Haggai 1:15b - 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17;
Luke 20:27-40
Prayer
Blessed Lord, grant this morning that we may hear and receive your word, so that by patience and comfort of that same word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of resurrection life which you have given us through the One who is the resurrection and the life, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Remembrance
It was on the 11 November 1918 that World War 1 was brought to an end and the armistice was signed. Some 8 million combatants were killed and there were a similar number severely wounded. There was as well, of course, a massive civilian carnage. Despite hopes that this was "the war to end all wars", the way was paved for the most devastating war in history, World War 2. Its origins lay in three different conflicts which merged after 1941: Germany's desire for European expansion; Japan's struggle against China and a resulting conflict between Japanese ambitions and US interests in the Pacific. The total number of casualties was in the order of 30 million. Of these, some 4 million Jews were murdered in extermination and labor camps and an estimated 2 million more in mass murders in Eastern Europe.
Two of the most moving experiences which Judith and I shared on our travels in Europe in the year 2000 were our visits to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and to Gallipoli in Turkey. Perhaps the most moving part of the Yad Vashem memorial is that dedicated to the one and a half million children who were murdered. You walk deep into an excavated cavern. Inside, the glass-walled walkway is surrounded above, below and on the sides by small burning candles reflected like myriads of stars - all the time, in the near dark you hear voices speaking the name, age, nationality of the children who died - little ones of two and three years of age to older ones of twelve or thirteen.
Standing on the stony beach at Gallipoli looking up at the steep cliffs behind, we could picture in our minds the scene on that early morning of 25 April, 1915 .... Open boats unloading, soldiers wading ashore, some stopped in their tracks never to rise again, incessant gunfire from Turkish emplacements high on the overlooking cliffs. We could feel the apprehension and sheer terror of those young Anzacs.
As we began our service this morning we remembered with thanksgiving those who gave their lives in order that we and others might live in freedom and peace. Some of those men and women might have been known to you - perhaps a grandfather or father - perhaps a son or a brother. We continue to grieve their loss. This week also we have been remembering those children for whom family members still grieve - those who have died through disease or accident or some other misadventure. We seek to stand alongside all such people and to "weep with those who weep".
Remembering these sad events often raises profound questions for us. Why has the history of humankind been littered with conflicts and wars? Why must we continue to spend huge amounts on armaments when so many of the world's population continue to die from starvation? How can it be right when children have their lives cut short? How can there be any meaning to life when so many bad things happen? Why are justice and peace in such short commodity? Where is God in all of this?
These questions lead us into a brief reflection on the gospel for today.
Resurrection
Here Luke tells us about Jesus' interaction with the Sadducees. This group saw themselves as the most important religious group in Jerusalem. They looked down on others, especially the Pharisees, whom they regarded as "Johnny-come-latelys". After all, the Sadducees claimed they could trace their descent back to Zadok the famous High Priest in King David's day. They regarded the Pharisees as dangerous liberals. The Torah was good enough for the Sadducees - those five holy books - live by them and God will reward you - wives, children, corn, wine, oil, camels and respect. And when you die, you die. The Lord God made you mortal; who are you to complain?
The Pharisees and the Sadducees had seen Jesus as the common enemy and so after the Pharisees had questioned Jesus and been discomforted by him the Sadducees took centre stage. They put to Jesus a ridiculous story about sorting out who would be married to whom when resurrection day came - of course they didn't believe in a resurrection anyway. This was just a trick question designed to put this upstart preacher on the spot. But the answer Jesus gave was brilliant. It was an answer exactly tailor-made to suit a Sadducee. Referring to the second book of the Torah, to those writings which all Sadducees accepted as holy scripture, Jesus recalled how Moses encounters the presence of the living God in the burning bush. God says to Moses, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob". He is their God now. So they must still be alive, somehow, somewhere. God is the God of the living, not the dead.
Life beyond the gateway of death must be real. As for what it is like, well, sufficient for us to know that all those tedious questions about who inherits what as a result of being married to whom - all these questions are totally irrelevant, meaningless, in the resurrection life.
You and I, with our time and space limited intellects, have great difficulty in understanding what life after death might be like. It is a bit like expecting a fish in the river to grasp what life out in the air and sunshine is like. We can safely trust the one who is both the Resurrection and the Life.
Belief in the resurrection holds out for us the hope that in the end justice will prevail and that "God will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
Reality
So, the question is, "how can I live in the present reality, in the ordinariness of my daily life, coming to terms with those past experiences which still cause me pain and about which I still grieve?
The closing words of the passage from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians which was read this morning are particularly relevant and helpful. Let me remind you of them.
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word."
The Thessalonians were going through a time of considerable difficulty. St Paul gives thanks for 'their steadfastness and faith during all their persecutions and afflictions that they were enduring.' He wants to assure them of God's love and that through His grace and generosity He gives them eternal comfort and good hope.
This assurance is for you and me as well. As we dwell on God's love towards us in Christ Jesus and share with Him the burdens which are upon our hearts, He will comfort us and strengthen us so that we can live with confidence and hope. So with renewed determination we will dedicate ourselves to live justly, lovingly and in humble dependence on God.
The prayer of the day expresses this very well and I want to conclude with it.
God of all the living,
In the resurrection of Christ Jesus
You have given us the promise of life
Which death itself cannot destroy :
In the strength of this unshakeable promise,
Give us a new heart to live, even now, as your new creation.
We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Canon Dr Tom Wallace
11 November 2007