural. It is terrible.. It is awful. It is painful.

And this sense that death is an intruder into our existence is one of the reasons that I believe so many people, even Christian people, are afraid to face their own death. It is seen as so powerful, so mysterious, so scary, so “not natural” , that many can’t even bring themselves to talk about their own death. We pastors see this in family systems all the time. “Don’t tell Dad that he is dying.. Don’t talk about death around mom.” “We just have to be positive…” Even when the medical people are telling a family that death is imminent, ….even when death is right at the door, great denial exists.

Another reason why it might be hard for people today to face their own death is the way we have removed death from the common round of life. Over the ages, most people would have died at home, been take care of by the family, and then buried by the family. This is no longer the case, and thus people can grow up and even be well into middle age and never experienced the process of dying and then death.

But a central reason that many of us are not prepared for our own death, or are not ready to face our own death, is a spiritual weakness. It is simply that we not taken the time to truly embrace the gospel message. In a sense, we have not gone to the core of what our faith is all about. We make like the community of faith and the friends we have, we may feel good going to church, we may like the moral support Church gives our families, we may even go out of habit or guilt… but we have never looked into the face of death and suffering and pain and then asked ourselves what does our faith have to say about it? Is there any comfort in my faith when I see myself lying on my death bed.. if I even get that chance?

The reason Pastor Liz and I wanted to do this series is to try and help all of us take time to face our own mortality, and thus, in a sense, be ready. Since all of us are going to die.... since it is an inescapable fact… one would think that we all would be a little more prepared.. But the fact is, many of us are not.

So our first challenge to all of us in this series is foundational for all of the rest, and that is simply, for us to intentionally face our own death, and not simply pretend that it won’t happen to me. This is foundational for the rest of the series.. For if we don’t face our own death.. then we won’t prepare, even in the practical matters.. we won’t think about wills and trust.. we won’t think about hospice or rest homes, we won’t think about funerals and what should happen when we die, and we certainly won’t talk about it with our families.

Let me encourage you to stand in front of the mirror… at least in a symbolic way, and say to yourself – I am going to die. I don’t know how… it might be through an accident; it might be through cancer or a stroke; it might be slow or fast; I may be helpless and dependant upon others; … but try and be realistic… and then ask yourself… since I am going to die…what do I believe about my death? What is my faith? What do I base my faith upon? What am I going to trust in as I am dying? In the face of death, many of the things that are now important to us will not be important at all.

One easy way to begin a personal exploration of what we believe is to simply read through, and meditate upon the burial office in the prayer book. Ponder the words and concepts, read the lessons suggested, and see if this is your faith. We can find great strength and comfort, both in life and in death, from our faith in the risen Christ.

As I have often said, living our lives with a view to eternity is a powerful, practical spiritual practice. Once we go to the end, and face our own death, and face many truths about death – like we can’t take it with us, etc. – then we can back up and prioritize our lives as to what we think matters in light of our faith. In a real sense, I don’t think we can live a healthy spiritual life until we have faced our own death. This is what baptism teaches us. Since we have died with Christ… let us live with him… let us continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our savior.

Next week Pastor Liz is going to talk about the importance of communication in the family system, and whatever else comes to her mind. So please make every effort to be here, and if not, you can read or listen to these sermons on line, or you can ask the techies in the back to make you a CD.