The Image of God’s Eternity

William Sloane Coffin writes, “No church should ever dismiss, demean, or in any way deny the awesomeness of death, nor the fear of it that eats away at the heart of each of us.”  (CREDO, p.172)  As uncomfortable as it is, the readings for this weekend speak not only about dying but try to give a divine view of how death fits into a lively Creation.  We can’t deny death, for its part of life–but will Christians be obsessed with death and  paralyzed by it?

We turn to the Wisdom of Solomon (1:13-15, 2:23-24), part of the Old Testament apocrypha.  Immediately we hear, “because God did not make death, [God] does not delight in the death of the living…and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.”  Penned by a hellenistic Jew, perhaps a resident of Alexandria, the text harkens back to the Genesis account of a Creator who breathes Life.  “God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity”–but the devil made death in a fit of spite!  Ernest G. Clarke adds, “The writer was striving to prove that there is more to living than this mortal, restrictive life which all [persons] live.  He was impelled to discuss immortality while acknowledging that by nature [we] are mortal.” (CAMBRIDGE BIBLE COMMENTARY :11)

What in the world can we do with the Epistle, II Corinthians 8:7-15?  It’s about Paul’s collection for the relief of the Jerusalem Church, and “a fair balance between your present abundance and their need”.  I suppose that we could make a sermon about economic equality:  when death knocks on the door, we can’t take it with us.  Other than that, I can’t find much of a thread.

Mark’s Gospel account, 5:21-43, tells the story of two women that were healed–one by touching Jesus’s cloak, and the other by a direct touch by Jesus.  You may want to use this as comparison, which would be quite appropriate.  I think that I’ll address the main story of Jairus’ daughter:  giving her up for dead, the neighbors assumed the worst, and wanted no part of Jesus’ intercession.  They, like us, have left God out of the equation.  Jesus’ message here (and ours) is that there is yet life in the midst of death!

The first thing I read in the paper is the column of obituary.  They died, and I didn’t!  Some of those folks are old, and full of years; others are yet young, and I hope that they didn’t give up on life too soon.  It’s pretty audacious for the Church and its teachers to speak about God’s desire for Life when so many are dying!  An old adage says that a river is shallow until it knows its limits at the shoreline.  “In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone.  Thanks be to God!”

God Bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

My inner exploration of Scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com.