Homily for 27 Nov 2015

27 Nov 2015

When a person is in the last stages of dying, it’s sometimes said that they speak and act as if they’re looking at something “beyond.”  The dying person is clearly engaged with something the rest of the people in the room cannot see.  And it’s always reported as an immensely peaceful thing to witness.  There is no fear; just peace—a peaceful anticipation.

All this week we’ve heard from the Prophet Daniel.  We’ve heard Jesus speak about remaining faithful at all times.  And the two of them—along with the rest of Scripture—are absolutely intent on helping us to see “beyond.”  None of us was created by God to have our life end here on earth.  Earth can be (and is) and extraordinary place; it’s a fantastic thing to be alive and enjoy the blessings of earth.  But God has even more in store for us—that’s the “beyond” that the Prophets and the Son of God want us to anticipate.

We don’t have to wait until the final stages of our life on earth to begin to look into that “beyond.”  Scripture reminds us so clearly that all of creation is meant to reveal the mind of God to us in some way.  The detail and depth of every seashell; every tree leaf that has grown green, blossomed into Autumn colors, and floated back to earth; every melody that’s ever sung by a bird happens first in the mind of God.  If this is what we see, just imagine the depth and breadth and variety of life there is in the mind and heart of our God waiting in store for the faithful.  Creation is a hint into the “beyond.”

     

And, of course, Jesus himself gives us little glimpses, little hints of the “beyond” as well.  All his parables paint images in our minds about the Kingdom, about our human destiny.  Of course, he himself—the visible image of the invisible God—is our best hint at the “beyond” we’re anticipating.  Jesus: the one makes us whole again, who makes us deeply content, who gives himself to us without any strings attached, who is the Prince of Peace, the Source of all that is good and true and beautiful. 

As we close out this liturgical year and enter into the purplish dark of Advent, we’re reminded that each of us is moving toward the “beyond.”  Not a “beyond” that takes away the beauty of this life, but a “beyond” which is only hinted at through the beauty of this life. 

And so, we’re not that different from people in the final stages of dying.

As a people of faith, we have one foot in this world, and one foot in the next.  Living here, we look into the “beyond” . . . with anticipation, and with immense peace.