Sermon: Light up a Life

Today is a day of memories, Remembrance Sunday, when we honour the fallen in battle.  But at this time of year our memories of loss are broader even than the tragedy of war.  All Souls' Day earlier this month was a day for remembering all the dead, and praying for them.  Tonight's service is another opportunity to do that, to bring into this holy place our memories of the people we have loved and no longer see, to make them present again in our thoughts, and to commend them to God's love and care. 

We never forget them because without them we wouldn't be the people we are today.  Some of them have cared for us and helped us.  Others have touched us and inspired us.  Together they shaped us.  Tonight's service is called ‘Light up a Life'.  But before we light up their lives, we recall with deep thankfulness how they lit up ours: parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, grandchildren, people we worked with, people who lived near us, people who were our friends. 

So when we light up their lives, we keep their light alive in symbol and in memory.  By coming here and bringing our candles, we are doing just that.  We kindle a flame to lighten the dark, and that takes the fear away.  And we do this together, and that way we give strength to one another.  If you have been recently bereaved, to know that others with a similar story to tell are standing close to you is a great comfort.  Our little lights reinforce one another.  They tell us that the darkness is not impenetrable.  There is hope.

How can I say this?  Because of my belief in God, and in Jesus Christ who died and rose again.  We heard how in St John's Gospel Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life'.  The light of Jesus is with us in our living and is with us in our dying.  It gives meaning to all that we are.  So although death is the last enemy, it doesn't have the last word.  When we light up a life, we see that person as God sees them, alive with the risen Christ. 

On this day of memories, we light up the lives of those we love.  And we know that God sees what we do.  If they were precious to us, how much more precious they are to him!  One day, when we are gone, other people who love us will light candles for us and pray for us, perhaps here in this Cathedral.  I find that a wonderful thought.  It helps me to see how in Christ we all belong together.  It gives me courage to journey on in life and death, drawn by the light of Christ towards the day when we see him as he is, and know him face to face.

Michael Sadgrove

Durham Cathedral, 11 November 2007

‘Light up a Life' service for St Cuthbert's Hospice