In the Hand of God
First Congregational Church of Evanston
November 5, 2006 (Celebrating All Saints/Remembrance Day)
Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21:1-6; Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9
Rev. Dr. James E. Roghair, Interim Minister
Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 The Destiny of the Righteous
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure
was thought to be a disaster,
3and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.
4 For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full
of immortality.
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because
God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt-offering
he accepted them.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like
sparks through the stubble.
8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign
over them for ever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide
with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he
watches over his elect.
Grieving Not as Those without Hope
This past week I received a call from a couple in their 60's whom I had worked very closely with in a previous pastorate. They wanted to tell me that their son who was 42 years old had had a heart attack and died. And my first words were, “That is awful.” We do not expect parents of that age to have to bury their own children. And yet it happens. It has happened to some of you, or to your family and friends.
I asked them how they were doing, and the wife and mother said she thought that they were doing quite well, because she and her husband were talking about their son all of the time. Some families, she reminded me, make a silent conspiracy not to talk about the loved one anymore. But this family had chosen to keep remembering him. I think that is the right thing to do. The advice I was given when my first wife died at the age of fifty was to make memories of her. It is good advice.
In I Thessalonians Paul invites the people of Thessalonica not to “grieve as others do who have no hope (4:13).” But how do others grieve? Some refuse to talk about the loved one, as if it will all just go away. Some can never go on with their lives, but get stuck, in guilt or fear, or hopelessness. They can never get beyond the fact that the loved one is no longer present. And they are doomed to nothingness.
But we have hope. Today we celebrate a Remembrance Sunday. We make an opportunity especially to remember those who have gone before. Some of them have departed so recently that the wounds are still open for us, and we may have to weep today. But for others the time of weeping has passed and well-seasoned remembering is possible. We may be at many places on this day of remembering. Where are you?
And where do we get to the strength to remember, as one of those who has hope – and not to grieve as those who have no hope?
The Hand of God
When my youngest son was born, someone, and I am not quite sure who it was, brought him a set of hand painted ceramic figurines. They sat on his dresser when he was little. There was a large hand, in an open and upright position. And on the hand a figure of a tiny child at prayer nestled her head into that hand. It was a perfect fit.
This seemed a beautiful gift for a newborn. It was the symbol of how it is for newborns. They are totally dependant – in all ways and in all things – supported and kept alive by the larger hands of others.
B ut if we think more about it, this ceramic symbol speaks not just about infants, but about all of life. We all rest in the hands of God – all the time. Perhaps you remember the Gospel song, I’m not sure where it came from, but I remember it in the 1960's:
He´s got the whole world in His hands...
He´s got the whole world in His hands.
He´s got the tiny little baby in His hands ...
He´s got you and me, brother, in His hands,
He´s got you and me, [sister], in His hands...
He's got ev'rybody here in His hands...
He's got the whole world in His hands.
Our reading from the Wisdom of Solomon speaks of those no longer in the world: “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.”
Of course, there is plenty of evidence against this assurance that we are in the hand of God. What we see and hear is often bleak. So what gives Christians and other believers the faith to stand firm on promises of a good place, for loved ones and for us – resting in the hand of God?
Assurance from Revelations – A New Heaven and New Earth
The reading from Revelations – the one about the new heaven and the new earth – about the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, how does it speak to us? It is one that I have read over and over again, standing beside the casket of a beloved church member. We declare God’s new place where there will be no more crying, where every tear will be wiped away.
I have said it many and many times, but how do I know? And what gives me the right to pass on this impossibility to others?
Confidence of Neighbors
Some of our neighbors and friends will tell us that they know all about it. They know just what it will be like over there. They have read the book of Revelations and they have read the book of Daniel, and in selected passages they find a blueprint of what heaven will be like. And so, for them to know, it only takes the proper skills to paint on a canvass or a computer screen an accurate picture of what they find in the Book. They know beyond a doubt what it will be like. And they would rather you not question their knowledge – thank you.
Our Confidence
And you? Do you have that absolute confidence that you know the future? I personally do not believe that the graphic symbols of the Scripture are there to be turned into a map or a blueprint of anything to come.
I read the piece from Revelations because it portrays a mood of confidence and hope. I am convinced, that was the whole purpose of the Book of Revelations. Living through the persecution, John was imprisoned on the Island of Patmos. Christians were being killed by Roman authorities. It was a time for some to cut and run from the faith. Faith was only causing them trouble.
But Revelations is written to boost them up, to give them a power stronger than the Roman Emperor’s – to give them confidence. That confidence was the gift of God. Confidence that God is greater than Nero. Confidence that God is beyond human death, and God makes all things new.
The underlying confidence of Christian faith is that Jesus has conquered death. That Jesus rises above death, and that we can to. Death is not a defeat, but only the beginning of more to come.
I often remind people that death is a line we step across. It is like birth. We had no way of knowing what things here would be like before our birth. We were existing in a different kind of environment – one in which things were simply provided for us. But when we were born we were suddenly thrust into a whole new dimension. We had to deal with cold air. We had to breathe. We had to learn to eat, and then to walk and then to talk. There was so much. But the provision was made for us.
The God who made and provided for us then is still the God of our future. The God whom we found on this side of the line we call birth, is the God we will find on the other side of the line we call death. By faith we can say, “In life and in death, we belong to God.” It is only by faith that we know it.
I love the poetry, don’t you? About the hand of God, and about the new heaven and the new earth, about the new city, and no more tears. The poetry reminds us of what we can know only by faith: that God is good. That this Good God loves us more than any other could possibly love.
And so, I encourage us to remember in trust and hope those who have already lived out their years. Thank God for them, even though they have been taken from us. Truly they rest in the hand of God in a new city.
Amen.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008