God of the Living

GOSPEL LESSON: LUKE 20:27-38(MESSAGE)

             

Some Sadducees came up. This is the Jewish party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote us that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to take the widow to wife and get her with child. Well, there once were seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless. The second married her and died, then the third, and eventually all seven had their turn, but no child. After all that, the wife died. That wife, now—in the resurrection whose wife is she? All seven married her.”

Jesus said, “Marriage is a major preoccupation here, but not there. Those who are included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage or, of course, with death. They will have better things to think about, if you can believe it. All ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. Even Moses exclaimed about resurrection at the burning bush, saying, ‘God: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob!’ God isn’t the God of dead men, but of the living. To him all are alive.”

Have you thought about planning your funeral?  Have you actually done anything about it?  Sometimes when something scary happens – a strange diagnosis, a startling accident, a friend who suddenly dies – we begin to really think about what is important to us and to plan for our inevitable end. 

But do these times ever cause us to think differently about life?  Do these incidents make us reassess how we are living, what things we really need to let go of and how we can enjoy the now?

Life and death go hand in hand.  Regardless of your theology of the afterlife, Jesus reminds us this morning that life is really important. 

My spiritual director often says, “That which gives you life is where God is and that which takes away your life is where God is not.”  Holding this belief and the Gospel lesson together, I wonder what is life-giving in your life?  What seems to be sucking the life out of you, draining you of energy?  Between these things, where would you like to be focused?  Where would you like to be spending your time?

Please join us this Sunday, November 10 at 10:00am in Christ Church where we will celebrate the God of the living.  You are also invited to join us after fellowship at 11:30am in the Parlor as we continue our Dying Well series.  Looking forward to seeing you in Church!