This weekend is Halloween in Boulder, which means the Naked Pumpkin Run, a modified "mall-crawl," and the CU game with Missouri here. The officials are gearing up for a wild weekend--as well they should. My "wild" weekend will be the celebration of All Saints day on Sunday and All Souls on Monday. On Sunday, I will give the sermon at three services.--the same sermon, really, although somewhat modified for the 5 pm Canterbury.
As usual, I have read the lectionary readings and am in a period of reflection about:
What can I say about saints that we don't say every year at this time?
What do I know about "saints," actually? What do I bellieve? Our catechism begins, "A saint is anyone, living or dead, who..." Is that where I begin?
Who are the saints in my life, both living and dead?
The Gospel reading is on Jesus' raising Lazarus from the dead. I believe, really, that the most significant sentence in this passage is "Jesus wept" (King James, not NRSV). It brings me back to the subject of grief, and the special anguish that sisters and brothers, parents and friends endure with loss. Mary admonishes Jesus, "he wouldn't have died if you would have been here."
But Jesus does not bring Lazarus back from the dead to assuage grief--to make everything all right. I say time after time that, really, Lazarus had to die sometime, didn't he? Jesus brought Lazarus back because of disbelief. The sight must have been terrifying as it is described in our passage.
How do we endure loss? When do we give up hope? How are these two questions related to "A saint is someone, living or dead..."?
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