Sermon / submission for newsletter.

Death and Life are intrinsically connected. We are surrounded by it – all of you gardeners watch plants grow and die. Nature around us is full of death and life all at the same time – plants, and animals. We do not and cannot have one without the other. What our faith and what our belief tells us though, is that it is not a one way street: Life → Death. Our faith, and our belief, our hope in God and what God has revealed to us is that it is at least a two way street. Life → Death and Death → Life. In fact it might be more helpful to think of it in terms of a circle. The faith of our baptism has us say that we believe in resurrection, re-birth, new life, life after death as we know it; that as unstoppable as death is (despite our best human efforts), God’s promise to us and proclamation is that Death has an end, and that actually it is Life that is unstoppable. This is one of the central things that we proclaim in our worship, and why the Eucharist is such an important part of that, and there is strength and support and comfort and inspiration in that.
One of the most difficult things about living and dying I think is that as things live and die, it doesn’t just happen to things, it also happens to thoughts and ideas and society and culture. What this means is that things do not stay the same. They never have, and it seems that they never will. As people that live in society and culture though, we tend to want to find that sweet spot, that perfect place and have things just stay there, and not change. That leads us down a difficult way though, because in the understanding of that living and dying life cycle, we become too attached to things that need to be allowed to die an honourable and graceful death. We forget God’s promise of new life and miss the possibilities that it brings.
In terms of our physical living and dying, that is wholly in the hands of God as far as our faith and hope in new life and resurrection. In terms of things living and dying in society and culture, we can actually be witnesses, and participants in that cycle of dying and then living again – I find this very very exciting – a glimmer, a window, something to help us see and think about the resurrected and forgiven life that we proclaim – life after death.
In September of this year, I will have been here as part of the community of All Saints for two years. There has been two years of breathing room, and I would hope two years of having some faith and hope restored. As we embark on the next year together, I would invite each and every person of this parish family to put your faith and trust on the line, and together to examine where we are in terms of living and dying as a community – to be totally honest, and to believe in God’s promises of new life, and to explore what new Life God has in store for All Saints. One thing is for sure – the status quo, the way things have been, and where things are is going to change. The questions are, is that change going to happen to us, and we won’t have a part in it, or are we going to put our faith where our mouths are, trust God, and commit to a future and a life that is unknown to us, but known to God?
If you think that the future of the All Saints community is a “derelict” or a “hole in the ground,” then you have answered the first question, and change will happen to us, and death will happen to us, and we will not be engaged in searching for the new life, because we will be stuck on death.
If you don’t know what that future looks like, if you don’t know what that new life looks like, then you are open to listening to God, listening to the Holy Spirit, listening to Jesus and following God’s call to a place that is unknown and scary because of that, but exciting and full of life. Jesus’ promise was that he would not leave us alone, that he would be with us always. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – because Jesus will guide us and protect us from the unknown. Being a Christian is not about living the easy life, it is about living the life of Christ. May God give us the strength, the courage, the hope, and the vision to engage in death, so that we might be reborn as a community, and live out Jesus’ mission. Amen.