Living As Those Prepared
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O God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.”
-The United Methodist Book of Worship
Introduction
My great-uncle used to joke that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes buried in the backyard next to the cat. Knowing him, it was actually not a joke at all. Instead, it was probably his idea of making things easier on his kids and trying to express that he did not want a big deal made about his death. His daughter chose not to bury him with the cat, but even in her grief at his sudden death after a stroke, she was not stuck over the decision to bury or cremate. She knew what to do immediately. Our family talked a lot about these things. My mom is a pastor, and years of working with funeral homes and community members have given her plenty of examples of both unhealthy and beautiful ways to face death. What she taught me, and what I have seen in my own ministry, is that the foundation of any beautiful way to face death is built through conversation.
Earlier this year, I had two funerals in which I felt like most of my job became about encouraging parishioners to give themselves grace in the face of the death of their parents. I wished we could have had some of the hard conversations about the benefits of hospice and their parents’ wishes around funeral services and finances before grief overwhelmed them. So I wondered, what if we had a series in worship for people of all ages to think about death? What if, as part of the sermon or in response to the sermon each week, we had an opportunity to really think through some of the situations and questions that might overwhelm us or our loved ones? What if we could better prepare one another for death? In the United Methodist Book of Worship, one of the prayers I use for celebrations of life has us pray: “Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you…” This sermon series is not a theological exploration of the afterlife, but it is a conversation to help prepare ourselves and the ones we love for death, so that even in the most difficult times, we may remember the gift of centering our lives in Christ.
