Death!
Well, at least I got your attention with that stark title and in that Old English font! If you are still reading, it is that on which I am writing this month too. Halloween is a time our culture kind of makes fun of the fear of all things dark and deadly. Death is a subject about which we as a culture are in denial. Even Christians have a form of death denial. I don’t know how many times I have been to a funeral and heard a preacher say things that are really NOT the Good News of Christ. One line is “death isn’t real”. Another is “he or she didn't die but just passed into another room”. This is about as far from Christianity as you can get. We testify each Sunday that Jesus was “crucified, dead, and buried”. Boom! No sugar coating on this one. If Jesus died, death is real. In fact, there was an early heresy that said that Jesus did not die but only appeared to die. God can’t die! Well that is heretical. The creed, and the Bible that support it, are clear, Jesus died. If he did not die, he could not have risen from the dead. Death is real, it is final in this world, and it is often painful for those who go on with their lives having lost a loved one. It is not the last word, but it is as real as it gets.

November 1st is All Saints Day. Reformed Christians have not traditionally celebrated that day, and many still don’t, because we don’t define the word saint as other Christian traditions do. A saint is one who is a Christian. That is the earliest definition and the one used most often in the New Testament. The PC(USA) now has All Saints Day as an option in our liturgical calendar. In our tradition, it is a day to honor those who have passed on believing in Jesus Christ. In fact, it is a festival of Christ, honoring those who have passed into Christ’s presence after living the Christian life here. What we celebrate is the victory of the risen Christ over death, and the promise that our lives of discipleship here do not end with death. It is a celebration of eternal life given to us by the triumphant Christ, just as the world begins to grow dark. It is a reminder that the light of the world still lives and shines even in the darkest of times, and even in death.
Then why do I say it is heresy to say that death is not real? Simply because the Son of God had to be in solidarity with us to the point of dying in order to provide our salvation. He died to atone for our sins by his sinless life. He did not pass as a ghost off to float on a cloud somewhere. He DIED. Only then does the eternal aspect of issues of life and death come in. Jesus rose to give us life, to give us life in this world, to give us life for eternity, and to give the world life at the end of time. Death is real, but it is not God’s final word for the world. The picture of salvation in Revelation is not of a bunch of spirits in heaven forever. Heaven comes to earth, the dead return with the living. God wipes away every tear. Being dead and going to heaven forever individually is not the point. We do go into God’s presence at death, but ultimately God intends for the resurrection and the renewal of this world! That is a much bigger vision and more worthy of the eternal God than just “where you are going to spend eternity”. It is not about Christ getting a victory here or there with individual souls alone, it is about the resurrection of this old world. It is the end of war, the end of hunger, the end of pain and suffering for the world. That is God’s goal. Those are real things and current in our world, and death is all too real, often all too unnecessary. The world we want to live in is the world God wants to create. Those who have died in Christ are in God’s presence, but they long for the day when the world is renewed, and God will wash away every tear. That is what we honor on this day of remembrance. God is going to win in the end. That’s a much better picture with a lot more comfort. That is a Good News worth preaching!

Hoping in Christ!
Jim Stahr

A Gospel Large Enough

After several days off, and at Kentucky Council of churches, I can now return to this blog. I just finished reading an article sent to me by a Lutheran friend about the recent school shooting in an Amish settlement in PA. The article reminds us that there is something more to Christian life than my own individual feelings and attitudes. It reminds us that we must do things that give testimony to the truth of Jesus' teachings, and not just the doctrines about Jesus, as important as they are. It was written by Sister Joan Chittister. Among several of her points is the fact that the world seems surprised at the depth of faith and forgiveness that comes from the Amish community. Most of us could not easily find it in our hearts to forgive someone who killed our loved ones, much less attend the killer's funeral as a sign of our forgiveness. I don't know if I could show that level of love and forgiveness. Some might say that it came too easilyy and was insincere. Well, their faith practice does not mean it is any easier to lose their loved ones. It witnesses to the fact that they know what the Gospel teaches and want to live into that faith. In a world where our egos and their development are the greatest things we think we can achieve, and our own feelings are the center of our world, real forgiveness is shocking. The Amish do not teach us that forgiveness is easy or cheap. They teach us that there is something to which we witness that is bigger than us, and that we must live toward that life as a witness to the world. They teach us that there is something more important in life than my individual feelings and myself. They teach us that our lives have a Christian context, and we must transcend the self. It is a witness to the eternal context of our Christian lives. I am sure the Amish parents both forgive, and will have to live into that forgiveness. In a world in which Christians justify all kinds of violence, and feel justified in harboring even the tiniest of grudges, no wonder this shocks us. Jesus calls us to live as if the coming Day of the Lord has already begun. Can we do that?

In God's Shalom,
Jim Stahr

When I was a kid in the 50s and 60s we had three channels on television and rotary dial telephone with a party line, I probably could never have conceived there would be a thing called the internet or the blogosphere. Thanks to John Humphries I now have a "blog" which will be linked to the church's website. A blog for you newbies is a "weblog". The church must utillize everthing at its disposal to spread the word, so I chose the title "theoblogger" for this site.

Those who know me know that I believe most forms of American Christianity have gotten off base. It seems many Christians believe that the person with the harshest rhetoric and most hateful diatribe is the most authentically Christian. Our Lord taught us to love God, our neighbors, and even our enemies. It would seem hateful diatribe is thought to be part of the commandment in some modern versions of the faith. Here I want to try to share my thoughts on what being a disciple means in the present time. Sometimes my remarks will seem liberal, and other times they will seem conservative. I hope they are thoughtful. I hope they will make you think. I do not expect the readers to always agree. It is time, though, for someone to speak peace in a divided age. It is time for a little theology concerning the teaching of our Lord Jesus. I am going to try to share such thoughts about once a week. May God bless us.

Shalom,
Jim Stahr