Many of you know that the Bible group recently finished reading the Book of Revelation. When we go through a book, we may have some discussion but the real point is to read through the Bible out loud. A couple of us really pushed for reading Revelation because we don’t read much of it in the lectionary, but it’s inspired a lot of comment, art, literature and fantasy novels. I understand there’s even a graphic novel of Revelation, which is no surprise if you’ve read it. There are monsters, wars, deaths, pure white robes, thrones — and — in the end, justice and joy eternal.
The book is attributed to St. John of Patmos, who apparently was exiled to a cave on the island of Patmos, which is where he had the visions that are described in the book. Reportedly, he was exiled after he was put in boiling oil but failed to be hurt. At the time, Christians were a relatively small sect that was being persecuted pretty vigorously by the Roman Empire. Revelation, which is a letter to seven Christian churches, tells them to expect terrible things to occur, but in the end, the righteous will be saved. Eden will be restored. It’s a book of hope.
In the letter to the Thessalonians we read today, we are told not to believe that resurrection is at hand, because the rebellion has to come first and the lawless one revealed. Even though there will be salvation, a lot of ugly stuff has to happen first. I’m sure this resonated with those Christians, who lived in difficult times. We too, live in difficult times. We may think we have evolved into a better state, but the fact is that hunger, war, rape, murder and rampant greed are all part of the world we live in.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus makes two important points when the Sadducees try to trick him up with a legal question about the afterlife. First, he makes it clear that the laws and even the values of the world will mean nothing to the resurrected. They neither marry, nor die, because they are like angels. The second point is that they are resurrected, which implies that they died once, but now live forever. The Sadducees were a sect that didn’t believe in resurrection or ghosts or anything of the sort. In this, they seem to be unlike most of humanity.
Archeologists have found that humans 100,000 years ago took special care of the bodies of the dead, including leaving them with grave goods. These people must have believed in some kind of life after death. Since then, human beings seem to have tried all kinds of ways to ensure that the life after death is better than life on earth. The Egyptians probably were the most elaborate. It seems that what we envision is similar to life on earth, but much, much-improved.
We think of couples, and even families, being together in eternal bliss. We hope to see our departed loved ones in the afterlife. When my father died a week before his 90th birthday, we kept his ashes in a gold cardboard box in various family closets until my mother died four years later. That’s when we gathered the boxes, so Mom and Dad could be together at the military cemetery in Dixon after the usual veteran’s honors.
When my brother died, my sister-in-law and I spent an afternoon dividing his ashes into empty pill bottles so that everyone in the family could have some to keep, or to discreetly toss into the Bay at the Presidio beach. Some were saved to be scattered in the sea outside the house he lived in as a child in Bermuda. And others ended up in the back yard of the house he and his wife used to own in Vacaville. The idea being that he could spend eternity in places he particularly liked, although we know what we had are just ashes, and not my brother.
My paternal grandmother agreed when she married her second husband — they had both been widowed — that he would be buried next to his late wife and she would end up next to her first husband.
The grandparents on my mother’s side were interred one casket on top of another in a family grave in Bermuda that fits five, along with my aunt, an uncle and a cousin. They do something similar in New Orleans. My understanding is that once the grave reaches capacity, it is “cleaned” by compacting the remains in the bottom to leave space for a few more relatives. My cousin Nancy says she’s next.
But in the passage we read today, Jesus says that those who qualify for resurrection — people who have already died — no longer follow traditions and laws because God has made them perfect in order to live again, in a new way that hasn’t been explained to us. Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees suggests that perhaps when that time comes, we won’t be so concerned about particular loved ones because in that new Paradise, everyone will perfectly love everyone. Or perhaps, as Job hints, just being with God will be more than enough, although I do hope to see “the rivers clap their hands” in joy,
The Bible contains what I call inspired revelation, because it doesn’t give us specifics. We are told to make a leap of faith that the resurrection will be something that none of us are capable of understanding, but it will happen, and it will be good. Otherwise, it’s pretty much a mystery. So we indulge our very human instincts for love, hope and connection with our rituals around death.
The Bible also tells us not to despair when it seems like the world is going to hell, which I think is most of the time. We are told to carry on with our ministries and the mission we have been given. If we do that, we don’t need to worry about the afterlife. We’ve been promised resurrection, and we believe that it will be good, whatever it is.
I kind of like the idea that we just have to worry about how we treat ourselves and each other and leave concerns about the afterlife to God. Believers can be secure that God loves us and knows us each, even when it seems like we are alone in death. God is capable of more than we can know or imagine. The proof is in the love God gives us as an example, and as an undeserved gift.
Amen.
