Facing Death, The Rev. John D. Lane

“FACING DEATH”

Last Sunday after Pentecost                 

Matthew 25:40

John D. Lane 

“And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Somerset Maugham tells the following story, quoted by John O’Hara in his novel Appointment in Samarra:

DEATH SPEAKS: There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

It has been a difficult year around here. Many really good people have died or are seriously ill, all of them models of Christian life. I fear we may not see their like again.

I went through a difficult period myself for several months in the middle of the year. The Reader’s Digest version is that I had a lymph node removed, and was told I had non-Hodgkin’s follicular lymphoma, stage one. There was no other sign of the cancer in my body, but I was advised to have radiation therapy which took place this summer. At the end of the treatment, the radiation oncologist told me that she didn’t think it was ever coming back. I hope.

I had a month in the late spring between the first pathology report (cancer) and learning that I was probably going to be okay. It was a period of angst, but also of deep reflection. We went to the West Coast during this time and spent several days on trains. I can tell you that lying in an upper Pullman berth in the middle of the night is a way to think about profound questions without being interrupted by sleep. In a strange way, I’m glad I had this time to ponder. “You have cancer” or had “a stroke” or “heart attack” are phrases that are very scary.

After I got over the initial shock, the first question I asked myself is, How do I want to spend the rest of my life–especially if it is going to be only a short time? As Samuel Johnson put it, “Knowing you have a date with the hangman in the morning tends to focus your attention.” What does God want me to do with the rest of my life? What is my final vocation?

Today’s gospel is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ teaching on the Last Judgment at the end of time. Jesus tells his followers what will happen when the world ends, how God will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, the sheep from the goats, the saved from the damned. It is the proof text for focusing on the needs of others as the heart of Christian living. Do this and you will live. A clear message about what God expects of us.

But three chapters later, Matthew ends his gospel with this different take:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:18-20)

So maybe the model Christian life focuses instead on Evangelism, a frightening concept for many Episcopalians. Talk about my faith? With strangers? With acquaintances? With close friends? I don’t think I’m ready for that! Next answer, please!

Paul’s Letter to the Romans persuaded Luther to turn the Church upside down and begin the Protestant Reformation, telling us that Faith alone matters to our Salvation:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

As long as you truly believe, then everything’s going to be okay– if of course we’re ready to believe Saint Paul, who  writes beautifully in another place:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. (Gal. 6:22-25)

Not a bad way to live. Buddhists would buy it, too. Then, there is the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord with all your heart, body, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Not a bad standard, as is the Golden Rule, “Do unto others ...,” a standard stated by every world religion.

Questions are generally more important than answers. How do I prepare myself to die is one of the most important.

Since a death sentence is a stark reminder that our days on earth are numbered, it’s a good time to try to distinguish between what matters and what doesn’t–or doesn’t so much. I love to travel. Bizzy and I got back recently from 3 weeks in Southeast Asia, half a world away. We are still jet-lagged, explaining why she–and I–are in danger of falling asleep during this sermon. Looking at a short life-expectancy, I decided that I probably wouldn’t travel, but want to stay around and be available to family and friends.

I thought a lot about our son Andrew who died of muscular dystrophy 4 years ago. He lived for years knowing that he would die young, but he definitely took advantage of the time he had. I can’t imagine what it was like for him. I thought of my parents and my older sister, all of whom have gone before me.

When the end comes, today’s gospel tells us, God will judge us. By what standards? What do you believe is important? What is trivial? What do you believe God wants from you? These are questions we shouldn’t resist grappling with. The Bible has answers, many answers. We never know when our own appointment with death will come:

The merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw [Death] standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating getsture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.