All Soul’s 2023

It is good to see such a full church here tonight as we honour those whom we love but see no longer.

For some of you the last time that you will have seen me was at the funeral of your loved one. You’ll probably be aware that the constraints of time at the crematorium or the cemetery limited our choices at the service, particularly which Bible reading to use, either John 14 1- 6 which is about what happens when we die. It is about rest; or Revelation 21:1-7  which is about what will happen when that Rest is over and the Resurrection can begin at the end of time.

So Rest or Resurrection which do I concentrate on at the funeral? 

John 14 is comforting because it tells us that we will be welcomed home by God.

Revelation 21 is comforting because it tells us that we and the whole world will be healed, that there will be no more death or crying because these things will have passed away for good.

Rest and Resurrection both are helpful things for us to think for those who we have lost and for also for ourselves as we think about our own death, but time constraints mean I have to choose. Which is it to be?

But not tonight, we have time, and we can think about both. 

Rest is something we don't get enough of. We treasure experiences of real rest, perhaps on holiday. For real rest to happen.

• We need a good host
• We need a place to stay 
• We need to be sure of a warm welcome
• We need to have a safe journey to get where we are going 
• We need a guide, someone we can trust to tell us the truth about where we are going, trust to know the way, to show us the way

The young people among us will protest ‘Isn’t that a bit old fashioned? We have GPS, Google maps!’ A personal guide is so much better than a set of instructions or map or a little blue circle on our screen. 

In St John’s Gospel Jesus offers us all of these things when we leave this world. 

• He offers us rest in the heaven 
• We will be welcome as God;s loving servants in his home, which has room for us all, however awkward we may be.
• Our journey; the journey of death needn’t be fearsome, we will have Jesus with us. He will be our personal guide.
• We can trust him
• He will show us the way so we can rest in God's love.

But you know, rest is great but it isn’t the end of the story when we leave this world.

God promises us rest to heal and save us, but he also promises resurrection. 

• He promises to return to this world and raise us up from death and pain and crying.
• He will be with us, among us. 
• He will be our God and we shall be his people 
• We won’t want rest anymore because we will be alive, alive with his life. 

We have no inkling how glorious this resurrection will be, but I suspect we won’t want to miss a moment of it.

Amen.