Dead? Are you sure?

We all know what dead means. During these days of the COVID-19 pandemic the notion is probably closer to the surface than usual.It is all too easy to see “dead” as the end because it usually is an end. Even someone who dislikes binaries and false-dichotomies as much as I do admit the binary of dead and alive. But sometimes there are exceptions.

Two of the Lectionary texts for this Sunday deal specifically with dead and alive. The Old Testament lesson is the story of Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones which come alive and the Gospel lesson is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. These are talking about a more literal “dead” than Paul discusses in the Romans reading for this week but taking them all together encouraged me to think about “dead” in a wider context. This pandemic with the physical distancing and so many things being postponed or cancelled has meant the death of many hopes and dreams. The question then becomes, if these are dead, is that all there is? The short answer is, no, there is more that that.

I hope you find something useful in the sermon. As always, if you would like to discuss anything about it, or anything else for that matter, drop something into the comment box.

“Dead? Are you sure?” Knox and St. Mark’s Presbyterian joint service (to download, right click and select “Save Link As . . .”)

Blessings,