St. Mary's Episcopal Church Profile

Proper 27 Yr C
Nov. 11, 2007
Luke 20: 27-38
St. Mary’s, S.I.

“THEN WHAT?”

    WE ALL KNOW A STORY SIMILAR TO THIS ONE. SUSAN AND GREG DID ALL THE RIGHT THINGS IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS AND IN THE RIGHT ORDER. THEY MET AT WORK RIGHT AFTER COLLEGE. THEY DISCOVERED FRIENDSHIP FIRST, THEN LOVE. THEY MARRIED, SURROUNDED BY ALL THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND THE PRAYERS OF SUPPORT THEY BROUGHT TO THE WEDDING.

    THEY JOINED A CHURCH AND SANG IN THE CHOIR. THEY BOUGHT THEIR FIRST HOUSE. THREE YEARS LATER, AFTER A NORMAL PREGNANCY AND BIRTH, THEY WELCOMED LITTLE CHRISTINE MARIE INTO THEIR LIVES. THEY WERE TRULY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THAT THEY RECEIVED, BUT SUSAN WASN’T RECOVERING FROM HER NORMAL BIRTH AS QUICKLY AS HER DOCTOR THOUGHT SHE SHOULD.

    THE HARDNESS IN SUSAN’S ABDOMEN WAS LABELED “MASS OF TISSUE,” THEN “TUMOR,” AND THEN “CANCER.” AS THEIR FAMILY CARED FOR THEIR DAUGHTER, SUSAN AND GREG SOUGHT ONE OPINION AND ITS MATCHING TREATMENT AFTER ANOTHER. THEY THANKED EACH DOCTOR, EACH TECHNICIAN, EACH NURSE WHO TREATED SUSAN AS THEY TRAVELED FROM HOSPITAL TO RENOWNED CANCER CENTER.

    THE DAY CAME, HOWEVER, WHEN GRATITUDE AND GOOD MANNERS COULD CARRY THEM NO FURTHER. ON THAT DAY SUSAN STOOD ALONE IN FRONT OF THE BATHROOM MIRROR AND STUDIED HER HEAD, NEARLY BALD FROM CHEMOTHERAPY, AND HER BODY, BURNED OUT FROM RADIATION, AND FACED THE SINGLE FACT THAT MOST OF US SPEND OUR LIVES AVOIDING. SHE WAS DYING – SOON. AND “THEN WHAT?”

    IT IS THE “THEN WHAT?” QUESTION THAT THE SADDUCEES WERE ASKING JESUS IN TODAY’S GOSPEL STORY FROM LUKE. BY THE TIME THIS CONVERSATION TOOK PLACE, JESUS WAS REGARDED BY MANY AS A PROMINENT TEACHER. THE SADDUCEES, A GROUP OF JEWISH PRIESTS WHO REJECTED BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION.

THEY WERE THE CONSERVATIVES OF THEIR DAY AND THEY WANTED TO CONSERVE THE ANCIENT ISRAELITE UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE IS REALLY NOTHING BEYOND THE GRAVE. OTHER GROUPS, LIKE THE PHARISEES, DARED TO CHALLENGE THIS VIEW AND JESUS WAS LUMPED IN WITH THESE INNOVATORS.

SO THE SADDUCEES APPROACH JESUS WITH THE LAST OF THE CONTENTIOUS QUESTIONS THAT JESUS WILL ANSWER BEFORE HIS DEATH. AND WHEN HE RESPONDS, HE NOT ONLY EFFECTIVELY SILENCES THOSE WHO WOULD TRAP HIM, BUT HE ALSO SPEAKS, THE ONLY TIME THAT LUKE RECORDS, ABOUT RESURRECTION.

THE WAY THE SADDUCEES FRAME THEIR QUESTION IS RATHER SILLY. THE SADDUCEES KNOW, AS WELL AS JESUS KNEW, AND WE OURSELVES SHOULD KNOW, THAT MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN IS NOT REALLY AN IMPORTANT ISSUE. BUT THE QUESTION BEHIND THE MARRIAGE QUESTION – THE “THEN WHAT?” QUESTION, IS VERY SIGNIFICANT. FOR WHO DOES NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?

AND WHO DOES NOT WANT TO BE REMEMBERED, WANT HER OR HIS NAME TO NEVER BE BLOTTED OUT OF OUR FAMILY’S HISTORY, OUR CHILDREN’S MEMORY? AS IS POINTED OUT IN THE INTERPRETER’S BIBLE, “PRIOR TO BELIEF IN RESURRECTION, THE ISRAELITES BELIEVED THAT ONE LIVED ON IN ONE’S DESCENDANTS AND IN THEIR MEMORY.” THE CENTRAL POINT OF MARRIAGE FOR THE ISRAELITES IS THAT OF BEING REMEMBERED BY ONE’S FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS.

BACK TO OUR STORY WITH WHICH THE SERMON BEGINS: AS SHE LOOKS AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR, SUSAN RECOGNIZES THAT HER DAUGHTER WILL BE IN GOOD HANDS. HER HUSBAND WILL GIVE THAT CHILD EVERYTHING SHE NEEDS, AND HE WILL BE HELPED BY THEIR FAMILIES. SO SHE’S NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT.

WHAT IS REALLY NAGGING HER IS THIS QUESTION: HOW WILL CHRISTINE MARIE REMEMBER HER? HER LITTLE GIRL IS JUST AN INFANT WITHOUT THE COGNITIVE ABILITY TO FORM IMPRESSIONS OF HER MOTHER. HOW WILL SHE COME TO KNOW HER MOTHER AS A LIVING, BREATHING, DREAMING, CARING HUMAN BEING?

TO BE REMEMBERED. ISN’T THAT A CONCERN WE ALL SHARE? ISN’T IT A CONCERN FOR ALL OF OUR VETERANS WHO’S SACRIFICES WE CELEBRATE TOMORROW? DON’T WE WANT PEOPLE TO REMEMBER US – AS WE LEAVE A WORKPLACE, AS WE LEAVE A CHURCH, AS WE LEAVE THIS LIFE? AND ISN’T MEMORY A WAY TO LIVE FOREVER, OR AT LEAST BEYOND THE BORDERS OF DEATH?

IN THIS STORY THAT LUKE IS TELLING US TODAY, WE SEE THAT EVEN JESUS DOESN’T ACCEPT THE SILLINESS OF WHAT HAPPENS IN THE RESURRECTION TO A WOMAN MARRIED TO SEVEN HUSBANDS IN THIS LIFE. BUT, HE DOES UNDERSTAND THE IMPULSE BEHIND THE QUESTION. WE WANT TO LIVE ON IN THE MEMORY OF OUR DESCENDANTS AND OF PEOPLE WHOM WE LOVE.

JESUS ACCEPTS THIS BASIC DESIRE AND THEN HE ENLARGES GOD’S RESPONSE TO IT. FOR EVEN AS WE LIVE BEYOND DEATH IN THE MEMORY OF OUR LOVED ONES, WE ALSO LIVE INTO THE MEMORY OF GOD. AND THIS IS A MEMORY THAT HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH HOW WE MIGHT BE REMEMBERED ON EARTH – TO WHOM WE WERE MARRIED, WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED, TO WHOM WE GAVE BIRTH.

GOD’S MEMORY IS A MEMORY THAT REFUSES HUMAN DEFINITIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS AND TRIUMPHS, AND FAILURES, THAT WE THINK SHOULD MATTER. IT IS A MEMORY THAT REACHES FROM FAR BEYOND THE BORDERS OF THIS LIFE AND HOLDS US CLOSE, EVEN NOW, JUST FOR BEING THE CHILDREN OF GOD. IN JESUS’ VIEW, GOD IS SAYING, “I LOVE YOU AND I KEEP YOU CLOSE TO ME EVEN AFTER DEATH, NOT BECAUSE OF WHO YOU KNOW AND WHAT YOU DO BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE MY CHILD.”

GOD GOES ON TO SAY, “YOU ARE ALWAYS ALIVE TO ME AND YOU WILL LIVE IN MY MEMORY, EVEN AS YOU LIVE ETERNALLY IN MY PRESENCE. FOR I AM THE GOD OF THE LIVING. I GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE AND SO YOU ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN.”

WE DO NOT KNOW OUR FUTURE, BUT THROUGH THE GRACE OF THE ONE WHO TAUGHT US TO LOOK BEYOND OUR SILLY YEARNINGS INTO GOD’S VERY HEART, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WE CAN KNOW THIS: AS SURELY AS WE ALL WILL DIE, WE WILL ALSO LIVE AGAIN IN THE ENFOLDING AND ETERNAL PRESENCE OF A GOD WHO CALLS EACH ONE OF US “BELOVED CHILD OF THE RESURRECTION.”     AMEN.