VICTORY
Revelation 7:9-17
I John 3:1-3
I begin each funeral with these words:
"Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me shall never die. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.'"*
The greeting that follows begins with, "Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith ..."* To witness to the mystery of our faith which we proclaim each time we gather at the Lord's Table -- Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. This faith we celebrate until the time that Christ returns and we join together with the communion of saints at the heavenly banquet.
So, on all Saints' Day, we gather to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the gift of God's grace through Jesus Christ.
* The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, p. 871.
There it was -- front page (although it was below the fold) of a local news paper. The cost of chocolate is going up. According to the article by Steve Rothwell of the Associate Press published in the Friday, October 31, 2014, edition of the Burlington Hawkeye, 2015 the price of chocolate will rise seven percent due to growing costs and an increase in global demand. It's predicted that the cost of cocoa beans will be as high as $3,371.00 a ton. Personally, I'm starting to save now.
So what does the price of chocolate have to do with anything -- other than, whether we realize it or not, each year on Halloween we participate in a metaphor of grace. We give out free chocolate candy to neighborhood children. It really isn't free, because we paid for it, but we offer it as a gift without any expectation of anything in return, all for the joy it brings to children.
In the same way, God the Father offered God the Son, Jesus, as a free gift to the world so we might have eternal life. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus redeemed the finality of death and transformed it into a portal to a life where there is ultimate healing and where, like Jesus, we will be perfected in love.
Revelations 7:14-17 describes the new heaven and the new earth of the resurrection and the triumph of Christ as not only a time of praise and worship but also a place where Christ walks and lives among us again,
The world is again as God originally intended it to be where justice and peace are standard operating procedures. There is no hunger or thirst, no poverty or disease. The trials and tribulations of living in a broken and sinful world no longer exist. Gone are the ravishes of old age and war. Instead, God heals us physically and emotionally, and we experience the the wholeness God created us for.
So, every year on Halloween, we give out free chocolate and then witness to our faith and celebrate the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ on All Saints' Day. We share the sacramental meal as we remember those who have passed on to glory. It's a practice that goes back deep in our roots.
During the Roman era, the common practice was to accompany the body out of the city to the burial grounds where it would be cremated. There, early Christians shared Holy Communion, because they understood that even in death, we are still connected in community through Christ. Later, that was the reason churches had cemeteries on their property.
As much as I love chocolate, especially free chocolate, I have to admit that eternal life through Christ is a far better gift. And when I think about it, if Christ can redeem and transform death itself, what circumstances in this life can Jesus not redeem and bring victory out of?
I John 3:1-3
I begin each funeral with these words:
"Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me shall never die. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.'"*
The greeting that follows begins with, "Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith ..."* To witness to the mystery of our faith which we proclaim each time we gather at the Lord's Table -- Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. This faith we celebrate until the time that Christ returns and we join together with the communion of saints at the heavenly banquet.
So, on all Saints' Day, we gather to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the gift of God's grace through Jesus Christ.
* The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, p. 871.
There it was -- front page (although it was below the fold) of a local news paper. The cost of chocolate is going up. According to the article by Steve Rothwell of the Associate Press published in the Friday, October 31, 2014, edition of the Burlington Hawkeye, 2015 the price of chocolate will rise seven percent due to growing costs and an increase in global demand. It's predicted that the cost of cocoa beans will be as high as $3,371.00 a ton. Personally, I'm starting to save now.
So what does the price of chocolate have to do with anything -- other than, whether we realize it or not, each year on Halloween we participate in a metaphor of grace. We give out free chocolate candy to neighborhood children. It really isn't free, because we paid for it, but we offer it as a gift without any expectation of anything in return, all for the joy it brings to children.
In the same way, God the Father offered God the Son, Jesus, as a free gift to the world so we might have eternal life. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus redeemed the finality of death and transformed it into a portal to a life where there is ultimate healing and where, like Jesus, we will be perfected in love.
Revelations 7:14-17 describes the new heaven and the new earth of the resurrection and the triumph of Christ as not only a time of praise and worship but also a place where Christ walks and lives among us again,
The world is again as God originally intended it to be where justice and peace are standard operating procedures. There is no hunger or thirst, no poverty or disease. The trials and tribulations of living in a broken and sinful world no longer exist. Gone are the ravishes of old age and war. Instead, God heals us physically and emotionally, and we experience the the wholeness God created us for.
So, every year on Halloween, we give out free chocolate and then witness to our faith and celebrate the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ on All Saints' Day. We share the sacramental meal as we remember those who have passed on to glory. It's a practice that goes back deep in our roots.
During the Roman era, the common practice was to accompany the body out of the city to the burial grounds where it would be cremated. There, early Christians shared Holy Communion, because they understood that even in death, we are still connected in community through Christ. Later, that was the reason churches had cemeteries on their property.
As much as I love chocolate, especially free chocolate, I have to admit that eternal life through Christ is a far better gift. And when I think about it, if Christ can redeem and transform death itself, what circumstances in this life can Jesus not redeem and bring victory out of?
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