ECCLESIASTICUS 2:1-11

PSALM 149

EPHESIANS 1:11-23

LUKE 6:20-36

Sermon – 11/04/01

Twentieth Century America was a society in which denial of the reality of death was a norm. In her pioneering work, 25 years ago, Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross sought to interview terminally ill patients to help understand their emotional and spiritual issues and so to help others help them, but she was told by the hospital where she worked that “There were no dying patients here.” Officially, apparently, every death in that hospital was a sudden and complete surprise. And plenty of other hospitals had the same official attitude.

Denial of the reality of death had and has other manifestations. Many people still do not wear seat belts, on the theory (I suppose) that accidents only happen to other people because they themselves are immortal. Some motorcyclists think it’s an infringement of their freedom of expression to be required to wear helmets (I suppose on the same assumption). Plenty of people with minor children do not have life insurance, presumably on the theory that it’s guaranteed somehow that they won’t die.

And first and foremost, 50-70% of American adults do not have wills – and an estimated 90% of those who do have wills have not updated them in at least five years.

All these behaviors are explicable only by concluding that millions of Americans are in denial of the reality of their own mortality, in denial of the reality that death can and does sometimes happen suddenly and unexpectedly, so that we need to prepare for it when all is well.

Nothing in my lifetime has challenged American society’s denial of the reality of death and denial of everyone’s mortality like the events of September 11th.

September 11th was something no one could ignore. It’s reality was and is that death can come suddenly and unexpectedly as well as horrifically, to people many of whom were young, healthy and not doing anything they thought was risky.

American society and Western society in general has, over the years, built up some defenses to supposedly “help” us when our denial of the reality of death is breached, defenses which try to say “death is still controllable.”

Take the sinking of the Titanic, for example. Here was a disaster which cost over 1,000 lives. At the time of its sinking, there were not enough lifeboats to save everyone nor was there a ship within range which responded to its distress call in time to save all the lives on board. So, the choice of which lives to save was based primarily on gender and class: the passengers with the best chance of survival were women with First Class tickets, and the passengers with the worst chance of survival (as memorably portrayed in the movie) were men with Third Class tickets. The Cunard Line in 1912 was unashamedly prejudiced on those lines. What that meant, however, was that gender and wealth protected some people, as unfair as that might be. To be honest, gender and wealth protected people pretty consistently in the 20^th Century: women did not get drafted into the Armed Services of most countries, and the wealthiest country in the world (America) had fewer fatalities per capita by war, famine or disease than nearly anyone else. (I imagine Switzerland did better by not fighting any wars.)

On September 11th, wealth and gender offered absolutely no protection. It was an equal-opportunity hate crime. More than the Titanic sinking, it was a disaster which was unmanageable. I am not at all discounting the bravery and quick thinking that saved many, many lives, but unlike in the Titanic, many people died instantaneously in the Twin Towers.

After the Titanic sank, there was a commission of inquiry, and all ships were henceforth required to have enough lifeboats to cover everyone. That was another way the disaster seemed more “manageable”; there would be other disasters, but at least this kind could be prevented.

Our country is scurrying around right now trying to prevent future disasters. Doubtless, the changes we are making will save some lives, but we are not dealing with icebergs here, but with evil in the hearts of human beings, which is far, far more dangerous and ubiquitous. It is likely to be a long time before we feel as safe as we felt on September 10th.

All this came home to me last Sunday. Rather than have a planned Sunday off, I accepted the honor and responsibility of accompanying Gillian Gransaull-Joseph to the Family Memorial Service at Ground Zero. It was very sobering indeed to stand with her on the sidewalk and look at where her husband and thousands of others died. We looked, and we smelled the acrid smoke from the fires that still burn there in the ruins despite continuous soaking by fire hoses.

It was sobering indeed to contemplate the loss of life – which we still cannot number with assurance, even now. Television is no substitute for being there. The buildings simply do not exist anymore. Neither do a lot of people, and neither do many – probably most – of their bodies.

It is really hard to stay in denial of the reality of death when facing the reality of September 11^th. And the coping mechanisms which limited it in the past – “women and children first” on the lifeboats, “disasters only happen in poor countries”, “wars only happen someplace else”, “we’ll find a way to prevent something like this from ever happening again” – those coping mechanisms just don’t work anymore.

Sudden, horrific death can happen to anyone, either gender, any age, any degree of wealth, here, and we are all still vulnerable in some way.

There it is: the plain truth.

But that is not all I bring you back from Ground Zero.

Gillian, two friends and I happened to have seats for the service (as part of a crowd of about 5,000) right in front of St. Paul’s Chapel, an Episcopal Church whose ministry is described in an article in the Star-Ledger posted downstairs. We sat, in fact, right in front of the cemetery of St. Paul’s Chapel.

Let me read for you what is said at Episcopal Committal services: “In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our brother or sister named _______, and we commit his or her body to the ground (or

the deep or the elements, or its resting place);earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless (him) and keep (him) and be gracious to (him), the Lord lift up his countenance upon (him) and give (him) peace.”

Standing at Ground Zero, either literally, or metaphorically for all of us, with our pretensions to invulnerability gone, we have to choose either hope or despair.

We could be crippled by despair and plunge into depression.

Or we could show our despair by becoming paranoid and hyperactive and grasp at any product or behavior which promises to help us restore our illusion of invulnerability and immortality, however implausible that product might be and however irrational that behavior might be.

OR, we can choose to have faith, from which we have “sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Only in heaven can anyone be invulnerable, only by God’s gracious gift, received in faith, can anyone experience the life to come and become immortal. This invulnerability and immortality cannot be bought at any price; no preferences are given by gender, class, nationality or race. Salvation is by the gift of God, received by grace through faith, to whomever God offers it and who accepts it. And no terrorist, no evil-doer can defeat and or kidnap anyone from God. God has, in fact, been through all this before on our behalf, on the cross. God has taken all the suffering, all the pain, all the sin of the world on his own shoulders and become totally vulnerable to it and fully mortal – so that all who come to him in faith and love can become invulnerable and immortal by God’s action.

This is what we celebrate on All Saints’ Sunday, today. HOPE. And hope does not disappoint us. And lest anyone think that “Saints” mean only the “Hall of Famers” like Mary, Peter and Paul, St. Paul himself uses the word “saints” in today’s epistle to refer to all the faithful in Christ.

The Christian hope is not reserved for the famous, or the extraordinarily virtuous – or those who could be called “successful” as Christians. No. All we’re asked to be is faithful; “success” is “gravy.” Think about it – that’s quite contrary to materialistic thinking which glorifies “success” and keeps inflating the definition of “success” so that most people, by definition, can’t achieve it.

We are called to be faithful servants of God. And the gift we are offered is literally better than we can imagine. In addition to God’s guidance, strength and love for us here and now, in addition to opportunities to experience growth, joy and fulfillment in Christian service here and now, in addition to opportunities to flourish as part of caring Christian communities of faith here and now, the Family of God is the only group a person can join and get a longer than lifetime membership.

That’s hope, which can transform how we approach our lives whatever our circumstances. So it is that on this, the first Sunday of “Celebrate Life” month at St. Barnabas, we are celebrating the hope we have of new life beyond this life and how having this hope can transform how we approach our lives here and now.

Having this hope as Christians, we can face the reality of our mortality more calmly, knowing that “nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Therefore, we can take reasonable precautions for our safety and well-being without going crazy trying to guarantee our safety, which is impossible. Therefore, we can also force the reality of normal risks by always wearing seat belts and by wearing helmets when riding bicycles or motorcycles. Therefore, we can buy life insurance if we have minor children or other people dependent on us.

Therefore also, all adults can write Wills, not in fear but as a faithful recognition of our mortality and as an expression of care for those who will survive us. Actually, everyone has a will – either the one you write or the one the State of New Jersey wrote for you, copies of which are available in the narthex. Believe me, whatever you want, this isn’t it.

Therefore also, all adults can tell those closest to them about what would need to be done in the event of their death and where crucial papers and records are. This isn’t being morbid; this is being realistic, faithful and loving. Therefore also, we can consider how, in the event of our deaths, our organs (which we will no longer need!) may save someone else’s life – about which we will hear more next week. Therefore we can face all these things with hope – like the woman who said she wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand.

“Why?” her rector asked. “I’ve gone to parish suppers for years,” she replied, “and for years I’ve heard someone say at the end of the main course, ‘Save your forks – something better’s coming’. Well, I believe that after the course of this life, something better’s coming.”

Let us pray. “May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” [Romans 15:13]

(The Rev.) Francis A. Hubbard

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church