Tomb It May Concern
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
Series II, Cycle A
One of the first things Pastor Susan heard about when she moved from Ohio to the mountains of North Carolina was "Decoration Day."1 She had no idea what that was, but she knew that she would be preaching for two Decoration Days within a month. In her attempt to learn more about regional customs, she visited the local library and discovered an array of informative books.
Over Our Dead Bodies and Tarheel Tombstones and the Tales They Tell were humorous as well as interesting reading, and Susan gained insight into our collective wit as well as our never-ending faith. I would like to share some of her findings with you. One epitaph she discovered reads:
He got a fish bone in his throat,
And then he sang an angel note.
Or how about this one:
She was not smart, she was not fair,
But hearts with grief for her are swellin’;
As empty stands her little chair,
She died of eating "watermelon."
But, before we think that good, old watermelon is the only harbinger of death, we can't ignore the wisdom in the memory of Anna Hopewell:
Here lies the body of our dear Anna,
Done to death by a banana,
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,
But the skin of the thing that made her go.
Ah, it was an agrarian life. Listen to this one.
Under the sod and under the trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there's only the pod.
Pease shelled out and went to God.
Of course, before that wonder called "caffeine free," there was the danger encountered by Sarah Shute who died in 1840. Her marker reads:
Here lies, cut down like unripe fruit,
The wife of Deacon Amos Shute.
She died of drinking too much coffee,
"Anno Dominy" Eighteen-forty.
We could go on, but there is one more story that I would like to end with as I am beginning. It is about a little boy who was on his way home from Sunday school. He took a shortcut through the cemetery and as he walked, he read a few of the epitaphs. One in particular caught his attention:
Stop there, you, as you go by,
For as you are, so once was I.
But as I am, you soon shall be,
So prepare yourself to follow me.
The boy was taken aback at first, but with a moment's thought he took a broken crayon out of his pocket and wrote beneath the inscription:
To follow you, I'm not content,
Until I know which way you went!
Even in the face of life's final chapter on earth, we sometimes find it within ourselves to smile, don't we? We all know that losing a loved one is never easy under any circumstance. We can walk through cemeteries and learn a great deal about families from reading grave markers. We discover dates of birth for those of you who have already acquired your grave markers, and we know whose family members were veterans.
Tragically, we learn of those who have had to bury young children. We also know, of course, that at the time of death, the healthy grief process requires many tears, many words, many embraces, and many retellings of the grief. This is indeed grief work, and we are invited to join in it. Today we realize that, with the gift of time and distance, God does bring healing. Yet, that wasn't always the case. The Thessalonians were a group of people who were very concerned about death and dying. Let's try to understand why they were feeling so troubled.
The Thessalonians were anxious about the recent death of some believers and what would become of these friends and loved ones. They were probably concerned about themselves as well and what would happen to them after death. It's helpful to know a little about the background and what's leading up to their concerns.
Apparently, most folks thought the second coming of Christ would occur very soon. When Jesus promised to return, people living in the ancient world thought he meant during their lifetimes. It never entered their minds that this promise could be generations in the making. A few of Paul's other statements suggest exactly what I mean. In Romans 13:11-12, he writes with urgency to say, "... salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near." Paul was saying, "Jesus is returning soon so let's be ready."
Or, what about his thinking in 1 Corinthians 7:29 and 31: "... brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short ... For the present form of this world is passing away." John's message in Revelation 22:20 is similar: "The one who testifies to these things [referring to Jesus] says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' " This was the mindset of all the faithful in Paul's day. Now they are growing more troubled with each new day because the first generation of believers is beginning to die. A quarter century has passed since Jesus ascended to be with God and the original heirs to the promise are beginning to die before the promise has been fulfilled.
This was a pastoral issue of tremendous importance inspiring Paul to write. He reminds the Thessalonians and us that Christian hope is rooted in the God who raised Jesus. "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died." Paul writes to the Thessalonians to assure them that both the dead and the living will share in the resurrection at the "coming of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:15).
The essence of Paul's word of hope to the Thessalonians is that the living will have no advantage over the dead when Christ comes again. The friends of those who have died are naturally concerned about what has and will become of them. Paul describes the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead according to traditional Old Testament imagery of the end of time. His colorful language is symbolic and cannot be taken as a literal description of end of time events. Hope is in trusting the promise to be fulfilled.
In addition to providing information, Paul offers consolation. The issue is not if we should grieve, but how to grieve. We do not grieve as others do who have no hope. Paul is saying, "You do not need to burden yourself with grief. Yes, some of your loved ones are gone, but they are not forgotten. Jesus will receive them even as he receives you and me, who are among the living." What an incredible statement!
Then, through his first-century worldview, he goes on to paint the poetic image that has come to rest so wondrously in the hearts of believers during the past 2,000 years. He speaks of the return, the descent from heaven, to call all who have been faithful, both those who are living and those who are dead, to be at his side in the heavens. Just think, caught up in the clouds together, meeting the Lord in the air, to be with the Lord forever. Isn't that an incredible image? That very image has inspired hope in generations of believers.
Finally, our hope rests in the fact that while we are here and while we are waiting, we have encouragement in each other. "Therefore," Paul says, "encourage one another...." Death is not something to be feared, because we do not enter the heavenly future alone. While in this life, we have each other and in the next, we have all who have gone before. In other words, we have encouragement here and now and fulfillment then and there. The aspect of mutual comfort and invitation to shared encouragement that is found in 1 Thessalonians 4 is especially important.
While resting in the grace of God, we are given strength daily to put on garments of readiness. Like the wise bridesmaids who had oil for their lamps, we can fashion our lives in a way that rings of God-pleasing insight. After self-examination, we are invited to experience the encouragement, strength, and peace that flow from knowing that God has raised Jesus from the dead. We are moving toward a day when "the Lord ... will descend from heaven ... and so we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
This passage relates to us as much as it did to the Thessalonians, since it deals with the hope of life after death. We do not need to be afraid for we have one another. Death's sting will never prevail because we have the gift of each other here and now and the gift of those who have gone before us later. Out of this reality, we find our encouragement. Nothing can ever separate us from God.
So you see, we don't need to fear death because we do not grieve as others who have no hope. We have our faith in Jesus Christ and our hope in eternity. We have the promise of reunion, the joy of our assurance, and the strength of our encouragement. The big event is coming. God speaks to us through these passages of scripture and says, "I have come. I am now in your midst, and I am coming again to bring you to a celebration to end all celebrations! Be ready! Stay awake!"
Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
____________
1. In the North Carolina mountains, Decoration Day is similar to homecoming, but the focus is on those in the cemetery. Families spend weeks cleaning tombstones with chlorine bleach in preparation for the day.
Over Our Dead Bodies and Tarheel Tombstones and the Tales They Tell were humorous as well as interesting reading, and Susan gained insight into our collective wit as well as our never-ending faith. I would like to share some of her findings with you. One epitaph she discovered reads:
He got a fish bone in his throat,
And then he sang an angel note.
Or how about this one:
She was not smart, she was not fair,
But hearts with grief for her are swellin’;
As empty stands her little chair,
She died of eating "watermelon."
But, before we think that good, old watermelon is the only harbinger of death, we can't ignore the wisdom in the memory of Anna Hopewell:
Here lies the body of our dear Anna,
Done to death by a banana,
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,
But the skin of the thing that made her go.
Ah, it was an agrarian life. Listen to this one.
Under the sod and under the trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there's only the pod.
Pease shelled out and went to God.
Of course, before that wonder called "caffeine free," there was the danger encountered by Sarah Shute who died in 1840. Her marker reads:
Here lies, cut down like unripe fruit,
The wife of Deacon Amos Shute.
She died of drinking too much coffee,
"Anno Dominy" Eighteen-forty.
We could go on, but there is one more story that I would like to end with as I am beginning. It is about a little boy who was on his way home from Sunday school. He took a shortcut through the cemetery and as he walked, he read a few of the epitaphs. One in particular caught his attention:
Stop there, you, as you go by,
For as you are, so once was I.
But as I am, you soon shall be,
So prepare yourself to follow me.
The boy was taken aback at first, but with a moment's thought he took a broken crayon out of his pocket and wrote beneath the inscription:
To follow you, I'm not content,
Until I know which way you went!
Even in the face of life's final chapter on earth, we sometimes find it within ourselves to smile, don't we? We all know that losing a loved one is never easy under any circumstance. We can walk through cemeteries and learn a great deal about families from reading grave markers. We discover dates of birth for those of you who have already acquired your grave markers, and we know whose family members were veterans.
Tragically, we learn of those who have had to bury young children. We also know, of course, that at the time of death, the healthy grief process requires many tears, many words, many embraces, and many retellings of the grief. This is indeed grief work, and we are invited to join in it. Today we realize that, with the gift of time and distance, God does bring healing. Yet, that wasn't always the case. The Thessalonians were a group of people who were very concerned about death and dying. Let's try to understand why they were feeling so troubled.
The Thessalonians were anxious about the recent death of some believers and what would become of these friends and loved ones. They were probably concerned about themselves as well and what would happen to them after death. It's helpful to know a little about the background and what's leading up to their concerns.
Apparently, most folks thought the second coming of Christ would occur very soon. When Jesus promised to return, people living in the ancient world thought he meant during their lifetimes. It never entered their minds that this promise could be generations in the making. A few of Paul's other statements suggest exactly what I mean. In Romans 13:11-12, he writes with urgency to say, "... salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near." Paul was saying, "Jesus is returning soon so let's be ready."
Or, what about his thinking in 1 Corinthians 7:29 and 31: "... brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short ... For the present form of this world is passing away." John's message in Revelation 22:20 is similar: "The one who testifies to these things [referring to Jesus] says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' " This was the mindset of all the faithful in Paul's day. Now they are growing more troubled with each new day because the first generation of believers is beginning to die. A quarter century has passed since Jesus ascended to be with God and the original heirs to the promise are beginning to die before the promise has been fulfilled.
This was a pastoral issue of tremendous importance inspiring Paul to write. He reminds the Thessalonians and us that Christian hope is rooted in the God who raised Jesus. "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died." Paul writes to the Thessalonians to assure them that both the dead and the living will share in the resurrection at the "coming of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:15).
The essence of Paul's word of hope to the Thessalonians is that the living will have no advantage over the dead when Christ comes again. The friends of those who have died are naturally concerned about what has and will become of them. Paul describes the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead according to traditional Old Testament imagery of the end of time. His colorful language is symbolic and cannot be taken as a literal description of end of time events. Hope is in trusting the promise to be fulfilled.
In addition to providing information, Paul offers consolation. The issue is not if we should grieve, but how to grieve. We do not grieve as others do who have no hope. Paul is saying, "You do not need to burden yourself with grief. Yes, some of your loved ones are gone, but they are not forgotten. Jesus will receive them even as he receives you and me, who are among the living." What an incredible statement!
Then, through his first-century worldview, he goes on to paint the poetic image that has come to rest so wondrously in the hearts of believers during the past 2,000 years. He speaks of the return, the descent from heaven, to call all who have been faithful, both those who are living and those who are dead, to be at his side in the heavens. Just think, caught up in the clouds together, meeting the Lord in the air, to be with the Lord forever. Isn't that an incredible image? That very image has inspired hope in generations of believers.
Finally, our hope rests in the fact that while we are here and while we are waiting, we have encouragement in each other. "Therefore," Paul says, "encourage one another...." Death is not something to be feared, because we do not enter the heavenly future alone. While in this life, we have each other and in the next, we have all who have gone before. In other words, we have encouragement here and now and fulfillment then and there. The aspect of mutual comfort and invitation to shared encouragement that is found in 1 Thessalonians 4 is especially important.
While resting in the grace of God, we are given strength daily to put on garments of readiness. Like the wise bridesmaids who had oil for their lamps, we can fashion our lives in a way that rings of God-pleasing insight. After self-examination, we are invited to experience the encouragement, strength, and peace that flow from knowing that God has raised Jesus from the dead. We are moving toward a day when "the Lord ... will descend from heaven ... and so we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
This passage relates to us as much as it did to the Thessalonians, since it deals with the hope of life after death. We do not need to be afraid for we have one another. Death's sting will never prevail because we have the gift of each other here and now and the gift of those who have gone before us later. Out of this reality, we find our encouragement. Nothing can ever separate us from God.
So you see, we don't need to fear death because we do not grieve as others who have no hope. We have our faith in Jesus Christ and our hope in eternity. We have the promise of reunion, the joy of our assurance, and the strength of our encouragement. The big event is coming. God speaks to us through these passages of scripture and says, "I have come. I am now in your midst, and I am coming again to bring you to a celebration to end all celebrations! Be ready! Stay awake!"
Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
____________
1. In the North Carolina mountains, Decoration Day is similar to homecoming, but the focus is on those in the cemetery. Families spend weeks cleaning tombstones with chlorine bleach in preparation for the day.
