Deuteronomy 34:1-6; 1 Thess. 2:1, 4-8; October 29, 2023; Reformation Sunday
So… yeah, Disney World is pretty awesome.
I confess it. I admit it. And that’s saying something since I was not exactly its biggest cheerleader going into it; what, on account of its outrageous sticker price and all. But man, Disney World surpassed virtually every expectation we had for it. Seth had a blast. Anya had a blast. I had a blast; and I went from being a one and doner, to saying, hmm, maybe again, in a couple of years? Provided I stay employed.
One of Seth’s favorite rides turned out to be Space Mountain. You know it? Personally, it wasn’t my favorite; well, because, you see, I never rode it. Oh, I wanted to go on it. I would have loved to have gone! I even waited in line with him for an hour+ just to go. But then my bladder said, nope, you ain’t going to make it, buddy. Oh, yes, you’ve made it this far in the line, but you will go no further. Another (which turned out to be grandma) will have to take your son to the promised land to get on that rocket. It won’t be you.
And yes, all of this is true. That’s how it happened.
And so while getting out of that line and running to the bathroom, which I did, it dawned on me that I was sort of like Moses. I mean, like .03% kind of sort of. I mean after all, waiting in line for a ride at Disney World can feel like wandering in the wilderness too! And, just like Moses, I was at least able to encourage Seth to follow me on a journey up into a dark mountain. But you see, unfortunately for both Moses and me, we were ultimately unable to cross that finish line (me into the ride of Space Mountain; and Moses into the land of Holy Zion). But even so, at least we can hang our hats, or our staffs, on being able to help get others both to the finish line and over it. It was not in vain.
It is sort of sad though, isn’t it? I mean, Moses’s ending and all? Deuteronomy 34:5-6 tells us that besides never entering the Holy Land, the very place that he spent YEARS waiting and struggling to get himself and God’s people into… he dies, AND, that after he dies, no one even remembers where he is buried. Not one remembers!
Which in a way is like a sad metaphor for all of life. That time will just keep marching on without us, and that we will only be remembered as long as the last person who knows us remains alive — which I think is a Julian Barnes quote (great writer, by the way).
But, more positively than that, it’s also a reminder that the ending isn’t everything. For we don’t die in vain, do we? As people of faith, and believers of resurrection, we know this. But also, we should know that everything that we have done in our life matters and has made an impression; and that more than a burial site and marker, it will be those actions and those impressions that will forever be etched in the minds and hearts of those who come after us. We should know this.
All of this is of course contrary to what we read in books and see in television and movies…where the ending is what matters most. For you can have one of the greatest shows ever (cough, Game of Thrones) be absolutely ill-remembered forever because of its ending. Where everything that happened before, which was admittedly great, is rendered a complete waste of time because of how it ended. But you see, for us, in our ordinary everyday life, nothing that we do before we arrive at the end is (or should be) a waste of time. For it’s what we do before we die that matters. That counts. That will be remembered by God, and also by others.
Deuteronomy tells us in the verses that follow ours that there had never lived a prophet like Moses before or after him. That despite his forgotten burial site, and his unsatisfactory death, he is still remembered by his people as the greatest prophet who ever lived because of all that he did in his life!
You see then, my friends, the journey that we are on is more important than the destination; that even if we never make it to our desired conclusion, and if we never have all the answers and explanations, thus finishing this life somewhat disappointed, the steps that we have taken along the way were not walked or lived in vain. They are not.
As Christians, as believers, we often make the mistake to second-rate this life – this God-given life – so to first-rate the next. But while we all hope and wait on the perfect world to come, that doesn’t mean that we should try to expedite this life and this world’s ending. As we’re seeing in the Middle East, if not Maine this past week, and elsewhere right now.
Sometimes then we make the mistake to boil all of faith down to a single wager like Pascal’s, saying; well, it’s better to live the virtues of the Christian life, not because they are good and right, but because the reward of salvation is too good to pass up. But, my friends, a proper life, and a proper faith, is not just about getting the carrot at the end of the stick. But about what we are doing along the way, in the here and now, in God’s kingdom that is at hand.
And this is why Martin Luther nailed those 95-theses to that door. For the Church back then was literally making it all about salvation to the point of even selling it; selling indulgences to the poorest of people who couldn’t even afford them. Instead of preaching the gospel, the Church turned faith into a transaction; saying that the only way you could secure a good ending is to first fork over your money. The world’s saddest Stewardship Campaign! And to all that, Luther, via God, said, enough! Enough.
But just like Moses never got to see the joy of his people entering the land flowing with milk and honey, Luther never got to see the totality of what those 95-theses would create. He never got to live long enough to see all the people after him reap the benefits of the Protestant Reformation, such like a little old church in Jenkintown called Grace that would worship God in his like-memory and similar tradition.
But for Luther, just as it was for Moses, I imagine that was okay, because they both died knowing that they did their best to bring a new generation of people into a closer walk and relationship with God. And that mattered infinitely more than where they were to be buried and how they were to be personally remembered.
For time marches on without us all. No matter who or how famous we are. And that is okay. Because God’s light marches forward all the same.
My friends, in this Stewardship Campaign this year, think not of your giving in vain. Neither with vanity, nor that it’s useless.
But with the comforting knowledge that even if you don’t get to board the ride at the end, you are helping to bring more people than you will ever know closer to the finish line, into the holy mountain of God’s grace.
And that is worth both celebrating and remembering.
Amen.
