Earthly Road, Heavenly Walk

Readings:

Psalm 46 Isaiah 40:28-31 Revelation 7:9-17 John 11:21-27

Sermon:

In the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey, there is a riveting scene where Odysseus, anxiously trying to find his way home after ten years of war and ten years of wandering, meets the spirit of Achilles, that great warrior killed at the end of the Trojan War, in the midst of Hades. It is a painful encounter, with Achilles surrounded by the spirits of those brave men who gave their lives in that conflict, once in the flower of their youth and strength, now mere wraiths wandering eternally, as if in a bad dream from which they can never wake. Achilles sums up his unhappy existence to Odysseus: “I would rather be the lowest slave among living men instead of a King among the Dead.”

If this were all our brave men and women who have given their lives for our country had to look forward to, it wouldn’t be much of a reason to celebrate their memory every year as we do today on Memorial Day. It would be kinder to let them be forgotten, to let their families forget their faces rather than picturing them wandering as disembodied ghosts for all of eternity. If that version of the afterlife was true, then there truly would be nothing worth sacrificing one’s life for, since it would all end in futility and hopelessness.

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Readings:

Psalm 91 Ezekiel 1:28-3:3 Hebrews 4:14-5:6 Luke 9:28-36

Sermon:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Ephesians 4:11-13

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

For Ezekiel it had to have been a frightening thought…

In the quiet of his surroundings a voice would cut through the darkness and speak to him. He would be called by the Lord to go forth into the land to preach and teach the Children of Israel, to call back a rebellious people to the God of their Fathers, the God that delivered them from the hands of their captors and their slave masters. Though he knew the Lord and that the power of His might was great, it had to be an overwhelming task to him.

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