An Irrational Faith in the Face of Death

On Monday I took part in an entirely irrational event. 

I sat in the front row of the balcony at Pete Stellpflug’s funeral at a packed St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Rochester.  We heard reflections on Pete’s life and the legacy that he leaves behind.  Those words were poignant and meaningful.  I found it helpful to remember Pete’s humor and willingness to serve his community

That’s when the irrationality began.  While Pete’s body lay in a casket in front of everybody, Father Kurt talked as if Pete still lived.  He spoke of Pete celebrating with Jesus and all the saints.  He talked of…eternal life. 

When I stop and think about it for a bit, this all sounds like crazy talk.  In my experience death seems final.  Once people pass away we don’t see them again.  We must learn to live without their comfort and company.  We put their bodies in the ground or scatter their ashes.  I can go to the grave of my mom, Edee Reuss and know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that her remains lie in the casket beneath my feet.    Death comes as the end of life.  That’s the way the world works.  On my most cynical days, talk of eternal seems like something invented by people to take some of the pain out of death.  “While they SEEM dead…they are not REALLY dead.”  Is this faith thing just a sham?

In the face of such harsh empirical data, Father Curt proclaimed the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.   It’s the same hope that I mentioned last week.

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-5)

How can we believe something so irrational?  On our own we can’t.  We need God’s help!  A Christians we proclaim a God who has not only come to conquer sin and death…we proclaim a God who works to give us the ability to believe it!   We all have our days of doubt and struggling, but God does not leave us alone.  God never gives up on us or leaves us alone.  God directs us forward in faith…even on days when eternal life seems too irrational to believe.

Today (November 1^st) is All Saints Day.  On this day Christians boldly proclaim that all who have died in Christ still live…and that as forgiven children of God we will live with them.  Nobody can prove that it’s true, but this is the hope that I proclaim for my mom, Edee Reuss…for my grandparents (Jim Bantz, George Reuss, Dave & Esther Meier, Charles Dodd)…for Max Cliff and Marianne Morton…and for Pete Stellpflug.  Jesus has come to be with God’s people in life…and in death.

Father Curt’s message rings true.  Death seems final, but it’s really the gate to life forever with Jesus.   That’s not just wishful thinking…that’s the promise of God!  May God work in your life (and mine) to help you believe it!