Transcribed from the Sermon preached April 10, 2005

The last couple of weeks have reminded us of our mortality. Terry Schiavo passed away, but not before the public was drawn into a grieving family feud. It is possible, depending on your perspective or mood, to frame the question surrounding her life and death in a number of ways. Is it Christian to hold on to life or let go of it? At what point is it no longer worthwhile to keep someone alive? Or, at what point is it ok to stop our frantic swim up the river of life and let ourselves float with the current toward the deep ocean of death and life eternal?

Thankfully, the Pope helped shape our answer, not by any official declaration of the church. He shaped answers, not by any words, but by his willingness to be present with us when words he could no longer make. On Easter Monday Pope John Paul came to his window, and after great effort, could not utter a word. But his presence spoke to me. It said, I am dying and I am not ashamed. I am going to meet death, but I am accompanied by the risen Christ. I thank Pope John Paul for that vision, for that hope.

I have to admit I still have protestant blood flowing through my veins. I can't help but have an allergic reaction to all the pompousness of Rome. St. Peters Basilica must be an awesome place to visit, but somehow I can't imagine the very humble and human Jesus having all that in mind for his legacy. All the robes, hats and jewelry, ritual and hierarchy makes me want to show up in plain clothes and preach the simple Gospel.

I suspect that Sister Maureen, the tiny little powerhouse director of the EBSC embodies Christ at least as well as the Pope. Certainly, Patriarchy has had a long run and we can step out of the comfortably worn path of culture and affirm through our language and justice that there is nothing about the maleness of Jesus that is salvific. As long as she tells us to love one another deeply from the heart, what does it matter if we call her God or Goddess?

It is a grave error to confuse the culturally contextual words of scripture with the Word who is Christ, the one who was chosen before the Creation of the world.

We may also wish for the Roman Catholics and our own branch of the Church to allow science and technology to help inform our sexual ethic. Is it so presumptuous of us, in our fleeting glimpses of the truth, to claim it is preferable for two mutually consenting adults to share their sexuality in open and honest commitment rather than to repress it until it bursts forth into an exploitative, dysfunctional mess?

But if we had to find a subject without fault before honoring him, we would honor nobody but the Lamb of God. Even the Pope's works fail to climb their way to heaven. All are in the need of the grace of God, even those among the self-righteous Left. History will show our flaws, how we are blinded by our own particular ambitions and vices, just as surely as those of Thomas Jefferson and George Berkeley were. Grace is not cheap, so confession and our honest critic is part of our honor.

We honor Pope John Paul II for his love for the Polish people, for his support of unions, and for his fight for freedom against the oppression of the Nazis and communism. His integrity and faith helped bring the demise of oppressive governments. For Stalin's sarcastic question, "How many divisions has the Pope?" we recount the prophet Isaiah, "Do you not know, have you not heard?.. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, then he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff."

Whether 21, like Terry Schiavo at the time of her accident, or 84 like the Pope, pretty young girl or Patriarch of the church of Rome, death asks our life its meaning. Much of our lives and culture is a distraction from this great question and our sense of inadequate answers. Yet, we see others die, and as we reach our mature age, what Erickson called questions of "Integrity" rise to prominence.

And so, the focus of this sermon turns us, to St. John's, to each of us at various stages in the river of life. Erickson points to three challenges to the question of integrity of those mature in age.

1. We are challenged to come to a sense of self worth less dependent on productivity.
2. We are challenged to accept our one and only life journey.
3. We are challenged to come to terms with the diminishments and losses of aging.

Part of our identity and self worth is tied to our physical presence and productivity. These may give us a sense of who we are and what we are worth, of our value. Yet these are things of the world would value us by. They are perishable. Our author of Peter says, "Live in reverent fear. For you know that is was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed." In Christianity, we are priceless in the eyes of God. God's love is beyond our accomplishments and productivity, more fundamental than our reputation, beauty, influence or wealth. Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James Whitehead in their book, Christian Life Patterns, write, "God's love grounds us. It does not depend on what I do or who I am, it constitutes these."

Said another way, we do not earn God's love by what we do or who we are. On the contrary, God's love in our life leads us to do what we do and be who we are. We may fear aging and death because of missed opportunities - or because we have had so many.

I sense that this congregation will struggle more than most at the drop in productivity that comes with age. For so many of you have been so blessed with great gifts of intelligence and opportunity. You may have had great careers and presence in the community. Indeed one wonders at times if our works are trying to save God; as if our service, our work toward justice and peace constitute our God, or at least our faith. God seems to be absent from our enlightened view of the world, so we have stepped in to redeem Him.

This may pose a problem when it is time for us to be served, when we can no longer do what we once did, when we come to the end of our lives and justice and peace keep moving out before us like a mirage... even in our own families.

But aging is not all bad. Most of us would like to keep our bodies young, but few want to give up the grace that comes with age. Here I quote the Whiteheads: "As we come to terms with our particularity and finiteness, letting go of our masks and fleeting attempts at immortality, we may, paradoxically, experience an expansion beyond ourselves. Deep acceptance may lead us to union with all life and the Creator."

There is a dynamic of accepting and relinquishing, coming to terms with and letting go. Income, residence, lifestyle, friends and companions, status and vigor eventually slip away. A sense of religious or spiritual transcendence allows us to find meaning and hope beyond the diminishments. Indeed, we learn to let go of our very lives.

"For the Christian, then, there may be more to the diminishments of aging than their negative effect. Those Losses can serve to remind the believer how fragile all human life is. Our losses show us the eternal value of the present. A simple meal of bread and wine becomes a little taste of heaven where all are called and united in peace.

Thus, Easter Monday will be my most memorable moment of the Pope. Like Buddha's great sermon in which he simply sat in the lotus position with a flower and said nothing, Pope John Paul showed us that being born again is not something we experience only at our baptism. Even as our bodies cease to walk and our mouths fail to produce words, our spirit soars on wings like eagles; it runs and does not grow weary; it swims with the river of life into the sea of God's eternal love and does not grow faint.