I have a friend I want to tell you about. His name is Everett, and we have been friends since early in my Oklahoma days. Everett was one of my biggest cheerleaders. When this diocese printed something in the diocesan news letter about one of my missioner projects, Everett posted it in a facebook group we were in together, cheering me on in front of our colleagues. What was really great about that is that the week before, he and I got into a bit of an argument in the group about something I cannot even remember now. But that’s who he was; one of my biggest cheerleaders and one of my strongest confronters. He did not shy away from telling me or anyone else when he thought they were wrong. He was also an amazing priest. When I looked at him, I thought… “God, you did good with this one.” He was meant to be a priest. He was a great colleague and friend who never knew a stranger. We lost Everett in September, 18 days after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 48 years old. He leaves behind his wife and three young children. He also leaves behind a parish that grew from 40 people to 400 people who loved him and countless friends throughout the Episcopal church. I am a better priest and person for having had him in my life.
Isn’t that the way it is with those whom we love? Our altar today is a loving tribute to people whom we love but see no longer. I love the celebration of All Saints that we do each year which is really a combination of All Saints and All Souls. I love it because it is a strong reminder that death never has the last word. While we miss and grieve over the losses of our beloved, we live in faith that we will one day be reunited with them. Our readings today are taken from the burial liturgy that we do in the Episcopal Church. They are filled with the images of what waits for us on the other side of life. We believe that death is not an end but rather a stop along the way to a life lived in and with God. And, we believe that we will be reunited with those we have loved and lost; Jesus told the thief that was crucified with him that he would be with Jesus in Paradise… So we hold on to that hope; I know that I often preach about discipleship and our life here in the present as Christians; but the other side of that for us is eternal life. Jesus has died, he has risen and ascended into heaven where he prepares a place for us to be with him, and so our lives are not over but we are saved from the consequence of sin. God loved the world so much that he gave a Son so that we would never be separated from God and the love that he has for us. Our reading from Revelation tells us “See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
Perhaps it doesn’t take our grief away to know that we will one day join our loved ones in that place where there is no grief or pain, but perhaps we can be at peace knowing that we are loved beyond the grave. The grief that we feel is real and it is absolutely ok. This time of year brings it out in all of us. What I tell people who are grieving, and what I need to remember is that love and grief are two sides of the same coin; we grieve to the extent that we loved or hoped. We grieve the people we loved as well as grieving the brokeness that comes with being in relationship to each other. We are not perfect people, and neither were our loved ones whom we remember today; but love isn’t about perfection. Love is about negotiating life and having people who can be your cheerleader and your challenger, just like my pal Everett. I look forward to being with him again someday. I can almost hear his voice saying, “isn’t great to be here? Jesus is the coolest!”
I was listening to a song the other day by Mumford and Sons called “Awake my Soul’. One of the refrains fits today’s celebration: “these bodies will live, these bodies will die. Where you invest you love you invest your life.” I think that’s sound advice for us to remember that on this side our bodies will one day die. We grieve and celebrate our loved ones because they invested their lives in people not things, and I know for myself, I was lucky to have them invest some love in my direction. And I am grateful to have that be the reality of my life; that I mattered enough to them to have them invest love in me. For us who are left here to continue on, may we remember to invest our love in people, not things. Even though we may grieve, we will know that we have loved others and that God will make all things new, forever. Jesus wept at the grave of his friend whom he loved, and then called him by name to live; I know that he will call Everett by name and all of us as well. So my friends, love foolishly, invest in loving others. The cost is great; but the returns are greater still.