Easter 7a Sermon  “Sweet Sorrow”

In the first balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet calls out,

 

“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow”

 

Notice the subtle prophecy of the ill fated lovers who in the end part so tragically.  For those who love deeply, who care deeply, who live beneath the surface and in their own depths, parting from a loved one is a terrible sorrow.  When the loved one leaves forever, a wound is opened that no one can stitch; a hole is formed that nothing can fill.  Most, if not all of you know that my mother died two weeks ago.  When one parent dies, one feels a gap, but when both parents are gone, it is a different pain.  I didn’t experience the pain of this loss all at once, or just at the funeral, but it has come on gradually and been dragged out.  It is a sweet sorrow.

 

Our readings today are about the fact that Jesus has departed from us.  But it is alarming that we do not feel the sorrow, we do not feel the grief.  We have to reflect and meditate for a long time before we even grasp the fact that we are supposed to miss him or that we are supposed to be inconsolable over his going away.  We are supposed to miss him, because of all the people we have known, he was not superfluous.  He was born like one of us and just like one of us, grew up.  He grew up in Nazareth learning carpentry from his dad with cousins and brothers.  He went out to the dessert and was tempted, just as we are, and he came back with the passionate message of liberation for all of us.  He felt life deeply and wept at his friend Lazarus’ death.  He sweats blood for us in the garden while he waited for his death.  He is the one, and maybe the only one who bears our burden no matter how heavy. Now he is gone and with Peter, we should beg to know, “Where else shall we go, Lord, for you have the words of Eternal life.” In Jesus we could imagine something about God beyond the abstractions of the philosophers.  He was someone we could touch, someone we could dare to kiss or slap on the shoulder in a friendly way and who would not be upset about it.  Jesus was someone we could tell our jokes whether good or bad.  Some of this might seem trivial, but besides this we know that in him, we had God, his mercy and his nearness.  We should miss him. Today he has departed from us and where is the sweet sorrow of Jesus leaving?  Where is the loneliness for our friend and master, our brother and savior?  Where is the wound that no one can stitch?  Why do we accept this absence with indifference?  When did our hearts grow so barren and so shallow?  There is a lesson, a teaching, in our indifference and in our lack of feeling.  Nothing says more loudly that we need him, we require him, and without him we are lost sheep.

 

Christ ascended above the heavens; does that mean that he is far from us?  How do we define closeness in our world?  We think closeness means physical closeness, proximity.  But we have seen too much destructive promiscuity to think that the most intimate physical contact means any deep sharing.  What we call one night stands signify encounters and not relationships.  Judas even betrayed Jesus with a kiss.  How common is it that people work together or live together and know nothing about one another.  Because our bodies are close does not mean our hearts and minds are close.

 

I would argue that Jesus is closer to each of us by dying and stripping off this mortal body.  He is the only one who is close to everyone and every thing by taking on his heavenly body by his resurrection.  Now, Jesus has transcended the limits of space and time and is with us in a way that is possible for the first time.  Jesus ascended.  Jesus has transcended all limitations and is with us more deeply, more freshly, more intimately, more personally, and more spiritually than we can experience any one or anything.  This deep presence is not a fantastic dream, it is what we experience and cherish here at the communion rail.  We reach out our hands and taste the gift of God for the people of God.  We touch the God whose property is always to forgive, and God, in Jesus, comes to us.  God is with us, with you and me, and with all of us together as a community as a church family.  None of this could be so, if Jesus had not ascended.  And we have a name for this amazing presence of Jesus in our Hearts and in our Community.  We call this the Holy Spirit.  We have celebrated the Nativity that Jesus was born for us.  We have celebrated Easter that Jesus died and rose for us.  Next Sunday we will celebrate the final step of our salvation.  Jesus who ascended is with us forever in his Spirit, in his Holy Spirit. 

 

Today, let us feel that Jesus has ascended, he has left us.  Let us feel the loss and pray with all our hearts come Holy Spirit, come.  Amen.