Saint John Lutheran Church

Maybe funeral directors don’t think people are strong enough to face the reality of “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” But Holy Week has hauled us through death, teaching us closely to follow Jesus as he prepared for his transfiguration on the cross. Baptism itself, during the dark hours of last night’s Vigil, is another such foray. There is a death we die when we give ourselves wholly to God, and in the waters of baptism we united to Jesus in death to be finally and irretrievably pulled from the tomb of mortal life into God’s dominion. In our community we know both the reality of death and the unshakable promise of the empty tomb. It is not wise to stray too far from these profound truths, and so on each Sunday we evoke the empowering experience of our hope in water, bread, and wine. The resurrection of Jesus has changed death. No longer can we look on death and see only death. Whether we whisper it in prayer before the darkness, or dive in to grasp hold of it and pull it forth like a man drowning, we proclaim, Christ is risen! Moreover, we are called to go forth with the women from the empty tomb to all the places of struggle, all the greened-up tombs our culture makes, there to witness to the power of God.
—Jeffrey A. Merkel