March 9, 2008 Sermon
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Lent 5 - A (8:00 a.m.)
March 9, 2008 Allan Conkling
They say that all religions in the world answer the same three basic questions: What is the meaning of life? How do we treat other people? What happens to us when we die? So, I don’t know if it has helped or hurt the cause of religion by knowing that, in spite of all speculation, all the prayers, all our books and treatises, questions, dogma on theology, that from a purely biological standpoint we are no different than any other organism. On a purely cellular level we only have one reason for being--to reproduce the species. We come into this world, we live, we grow, we pass on our DNA to another generation, and then we die. Who was it (Patty Page?) who sang,
"Is
that all there is? Is that all there is?
If that's all there is my friend,
Then let's keep dancing;
We'll break out the booze
and have a ball if that's all."
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote in her classic work, Death the Final Stage of Life:
"Dying is an integral stage of life, as natural as being born. We may be able to delay it but we cannot escape it. We are no less than other animals destined to die at the end of our lives."
Certainly one response to that cold analysis of biology and is for us to become cynical or fatalistic. If human life has no greater purpose than an amoeba, why do we bother? If, on the other hand, human beings unlike all other species are capable of reflecting on life and its purpose, then there has to be more than what we can see under a microscope. Science may give us insight into the how's and the why's of life, but it does not tell us the "What For." What is the meaning of life? How do we treat other people? What happens to us when we die? As sentient beings we believe that there deeper meanings can be found. We can come to know in our hearts a depth of life.
As Christians, we believe that all life is the product of a benevolent Creator. Everything has been created to give glory to the Creator. All life is precious and to be valued. The shortness and uncertainty of life--rather than being fatalistic--makes life all the more to be cherished.
The story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is a strong image, a visual image; one which demonstrates the power that life and love have over the forces of death and the grave. For me, this story like all the stories of the Bible directs us both inward and propels us outward in to the world. That God would care enough to prove his love for us is astounding. It is a miracle.
Over and over again you and I find ourselves seeking and yearning to discover meaning and purpose in life. At times God seems absent or silent. People let us down. Illness and suffering dog at our heels. Yet here and now, we are given an invitation--yea, an exhortation!--to see life through a different lens. Jesus says "Lazarus, come out!" He calls forth a power bigger than death and bigger than life. There is a Christ-force, real and present right now, alive in each one of us. Here and now, Christ calls us to shed our fears and lay down our burdens. Christ invites us to accept love, accept forgiveness, and risk loving others for his sake. The stone has been rolled away on our fears: "Unbind him and let him go...." These words are meaningful for people in.
Today as we see the seasons change, and the time change, and Lent begin to draw to a close I hope that we will also see in this story some opening doors to the big questions: What is the meaning of life? How do we treat other people? What happens to us when we die? We are loved. Life does not end with our death. In Jesus Christ is found fullness of being for evermore.
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Revised: 03/16/08