A Promise of Eternal Life

A Homily By Don Pratt

Sunday, November 11, 2007 – 32^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Readings:

First Reading: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14

Psalm 17

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5

Gospel: Luke 20:27-38

The first reading is such a disturbing story! Imagine being persecuted because of your faith and being tested in the same way that these seven brothers and their mother were forced to watch as each of them was tortured and brutally killed. And each of them responded bravely, having faith in God that they would be given everlasting life. They were challenged to abandon their faith, but none of them ceded. One at a time, they defied their captors by proclaiming their confidence that God would raise them up. How remarkable that after seeing his brother’s tongue cut out and hands cut-off that the third brother offered his tongue and hands as if to proclaim: “God gave these to me. Here take them. I have faith that God will give them back to me again.”

Don’t let anyone tell you that there isn’t edge-of-your-seat drama in the Bible!

The First & Second Books of Maccabees describes a Jewish revolt in response to an attempt by the ruler of Palestine to impose Greek culture and religion on them. The first reading is an example of the atrocities that were committed against the Hebrews. Again, could you imagine being persecuted in such a way? It begs the questions: Do we have as strong a faith as this family? Are we willing to defend our faith so profoundly?

My hope is that none of us ever sees the day that we or anyone we know is tested so violently by secular government. However, our faith and our belief systems are indeed tested almost on a daily basis by public policy. God calls us to defend our faith just as this family did. I’m not going to debate issues today, but just for a moment let me name some contemporary issues that U.S. laws & policy test our faith and beliefs. And while I list them, think about how much you are willing to defend your faith in regard to these issues [read slowly]:

• U.S. Invasion of Iraq
• Public Health Care
• Abortion
• Gay Marriage
• Capital Punishment
• Discrimination in the Work place
• Affordable Housing
• Immigration
• Separation of Church & State
• Poverty & Hunger
• Global Climate Change

I’m sure that we could think of other issues that test us in the same way. Do you think that you could answer God’s call in regard to these issues? No matter how we are tested, the good news is that God promises to protect and support us – no matter what happens here in the mortal world. That’s what St. Paul was writing about in his second letter to the Thessalonians. Jesus loves us so much and will always strengthen us and guard us from evil. When we confront any hardship, we should glean hope from the fact that God provides us everlasting encouragement. That even if things don’t go well here, that if we “do the right thing” we are promised eternal life. And indeed that is a true promise. The Sadducees tried to test Jesus on that promise in the Gospel reading.

Have you ever had an experience where you were trying to make a point to a group of people and there was one cynic in the crowd who would try to “throw you off” by challenging you with some hypothetical situations that are long and convoluted? And the bottom line always was that no matter the situation that the cynic was describing, it really had nothing to do with the point that you were trying to make. That’s exactly what was going on in the Gospel reading. Jesus was preaching about the Good News and the Sadducees, who don’t believe in life after death, tried distracting him with a hypothetical situation.

The Sadducees only accept the first five books of the Bible as the Word of God through Moses, and they contend that the resurrection is not mentioned in those five books. They attempted to trap Jesus by using the “levirate law” from Deuteronomy 25 that required a widow to marry her brother-in-law to assure the continuation of the ancestral line of her dead husband. They tried to use this scriptural law in a hypothetical situation to show that resurrection theology is untrue. Jesus points out to them that they don’t know the scriptures of the five books that they do accept as well as they think they do. He did not allow them to distract Him from the real issue at hand: whether there is indeed a resurrection after death. He reminded them that God identifies himself to Moses in Exodus 3 as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God made it clear: “I am their God,” not “I was their God” – thereby indicating that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were raised: they were still living, not dead.

Jesus also makes the point that marriage relationships in heaven are moot because we will all be living forever joyfully as children of God.

Belief in life after death is an intrinsic part of our Christian Faith. It is a part of our prayer life, liturgy and practice. It is our hope that those who have gone before us are in heaven, living with God. While we may not know the details of what God’s Kingdom is like, it is God’s promise of eternal life that carries us and brings us through life’s trials and tribulations.

May God give us strength to defend our faith so that we may live in everlasting life.