ASSEMBLY IN THE RIVER OF LIFE

Third Week in the Time of Assembly

“Dia de los muertos”

Almost every week we sing the song, really a prayer we sing: Immerse myself in the river of your spirit - I need to refresh this dry heart. Every week, we feel the cool waters of that river here in our church – and, in truth, whenever you come, you find that river here. Today, however, the Sunday following on the Day of the Dead, we receive a special gift, a gift that assembles all those times we were refreshed from “the River of your Spirit.”

Today, we read the scripture which describes a special time, a time that is beyond all times and yet which includes all times. The prophet writes in Revelations 22 that “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

On this day, the Day of the Dead, that has been celebrated for centuries, we take time to honor and remember loved ones and to help them with their spiritual journey. Because of our love and respect for them, because our ties to them are not broken by death, the border between life and death is blurred and diminished so that we can see and hear and feel across it. We become truly a people without that border, a people of the Almighty God.

When someone we love passes on, we grieve. Many say there are seven stages of grief: Shock or Disbelief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Guilt, Depression, Acceptance and Hope. God is working in us, making known to us that the one we love is alive in his Kingdom. We have to get over our own pain, our preoccupation with ourselves, so that we can see into the Kingdom. In following the person we love, we discover God’s love for us, in which there is no border between life and death.

 From those we love – and even from those we only know stories about – we receive the power and wisdom of our memories, the unity of our traditions, the integrity of our values and beliefs. They are also a source of the courage we need to face life with honesty and faith.

Before Jesus began his historic march to Jerusalem – and the agony of the cross – he went up on the mountain where he spoke with his ancestors, Moses and Elijah. Although they had died long ago, he spoke with them. He heard their voices and felt their presence. With them was also present the call they had heard from God on other mountains, the presence of God with them, and the realization of God’s promise to save his people through their faithfulness. From their conversation across the border between life and death, Jesus found the strength to go to Jerusalem, to face the cross and to save his people.

In how many ways do our loved ones and ancestors live on?

When they speak about the United States as the greatest country in the world, our ancestors who died defending their land remind us that the riches of this country comes from lands stolen from Mexico – and from lands stolen from the native Americans. When we feel close to our ancestors, our grandfathers and fathers who worked in the fields, it gives us a different perspective on the wealth of this country that came from their sweat, blood and tears.

When they insult the countries of the south – as Donald Trump did – we remember, we talk with, our ancestors who created the pyramids and discovered the mysteries of mathematics.

When we are confused, we remember our mothers and grandmothers and their mothers and grandmothers praying to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Those prayers stir strength, faith and prayers in us. And their prayers stir in us the courage which the Dark Virgin planted in Juan Diego hundreds of years ago.

Today we celebrate the wise and the strong and the faithful – what in the book of Hebrews are called “A great cloud of witnesses”. We celebrate the prophets. We celebrate those we love. But we also celebrate all those we didn’t know, those who lived and died without fame, loved only by a small circle of friends and family around them.

Today we hold in the presence of the community those who have died at the hands of the police for driving while black or brown; those who have died with their hands up; those who have died in the desert for just trying to reunite with their families. How do we know that they are with us, on the other side of life’s border? How do we know that they can hear us when we speak to them, when we pray for them? We know because they are God’s people, made his people by his love, for whoever God loves also lives in that love; for our God is the God of the living! 

We know because when we receive them in our hearts we are standing by the River of Life.

In the Book of Revelations, in the seventh chapter, the prophet has a vision of a Great Multitude in White Robes. They are gathered around the throne of God, praising him. One of the elders asked the prophet, “Who are these in white robes and where did they come from?” The prophet told him, “Sir, you know. These are they who have come out of the tribulation; they have washed their robes and made themselves clean in the blood of the Lamb.”

Those who have suffered here are washed clean and they call to us.

We remember today the woman from Chicago, on her way to a new job in Texas, who was pulled over for changing lanes without a signal then arrested and locked in a cell, a cell where she was found dead a few days later. We can hear her today, dressed in white robes, washed clean in the blood of Jesus, calling us to stand up against police murder and mass incarceration.

Even as we celebrate the return of Miguel Perez – perhaps because we celebrate his return – we remember the green card veterans that have not returned, that have fallen to the violence of the cartels or sickness without health care or to suicide from deporession. Today they call out to us, dressed in white robes and washed clean in the blood of Jesus. “Stand up to the deportations. Save our people.”

We here the cries of the young boy who jumped from the car, who committed suicide because his father was to be deported, the family separated and destroyed. Today he wears a white robe and is washed clean in the blood of Jesus and he calls us to fight to keep families together, to fight for the right of millions of children and young people to the love, support and guidance of their families.

We remember today those young men who have been shot down by each other to protect the drug trade – and the many innocents that are caught in their gunfire. They were combatants in a war against themselves, against their own. And we remember those addicted to those drugs, and the many that lose their lives to them. Yet now they are ALL free of Satan’s hold on their lives. They too wear white robes and are washed clean in the blood of Jesus, calling to young men who are standing on the corners today, saying to them, “Don’t you see that you are the hope of your people? Won’t you struggle together to defend your people?”

 The Youth Health Service Corps talks about their fight against the 20 year death gap in our communities which takes the lives of our people twenty years before other communities because of the lack of health care. Our mothers who died of cancer, our father who died of heart attacks, called out to them to say, “These deaths could have been prevented. Make this nation provide them with health care.” They died slow painful deaths, their bodies contorted in pain, but now they stand straight, dressed in their white robes, washed in the blood of Jesus.

Today we hear their voices calling out to us from across the border between life and death to struggle for justice, to reconcile our differences, to make strong our families and to make the way straight for the people of God.

On this day, the ancients believed that our prayers help those who have crossed over in their spiritual journey. How does this happen? When your grandfather was alive, he lived for his children and his grandchildren. He worked his fingers to the bone so that they could have life and hope. When these grandchildren live with courage and faith and love for their own children, then our elders’ lives are fulfilled and their spiritual journey continues in the praise of the angels. The way you live your life continues the spiritual journey of those who came before you, perfecting it, for you are part of them and they remain linked to you in God’s time.

 In the scripture today, the doubters put a trick question to Jesus about what happens after death. Jesus answers that they know nothing of the scriptures or the power of God. He reminds them of the scripture in which the Lord appeared to Moses and told him that “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” who were the great ancestors of Moses.” He did not say I was their God only when they lived among us. He said, “I am their God still.” Then Jesus says, “You see, He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living!”

Today we celebrate the living who stand with the angels at the River of Life. We celebrate their lives. We celebrate our love for them. We celebrate their love for us. We accept the gift of their eternal life in God’s love and the way of faith which allows us to live in God’s time and to be with them. We celebrate and we thank them for the gifts of their lives to us. We commit ourselves to live lives that increase their own spiritual journeys through the legacy they have left us.

Through their lives we find our place in God’s time and – as he is God of the living – we know today the ageless eternal life of the people of God. Today our tears of grief become smiles of good memories and our memories strengthen our courage and our faith to be worthy of them. And today as we cross the border between life and death, as we come to live in God’s time, we also cross the man made border that separates many of us from those we love. We are with them today.

Those who fear death die a thousand deaths. Those who are defeated by death lose the battle for life. But those who are willing to receive the love of the God of the Living are not confined by any borders.

The gift we receive today, from the Assembly of the Living, is the gift of standing in the river of the Spirit. That river we stand in today is there now for us to follow, week in and week out, in the year to come. It is there when we are lost or discouraged. It is there when we are divided and need unity. The great assembly calls us to follow the river next year, season by season, with the faithfulness that leads us to the harvest. It calls us to love our family and our people and to bring them to the river.

We celebrate today the assembly of the living with those who call us from the other side, to struggle for justice for our people and to be worthy of the sacrifices they made for us. This is God’s work and we, whom He assembles today before a great cloud of witnesses, will be the seeds of next year’s Harvest!

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR THE THIRD WEEK IN THE TIME OF ASSEMBLY

 L. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, 

P. flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 

L. On each side of the river stood the tree of life

P. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Hebrews 12:1-3 A Great Cloud Of Witnesses

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 Matthew 17:   The Transfiguration

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said.“Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Matthew 22: 29-32 Marriage at the Resurrection

Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”