Imagine
A Sermon for the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
October 29, 2023, Preached at St. John’s, Richmond
The Rev. Robin Teasley
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended. Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses. Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. Deuteronomy 34:1-12
It's almost Halloween and people are decorating. Have you noticed that skeletons are everywhere? They are climbing the sides of houses, sitting in lawn chairs, and even doing yard work. A clergy friend of mine commented that someone is making a lot of money selling skeletons in Richmond. I’ve been thinking about this business of Halloween and how it has indeed become big business. According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending on decorations alone is expected to reach 3.9 billion dollars. That’s a lot of scary skeletons!
As the days shorten and the leaves change colors and fall to the ground, our thoughts can easily turn toward our own mortality. It doesn’t help that the world right now is a scary place both at home and abroad. And many of us have our own fears with which we do a kind of dance macabre.
Psychologists note that people may find Halloween to be therapeutic because, rather than our own very real fears over which we have no control, Halloween provides scary things which we can control, because we know they are not real, or because we can simply stop watching the horror movie when we’ve had enough.
Thinking about our loved ones or even ourselves as dead and buried can be sad and sobering. Seeing a skeleton pushing a lawnmower in the neighbor’s front yard can provide some comic relief. It seems we will go to great expense and effort to avoid our fear, to ignore it, or make light of it.
What has you fearful these days? The political divisions in our nation? Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East? Another mass shooting? Perhaps it’s climate change, inflation, or racial injustice? Maybe it’s even closer to home as we face an unexpected illness, a broken relationship, or a loss of memory or mobility. Some of us are in the very midst of grieving the loss of a loved one. People of every race, religion, nationality, and gender identity, are living in fear of some kind. All of this is scary, and when our world is scary, we can become paralyzed by our fear.
The Deuteronomy reading today centers on the death of Moses. It’s helpful to know that earlier in the exodus narrative, in chapter 13 of Numbers, the Israelites sent spies to scout out the promised land, and the spies brought back reports of giants and fortified cities. This was scary news, and it made the Israelites fearful of living into God’s promises, especially when they realized that Moses would not be the one to lead them forward.
Try to imagine how the Israelites were feeling as they stood there on the edge of their future, looking at all that lay before them. So much land, as far as the eye could see. The whole expansive view must have been overwhelming. Surely their fear increased as they remembered the reports about the giants in the land and the fortified cities.
Imagine what they were thinking as they remembered everything Moses had accomplished as God’s chosen prophet, despite their whining and complaining. Through Moses, God had delivered them from the Egyptians and guided them through the wilderness to the very edge of the promised land.
Imagine their sorrow as they grieved the death of Moses, and their uncertainty about the future without him. To say they were having second thoughts about entering the promised land might be an understatement. How would they continue without Moses? All of the fears of what might happen next, the unknowns of their future, came rushing in and threatened their trust in God.
After the death of Moses, God raised up Joshua son of Nun, and filled him with the Spirit of wisdom. Even so, it was no easy thing to trust a new leader, to trust change, to trust that God would be with them as they moved forward. Standing on the edge of their future, they came to realize it was now up to them to nurture the faith of the next generation. It was time for them to become servants of God as Moses had been; time for them to care for one another and for the larger community. Things were changing. Could they trust in God’s promise?
No matter where we are in life, imagining the future can be difficult and sometimes scary, especially when great change is going on around us. We long for a connection with God, hoping for some hint of direction and clarity and a sense of safety. Like Moses, we may long to see the results of our work, the reward for our labor. And sometimes, life just doesn't go the way we expect.
Imagine spending all your life working on something, never seeing its completion. Medieval stonemasons worked all their lives on cathedrals that were not completed in their lifetimes, cathedrals in which they would never worship.
Scientists work in labs, hoping to discover cures for diseases, and saving data for future researchers, never knowing if it will be valuable one day.
We plant trees knowing we will not live to see them grow to full size. We raise our children, to the best of our ability, never knowing for sure how they will turn out in the end.
All of this might seem tragic unless we see our lives, what we do with our lives, as an act of trust, as an offering to God and to those whom we love, as an investment that will outlive us.
As the Israelites prepared to enter into the land that God had promised to them, they made a decision to move forward despite their fears, trusting that God would always be with them as promised.
When we look at the very real and sometimes fearful challenges in the world today, how might we be called to respond? Where should we place our focus and energy? Do we trust that God will be with us no matter what comes next? The church, our faith community, can be a place where we come to hope and trust in God’s promises.
Try to imagine standing on the edge of the future of St. John’s, looking at all that lies before you. What do you see? What do you hope your children and those who come after you will find here?
Part of me now wonders if all of this Halloween decorating, and finding some humor our fears and in the inevitability of death, might be an invitation. An invitation to believe that our mortality is not the end of us, but the doorway into greater life; an invitation to the young and the young at heart to believe that we can live in a world where we can go to the doors of strangers and be welcomed with treats and joy.
So, we decorate in order to say we are with you in this crazy and sometimes fearful life, and we will turn on the porch light and welcome you. We will feed you, forgive you, comfort you, and love you. Come and join us, do not be afraid, God is with us.
It looks like a great way to follow Jesus, to love God and our neighbor, don’t you think?
Title Image: St. John's Episcopal Church Graveyard
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