Do You Believe?

Photo of The Very Rev. Dean Terry White by The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

At our house a required part of observing All Hallows Eve is watching the Peanuts gang in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. This animated classic entertains children of all ages, as did the Charles Schulz' cartoon strip for years.

In one scene, a huge pile of brightly colored leaves is being raked high. Linus spies the pile, yells “charge,” and speeds toward it. He launches himself through the air and makes a direct hit. For a moment, all you can see is an autumn mix of red and gold and various shades in between. Once the leaves begin to settle, Linus can be seen sitting majestically amidst the remnants of the once mighty pile.

However, the thing is: when Linus first spied the leaves, he was enjoying one of those large old-fashioned lollipops as big as his head. Now, sitting amidst the leaf-carnage, a generous amount of leaves engulfs both the sucker and his mouth.

Linus then says something along the lines of never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.  Linus is by nature more philosophical than that, so I’d like to think if given a another chance, he would say:  Here I am with a mouthful of leaves and a destroyed sucker, and I gotta say: It was totally worth it.  I’d do it all over again.

I’m guessing that’s what the saints of God say as they enter eternal life. Whether theirs was a long life devoted to serving God, or mostly walking with God, or a single act of heroic service to Christ or his people, saints are those who say: it was totally worth it.

Our first lesson from the Wisdom of Solomon begins:  The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.

That phrase, “nor torment will ever touch them” has often evoked for me those non-scriptural images of Hades or hell being a place where little demons use pitchforks to make life miserable for the unrepentant.

But what other type of torment might this lesson be speaking of?  There are many things more painful than the poke of the tines of a fork.  There is torment that comes from knowing we have not forgiven others enough, that we have not served the needy enough, that we have not loved enough or been generous enough or grown enough in the knowledge and love of the Lord.  There is the pain that comes from failing to stand up for the oppressed, or even speak out against the unfair boss or the bully who terrorizes another - that is torment. That is misery.

The souls of the righteous are not tormented because they lived as faithful people. Not perfect, not better than anyone else, but filled with a depth of faith that caused them to serve without regrets.  To know such peace and confidence and joy now - that would truly be heaven on earth.

The Orthodox Church reads the story of the raising of Lazarus on the Saturday before Palm Sunday.  It is this event that convinces Jesus’ enemies that he must die.  In a homily for that day, an Orthodox priest imagines Lazarus in Hades, the place of dead. He hears the voice of Jesus call to him, Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus has lived, passed through death, and then lives again.  And that journey is the very journey of baptism.

In our liturgy for Holy Baptism we shall shortly pray these words:

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism.
In it we are buried with Christ in his death.
By it we share in his resurrection.
Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.

In baptism, we are freed from the old life of sin.  Like Lazarus, we, too, walk out of the tombs of greed, hard-heartedness, and apathy.  We shed the clothes that bind us, leave behind the darkness we hide in, move the stones that impede our movement God-ward.

In Baptism we are raised by Christ, and begin a new life, confident that death has no lasting hold on us.  Jesus gave Lazarus new life by calling his name, and in baptism, Jesus has called us by name, and made us his own: you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.

At the heart of this story of Lazarus is belief.  Jesus says to Martha and to you and me: “I am resurrection and life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  Christ uses the word “believe” three times.

This the question of baptism: Do you believe?  Do you believe with such trust and hope that you know, despite all evidence to the contrary, that death is not the end, but a doorway into eternal life.
Do you believe that by laying down your life you will truly find life?  Do you believe that by emptying yourself and being a servant, you were greatest in the kingdom of God?  Three times we will be asked if we believe as we renew our baptismal covenant.

Every saint begins their journey with baptism.  And every saint comes to say, “Yes, Lord I believe.”  No matter what else we encounter, no matter what we endure, every path leads to God. May we reach our destination torment-free, with no regrets, and with confidence that by God’s grace, we, too are safe eternally in God’s hand.

Come forth. Live in Christ.

It is now time for God to make two new saints.