Sunday Sermon - 3 November
I enjoy a good scary movie. When I say ‘a good scary movie’, I am not referring to those gory, slasher films that have nonsense plots and gratuitous violence. I’m referring to a good, psychological thriller that has some measure of believability. I also like a good ghost story, a haunting that often comes with a reason for that ghost to be trapped or to choose to stay within the veil of this world and the next. In fact, if we take a look at it closely, isn’t today’s Gospel a ghost story?
Lazarus had been dead for four days. He was shrouded in his graveyard linen and had begun to decompose to such an extent that Martha, Lazarus’ sister, reported that there was “a stench” of death about him. When Jesus finds this out, he is brought to tears for he loved Lazarus. He prays to God to restore him, to bring him back to life, just as Martha asked.
The last verse:
“The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, his face wrapped in a cloth.”
When I was young and hearing this passage for the first time, I had images of a mummy coming out of a tomb, just like in the movies. But it isn’t scary. It wasn’t scary to me, to Martha, or to the crowd witnessing this miracle and I believe that this is because of our relationship to the dead.
Today we had a choice. Our choice was to either continue on with the readings and Propers of the 24th Sunday After Pentecost or celebrate All Saints and the All Hallows Tide of November 1st, All Saints Day and November 2nd, All Souls Day. For me, this isn’t even a choice. For me, this shouldn’t even be a choice. All Saints Day and All Souls Day should always be honoured - either on their actual days or as close to their days as possible. Today, we honour, celebrate, and remember the Saints and all of the Souls that are near and dear to us.
My father is from Italy, Sicily to be exact. I remember stories that my Nonna and Nonno used to share with me about the festival of Tutti i Santi (All the Saints). On Tutti i Santi everyone would go to their family plots in the cemetery, bring lots of food and drink, tell stories, and share tributes, remembering the good times when their family and friends were alive. It was believed that during this time of Tutti i Santi the dead could hear, the veil between life and death was sheer, and their spirits walked among us. It was not scary, it was celebratory. My dad remembers Tutti i Santi as days of fun - the church bells tolled all day long, they played games in the cemetery, and had picnics at the gravesites. They were in relationship, in communion with the dead. It is a National Holiday. Their dead still and forever matter to the people of Italy.
Italy is not alone. Another example of such communion with the dead is the feast of Dia de los Muertos, which is very much like the Italian festival of Tutti i Santi for they also commune with the dead - enjoying special food, building altars in honour of their deceased and, once again, embracing the thin space between our world and the next, welcoming the spirits of loved ones back into our world.
These are but two examples of how many countries embrace these feast days of All Saints and All Souls, not fearing the dead but remembering and communing with the spirits of their beloved.
I would argue that we, in the North American west, have lost our relationship with the dead and if we haven’t lost it, we’ve definitely corrupted it. Hallowe’en isn’t very hallowed (holy). It promotes a fear of the dead rather than a celebration of the spirits of our loved ones. Cemeteries are scary places that are only visited on Hallow’s Eve as a place to incite fear rather than to honour memories. Perhaps Hallowe’en would be better named Hollowe’en because it lacks the substance of anything that is truly hallowed or sacred.
Not for us. Today and every day we are Christians. A people of God that believe “in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” On November 1, we honour all of the Saints, the canonized souls who show us, who model for us, the sacred way to live our lives as Christians. On November 2, the feast of All Souls, we honour our dead, “the ones we love but can see no longer.”
Isaiah speaks of God “swallowing up death,” “wiping our tears,” and saving us.
In The Revelation to John we read of the glory of that which awaits us in “the new Jerusalem” where death, pain and suffering “will be no more.”
In our Gospel, the raising of Lazarus foreshadows the resurrection of Christ and tells us that the bonds of death are thin and can, and will be, broken.
The purpose of these holy days, of this All Hallow Tide, is to be our annual reminder that we need not fear death or the dead.
We are reminded that first, and most importantly, we believe in Jesus as our Christ, who saves us, like Lazarus by breaking the bonds of death - He is the author of our salvation.
Then, as we seek guidance in living our life as Christians, we are reminded to look to the Saints as models for how to live in accordance with our faith as best we can. We are also reminded to honour those souls who have gone before us, our friends and loved ones, showing us the way, helping us to pass from this life to the next.
No my friends, these are not days to fear death. These are the days to enjoy and celebrate life. For we understand that death is a necessary part of life but is not the end. As people of faith we know that our death is the beginning of our new life, when we too will be raised, like Lazarus - like Jesus - into our new life, our new home in the Kingdom of God.
In closing, I invite you to join me in a sacred moment. During our quiet time, after this homily when I sit down at my seat, I will give us a bit more time than usual. I would like us to take a moment, an intentional moment to cast your thoughts on the ones you love but see no longer. Pray in thanksgiving for the lives you lived and the love you shared. Pray that their souls are at rest, in peace, and pray that our souls are also at peace as we think of them. Pray in thanksgiving for the gift of faith that ensures for us the promised time when our spirits will reunite once more.
Amen.