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Sermon November 4, 2018
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
All Saints Day
http://lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/HolyDays/AllSaints_B_RCL.html
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace. Wisdom 3:2-3
Please be seated
I finally discovered Pandora. The Pandora app allows you to pick musical artists and then you can listen to not only those artists, but other artists in the genre. You can also choose genres of music. Now, I have had the Pandora app on my phone for years, but just never seemed to use it. Then my daughter’s new car had the app installed on the car. Instead of listening to the radio, she listened to music through Pandora.
Also, my grandchildren are now enjoying Spotify, a similar application. One day I couldn’t find a radio station I really wanted to listen to, so I turned to Pandora and put on the “shuffle” function. Oh, it was wonderful! You see, I love so many kinds of music, nearly all types of music. With Pandora, I get that amazing variety. One minute, I’m listening to opera and the next, I’m listening to rap.
Recently, this song sung by Patty Loveless came on. It’s titled, “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye?” The song tells the story of times of grief in the singer’s life and the words of wisdom she heard from her mother. The final verse contains these words:
Sitting with mama alone in her bedroom
She opened her eyes and then squeezed my hand
She said I have to go now my time here is over
And with her final words she tried to help me understand
Mama whispered softly
time will ease your pain
Life's about changing
nothing ever stays the same
how can I help you to say goodbye
it's okay to hurt and it's okay to cry
Come let me hold you and I will try
how can I help you to say goodbye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T32wMJeiN8
So we come to the Sunday where we remember all of those who have gone before us…all who have loved us and shaped us, and especially all of those who have helped us live lives of faith and lives in Jesus Christ.
We come to the Sunday when we acknowledge all of the grief we feel because we no longer see those we loved so much. The song lyrics to the song sung by Patty Loveless remind us that change is always with us, including the change that comes from the deaths of those we love. The song normalizes our grief – it’s okay to hurt and it’s okay to cry. Yet, in the end, we must say good-bye…we must learn how to say good-bye.
Our readings today give us some comfort as we grieve. The reading from Wisdom reminds us that our loved ones are in the hand of God and they are at peace. That while their deaths were thought to be a disaster, in the end, that is not so. Yes, we grieved mightily and no matter how long ago some of them died, we have days and times when we grieve still.
The reading from Revelation is also one we often hear at funerals:
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
Rev. 21:4
Again, in our grief, we are comforted, because our loved ones are in a place where there is no death or pain. We are also comforted because we know God will wipe every tear from our eyes. God is always with us to comfort us.
Today, we are surrounded by the reminders of those we loved and who loved us. Today we remind ourselves how much we miss their physical presence in our lives…how much our lives have changed because they are no longer here with us. We know this saying good-bye and this grieving is all part of life here on this earth.
And we also have the joyous vision and knowledge that they are with God in a place where the turmoil, challenges and travail of this world can no longer reach them. They are in a place of peace… a place of comfort.
And they surround is and continue to live on in us.
Amen
