In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Good morning everyone! It is so very good to be back home!
As you know, last week, I was
on military duty at my unit, where I serve as the Wing Chaplain.
And like so many times when I
go on duty, there is usually “the crisis of the day”. Ministry in the military
seems to have a much higher number of crises and life and death situations, than ministry here in civilian life at a
parish. Although, yes here at the
parish, we do have our “situations”……don’t we?
We live our lives, day to
day, week to week, year to year… and especially when all is good and life is
going well, many times not fully aware of how life can be changed in an instant.
And so today, I want to talk
with you about life and death.
I would like to share with
you all what happened the week before I went on military duty, while I was
still on vacation….
On the Thursday before Labor
Day weekend, I was called by the CA State Chaplain. I am sure you all heard about the tragedy up
near Kingman where the 9 year old girl accidently shot her instructor at the
range as she was getting a lesson with an automatic weapon. Well, the young man who was killed was a CA
Guardsman. The CA State Chaplain wanted
to know if I would go up there to minister to the family.
(Big sigh) I explained to him I was on vacation. But my heart went out to the family and all
involved in this terrible tragedy. So, I
sighed & said, yes, I will go.
And after a flurry of emails,
phone calls, & texts that took up most of that afternoon, the family said
they appreciated that the chaplain was available for them, but with all the
media attention, they just wanted to have a private weekend with their family.
Very understandable. And so, I keep them all in prayer.
Life… and death.
And you may be wondering what
this has to do with today’s scripture readings, or the fact that today is Holy Cross Day. But it actually has everything to do with it,
for the cross is a symbol with many meanings, and because it's a symbol, it can mean different things to each of us.
And so I ask you, what does “the Cross” mean to
you?
One of the great things
about the Anglican / Episcopal tradition is that we have feast days and saint
days in our liturgical calendar. It’s
not difficult to understand why we commemorate certain people, such as the
saints for their extraordinary lives & ministries, but a day for commemorating the Cross? What’s this about?
Now, we are used to seeing crosses
everywhere….and all different types of crosses.
Just look at how many there are right here in our sanctuary!
But to people of the
first century, the cross was a symbol of horror, death and execution. If you were among
the peoples conquered by Rome, and you offended against Rome’s power and
authority, you could be stripped, flogged, and nailed to a tree or a cross until
you were dead. That’s what the cross meant.
It is no wonder that the first symbol
for early Christians was the fish!
So, how did the Cross, a symbol that
meant death, become THE symbol of Christianity?
The cross began to come into
use as a symbol, or seal in the second century, where marking of the cross on
the forehead and on the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of
evil.
So the making sign of the cross gesture was the
beginning…
And then in the 4th
century, Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine went on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to
legend, she found the place where Christ was crucified. And on this site, Helena and Constantine
built the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher. A portion of the
original cross was placed in this church, and many have made pilgrimages there
over the years.
Have any of you ever been there? The church
is huge, with many sections, rooms, levels, and so forth. It burned down a few times over the
centuries, and then was rebuilt. You can
see many of the stone walls blackened with smoke… When I was there, I saw the spot where Jesus
was crucified, and many people were going up to the cross, on their knees,
praying… some kissing it.
And thus began the symbol of
the cross for Christianity.
It is an interesting thought,
for the Cross was an instrument of death. Yes suffering & death is
a part, a big part of the story and symbolism of the cross. But there is more to the story…and the story
doesn’t end there. For the Cross is really about life!
The
central purpose of the church is to lift up the cross. To let the light
of Christ's life, death and resurrection shine forth in the world.
This
light shines as we live lives of love and humble service.
[Pause]
Last week, on military
duty, a unit member came to “talk with the chaplain”. He was having an ethical dilemma about life
and death. A loved one in his family had
his living will & advanced directives written up. His wishes were that if he had become
incapacitated were "DNR", do not resuscitate. In other words, if he had to be kept alive on
a machine, he wanted the machine turned off, and to be allowed to die
peacefully. For he felt that being kept alive on a machine, is really
not living.
We explored the ethical
dilemmas we all now face with modern medical technology, life support, being kept alive on a machine, what is a
good death, and so forth.
How many of you have your
advanced directives and or a living will set up? Have you talked about these matters with your
family?
I ask you to contemplate, what
is a good death? I know, it is
not an easy thing to think about…the death of our loved ones, or…our own death. That someday, yes, our time will come.
It is said that we are a
“death denying” society. Do
you agree with this? Yes, death,
especially our future deaths is difficult to face and talk about. But it is oh so very important to do this!
Later in the week, another
unit member, a senior officer came to “talk with the chaplain”. He was facing two difficult major life
transitions.
He wondered and worried what
he would do for the next 30 or so years of his life. I listened to him. ‘What about this? What about that?’ he worried. Which
in turn caused him more distress!
I shared with him a bit of my
story of going thru life threatening illness a couple of years ago. I
know the terror, and the fear, and the suffering. And that altho I would never have chosen to
go thru that, there were gifts. For now, I try to really live my life. And I do mean, really LIVE! For now I know just how precious life
really is, and the time we have here, is limited and very precious.
Yes, of course it is easy for
me to go down the road of letting worry & fear take over. ‘What if “it” comes back? What if
I get sick again?’
But, as I told him, I try not
to focus on that. For now is all I, (we) have!
And if I focus on all the what if’s, it will ruin my day. And I want to enjoy my day, and LIVE
my life. And enjoy my life....while I still have it.
And so I say to you all, “Live your life! LIVE!
TRULY LIVE and do the
things you enjoy & really want to do. Because someday, there will come a time when
we won’t be able to …anymore.
On this day
dedicated to the Holy Cross, let us lift up the cross before others by loving
one another, as Christ loved us…
“In
the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Amen.
[sermon given by The Rev. Laura Adelia on Sept 14, 2014]
No comments:
Post a Comment