Hope Beyond

I remember years ago, staying in a Roman Catholic retreat center in Geneva, Switzerland. On the wall of my room was a crucifix. And as I lay in bed at night, I found myself staring at the tortured body of Christ, hanging limp on the cross. (Not exactly conducive to pleasant dreams!)

As Protestants, we display only the empty cross, with the emphasis squarely on Easter, the resurrection. But it raises the question: Are we missing something? It is interesting, all of the gospels, particularly the Gospel of John, focus an extraordinary amount of attention on the last few days of Jesus’ life – pushing us to contemplate his death.

We don’t like to think about death though, do we? However, it is an inevitable part of life itself. And I am ever reminded that our faith tradition does in fact help us cope and add meaning to these large moments.

I think about the early Christians worshiping in the Catacombs. One of the most ancient hymns is Phos Hilaron – Hail Gladding Light – which could potentially be translated as “Hilarious Light”. It was originally sung on Easter in the graveyards, celebrating the Light, and laughing in the face of death.

I think about the hope we have, that there is more beyond this life. The hope I have that I would one day see my again my grandparents, my uncles, Robbie’s dad. I think about visiting with one of my members just before her death, holding hands to pray, I could feel her inner strength. She was confident that death would not have the last word. She was looking forward to seeing her mother and father. Her faith had given her courage.

I think about the rituals we put around the end of life. Over the last few years, I have had two friends, non-church-going friends, who have both lost spouses. One of them asked me to lead a memorial service on the beach for his wife, and I was glad to do that. My other friend, his wife was pretty much an atheist, and there is to be no service, no remembrance. And that to me, feels like a huge loss.

As my friend Hunter reflected recently, “Perhaps John’s Gospel makes us ponder Jesus’ death a long time so we might more fully ponder the magnificence of his life. It’s in the reality of the cross that we see the brilliance, uniqueness, and holiness of his life.”

Likewise, it is in Jesus’ death that we see the gravity and seriousness of God’s love. In Jesus’ death, we see how important our lives really are. We see how important each and every life is. We see a little more clearly our responsibility to protect it and appreciate it and hold it sacred. And we glean again the truth that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from God’s love, not even death.

Let us pray: We thank you, Loving God, that in life and in death we belong to you. Help us ever remember how precious and valuable life truly is; through Jesus our Lord. Amen.