Twenty-Fourth Pentecost

             November 11, 2007

     A husband and wife were getting dressed for church.  The husband stood in front of a full-length mirror taking a hard look at his reflection.

     “You know, dear,” he said, “I look in the mirror and see an old man.  My paunch just keeps getting bigger, the hair that hasn’t fallen out has turned grey, the bags under my eyes are big enough to put two suitcases in, and I can’t bend over to tie my shoes.”  He turned to his wife and said, “Tell me something positive to make me feel better.”

     She thought for a moment and then, in a soft, thoughtful voice, said, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with you eyesight.”  It is difficult to remember in a culture that spends billions on external appearance that gravity always wins.

     At Virginia Seminary the Gospel for this Sunday was called the “Parable of Liz Taylor’s Lucky Husbands.”  They were considered lucky because in the age to come they would not have to worry about which one was truly married to her.  Such questions appear to be earthly concerns only.

     Of course, the real meaning of the Gospel for today has little to do with the number of times one has been married.  It deals with matters of life and death.  The Gospel states certain theological truths.  I was born and have lived in, and hope to continue for a while longer, a physical body.  I pray that I will be raised in a spiritual body.  I believe that, in faith.  I trust that is your desire, also.   That simply means that this shell, with rods, pins, and bone grafts in the lumbar area of the spine, crooked nose from an opponent’s elbow during my football days, receding hairline, and all the rest of what you see this morning is not my permanent home.  Thank God for such a marvelous blessing!

     The Gospel also teaches that there is something innately in us that seeks life.  Even though, from the time of our physical birth, we are in the process of dying, we run toward life.  Life, eternal being, is the very nature of God; the One who has always been, is now, and will always be.  Jesus said, “Now he is the God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

     That truth is one of the primary reasons Jesus is not recorded in the Gospels conducting funerals, but performing resurrections.  That is what we proclaim in the Burial Office in this church.  We proclaim the resurrection.  It is never our task to stand in judgment at the time of death, but to turn loose of earthly categories, depend on God’s forgiveness and mercy and grace.

     What we do again this day attests to our commitment to life.  We join in celebrating the Eucharist.  This sacrament of God’s assurance of how much we are loved and forgiven directs us toward life.  It is the living body of Christ of which we partake, not some dead flesh that has no power of ability to feed.

     Life then, the very nature of God, has certain qualities about it.  This Eucharist has every intention of doing some things for us as human beings created in the image of a loving and merciful God.  First of all, we are nurtured by this sacrament.  In these holy mysteries we receive just a little bite of bread and just a sip or dip of wine, depending on your preference.  There is some physical nourishment in these elements, but the primary feeding is spiritual.  It needs to be emphasized that the primary purpose is not so much that you and I, as self-contained, autonomous individuals are fed, but that the whole body is fed.  That automatically connects us with all those seated around us.  We are part of them and they are part of us.  We need each other more than we can ever know and much more than we ever care to admit.  One of the most valid theological reasons I can give you for our need to give of our time, talent, and treasure for the corporate work we do is just that; it is an indication of our perception of the body and its need for you and your need for it.

     Secondly, this sacrament is given for our growth.  If the nurturing stops, growth stops.  That is as true of the spiritual body as it is of the physical body.  We grow and are regenerated or we die.  Some of the growth is physical; much of it, I pray, is spiritual.  We strive to be faithful to what we perceive to be the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Not everyone is on the same page all the time.  That means, while we are not all the same, we are called to love beyond our differences.  We do not give up when the tough times come or when things don’t go our way.  We don’t allow each other to hold the church hostage by withholding our pledge of time, talent, and treasure.  We give to God in Christ through the ministry of the church.  Our need to give is not something that arises out of the plans made by the leadership of the church.  That need arises, if at all, out of our baptisms into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

     Finally, this sacrament is provided out of love.  It is love that makes all the difference in this world and the only thing that lasts.  Love does not so much make the world go ‘round; love makes life possible.  I suspect the world will continue to go ‘round if evil wins and freedom is lost and worshiping the risen Christ must go underground.  It is a responsibility that each one of us shares to see that love carries the day.

     We love because we have been shown how to love.  Love alone heals the hurts and the pains of this life.  The Lord of this life and the life that is to come said that others will know who we are and whose we are only if we demonstrate love for each other and for all those others whom God places in our path.  Not all will look like us, not all will come from the same culture, and not all will believe like us, but we are to love anyway.

     In a few moments you will come forward to this rail to be fed.  Do so fully aware that you are known by God more than you can ever know yourself.  Come to this rail committed to the fact that it is for your nurture, your growth, and out of deep and abiding love.  Just prior to coming forward you will have been given an opportunity to confess that you have not always loved as you have been loved; you have not done the things you should have done and, like me, you may have done some things you wish you had not done.  You will hear God’s assurance of absolution and forgiveness.  That alone provides the ability to stand, feel our knees strengthened, our spirits refreshed, and our lives renewed.  We may be getting older, gravity may be winning, but God tells us something positive this day.  We are loved.  Amen.   

         ~The Rev. G. Thomas Mustard