Four questions and A funeral

October 30, 2022 - November 20, 2022

Even as Jesus approaches his own funeral, with conflict escalating, he is still teaching. And there is a sense, late in Luke’s gospel, that (some) people are still listening, still trying to figure out exactly what he’s calling them to believe. The conundrums of their day, as a religious minority in a hostile context, are not all that different from our own wonderings about how to do this life right. 

The question about our life as citizens. If God’s reign competes with the reign of empire, where does our loyalty lie, and how are we meant to function as citizens in God’s reign? “Paying taxes” is one way to say, “But we live here; we have to get alone here; in what sense do we belong here?” This question is magnified in our context, as Christian nationalism is ascendant and we’re confused about how/whether to be patriotic, how/whether to try to influence the government, how/whether to participate in capitalism. How do we live *here* if God’s reign is *elsewhere*, metaphorically speaking?

The question about what happens when we die. Don’t we all wish we knew? Is there something, or nothing? Will we be ourselves, with all our experiences and thoughts from before, or not? What is *personal* about the afterlife, if there is one? The question about marriage is really an existential one: who am I, and who will I be, in the heart of God?

The question about the end of the world as we know it. What is the destiny of planet earth? When will *it* happen, whatever *it* is? How are we meant to live with the uncertainty? 

The question about salvation: who’s in, who’s out. What is the scope of Jesus’s salvific work? What commitments are required from anyone who wants “in”? What about the thief who doesn’t ask Jesus for anything, but only ridicules him? How do I know for sure that I’m saved?