The God Of the Living...

For starters, here are the readings for Sunday's Service:

Job 19:23-27a -- Just prior to this point, Job has just finished saying something to the effect of - Where is God? Nothing is gong right? Has God abandoned me? But in this reading, he then says - My words should be written in Stone, BUT YET... I believe! I believe that I will see God... that God will see me through this!

2 Thes 2:1-5, 13-17 -- here Paul is saying something like - Don't be fooled! There will come ones that claim to be The One, but don't be fooled! Remember that you are God's own. So stay strong in the faith! Remember who you are! And keep living as you were taught!

Luke 20:27-38 -- Here Jesus is challenged by some educated in the traditions, but not believers in the Resurrection. If a woman is married to a man, and she has no children, and her husband dies... and she marries his brother... and no children there either, and HE dies... and she marries HIS brother, and still no children... and HE dies... etc. for a total of seven brothers... at the time of the resurrection... who's wife would she be? Jesus responds by saying, at the time of the resurrection, that is not going to be an issue! God is God of the LIVING... not of the dead!

Interesting stuff.

But what interests me is this theme... God of the Living! Is God not interested in the ones that die? OR is it that God is a God of LIFE? There is a scene in the movie from a few years back - "What Dreams May Come" with Robin Williams, where he dies and goes to heaven. But he is able to "go back" every now and then and "see" his wife. And she ain't doing well. In fact she is so not doing well that she eventually kills herself. And she ends up being in a place where there is little light, little color, little LIFE. His experience of the after-life, and her experience of the after-life were so different. He was in a place of vibrant color and action and details, and life. And she was in a place that had virtually none of that.

The movie We Are Marshal, about how a college in West Virginia tries to carry on after virtually the entire college football team and staff are killed in a tragic plane crash in 1970. They struggle to carry on. The movie depicted the town's life almost totally engulfed by the college football team. It was like small town High School football... only bigger. It can be hard for any town to lose 70 some people all at once, but the movie wanted to show that this town didn't just lose any 70... it lost the 70 that represented the town. Almost as if the town lost it's ambassadors!

The College leadership is about to nix the school football program because they had virtually no one left from it. But the students band together, led by one of the hand-full of players left, and convince the leadership to keep the program. So they have to start by finding a Coach.
The president looks and looks, calling a list of dozens from across the country, all potential coaches, all know quantities in the college ball circuit. Nobody wants the job! Too tragic a situation, and Marshal is really left with nothing, so thanks but no thanks!

Then this Coach from out of nowhere comes along, actually wants the job. Being there was no competition, he actually got the job. And although he doesn't turn the team into a winning team in one year, he does something far deeper. He helps them learn to believe in themselves again! This tragedy had almost extinguished their light. But he helped them find it again. He helped them remember they were still alive!

God is a God of the Living!
Is it okay to feel sorry for ourselves? Is it okay for us to feel down, or depressed or blue? Of course it is! Does God get angry with us if we are sad or down, or depressed, or wallowing in self pity? Of course not! So where does this God-is-a-God-of-the-Living thing come in?

I've actually talked with people that were pronounced clinically dead... they died on the table so to speak. And when they speak of their experience, when they speak of what they saw, boy do they come alive! They have said they wouldn't mind going back to where they were after they died, but they are back! And they do not "see" life the same way they did prior to their "deaths". It's just not the same for them. They seem to be able to look deeper into every moment for a light of the divine. They seem to be ready to really engage deeper in relationships. Most of us, either because of inertia or laziness, are okay with not really engaging deeply with other. Talking about the weather is okay for most of us. It's safe, minimal risk, you know.

I look at some people I've met. It often takes me a while to engage in a person's life, to hear their "story", to listen for what they value in life, to see their joys, to find the low points, their struggles, their blessings. Sometimes I'm just not willing to go there. I don't feel necessarily guilty about that. I think it's okay to not always have to be jumping in the deep end of the pool with everyone you meet. But imagine what it would be like if we held in the back of our minds that there is always a life-story to everyone we meet... that every person has a spiritual dimension, that every person has something they struggle with, that every person has someone in their lives that loves them- or could love them.

One woman who died and came back told me before she "came back" she was in a place where she saw all the souls that had lived. Each soul was a flame, like a candle flame. And as far as she could see, there was one endless sea of lights. Imagine if we could "see" people as light. Imagine how different our interactions would be with each other.

God is a God of the Living!

Imagine what a pastor's role is in all this. What is my job? Part of it is to speak about God being a God of the Living!
But there are times I forget. I get too wrapped up in some of the details of things that I forget about the Spirit. I forget that I have this privilege of being able to remind people about this God of the Living!
This movie, We Are Marshal, reminded me... Believe! Remember who you are! You are ALIVE! Not in the strictly scientific sense of "breathing"and having brain activity, but in the sense of Being Alive!
We are alive! What are afraid of? What holds us back from really living?
If we were to die and come back, would we live differently on our return? If we knew when we were going to die, would we live differently? So... why do we have to wait for that? Why not do it now? God is a God of Life!

I'm not talking about living irresponsible lives, with no accountability or morality. I'm not talking about taking license when ever and where ever. I'm talking about shooting for the moon! About going for that job you've always wanted. About taking those classes you've been thinking about, about telling them you love them more often, about training and running a marathon. Something we realistically do not have the time or money for, but I'm sure there are many more things we do have time, money, and energy for, but decide against them because we don't believe we can do them, or we fall under the expectations of other people, or... whatever.

God is a God of LIFE! But sometimes we forget.

More to come...