Acts 9:36-end; John 10:22-30
Last Thursday many hundreds gathered in this cathedral, as they did across the nation, to give thanks for the 80th
anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, that moment when WWII, as far as the western theatre was concerned, came to an end.
Yet what did that victory mean? Was it about purely the defeat of the aggressor, something that was sealed with the signing of the document of unconditional surrender? Something to be celebrated with the musical equivalent of We Won The War? Or did victory mean more than that? The crowds which sang and cheered on 8 May 1945 were soon to be confronted via a General Election with choices about how victory would be lived out in political and national life. What did they want a victorious nation to look like?
In these weeks after Easter – and as Charlie Allen reminded us last week, Easter is a season and not a day – we are confronted with a similar question about what the resurrection of Jesus is all about. Is it about simply a victory, in this case victory over death, or something more? And is eternal life, something which we might know Jesus’ resurrection ushered in and which Jesus himself spoke about in our gospel reading, purely something that is activated at the moment of death – proving that death has been defeated - , or something that is more ongoing, both before and after the grave?
We are given a rather lovely way of thinking about these questions in our reading from the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a wonderful mix of major set-piece events in the life of the early church – the day of Pentecost, the conversion of Saul, the Jerusalem Council – interspersed with some much more intimate stories of people whose lives were touched by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tabitha is one such example, a woman in Joppa on the coast of the Mediterranean, now modern-day Tel Aviv. Succumbing to an illness, she dies and is then visited by Peter who prays and she is raised back to life. At first sight, the eternal life on display here would seem to be in a dead person coming back to life, showing that death does not have the final word.
But I think there is more going on that in this story, and to get us thinking about I want us to imagine the scene in the upstairs room. Peter has been called, and when he goes up to see Tabitha he is confronted with a number of mourning widows putting on an impromptu clothing display, holding up tunics and other items which Tabitha had made. These socially and economically vulnerable women – for that is what widows in the first century were - are witnessing to Tabitha’s good works and acts of charity and love for which she was clearly well-known.
Here's the important point. Tabitha’s eternal life didn’t simply start when she opened her eyes and saw Peter looking at her. Her eternal life had begun the moment she became a disciple of Jesus Christ and it was expressed in a life of love and service, of which the widows and their clothes were a powerful physical reminder.
Eternal life does not start at the grave. Eternal life starts now. It is about a quality of life not simply a quantity. It is a life which finds joy and meaning not in power or status or wealth for wealth’s sake but rather in love and service of others and the praise and worship of God.
Of all the happy memories I have of Royal Maundy, one of the most precious is going across to the Great Hall of the Castle about 8 o’clock in the morning and meeting the recipients as they gathered there. I was so moved listening to their stories of Christian care and service, all done not for praise or recognition but out of love for the Lord. These were people living out eternal life.
One of the encouraging aspects about the ministry of the new Pope Leo XIV is his track record of missionary work among communities in Peru, a ministry characterised, we understand, by a deep care for others and service in the local community. To this degree he is a worthy successor to Peter who did not consider himself above doing a bereavement visit and showing care and concern. This is the stuff of eternal life.
Earlier on in John 10 Jesus referred to life in all its fullness and that is what eternal life is all about. It is about finding where lasting joy is to be found, namely life lived in relationship with God and service of others. It may sound simple – and it is – but as humans we do a really good job of looking for life in all its fulness elsewhere.
Eighty years ago the UK population demonstrated through the government they elected a commitment to values of love, care and service of others. The welfare state that was created after the war was a remarkable leap of imagination that showed that victory in WWII needed to mean something more to be a victory really worth its name.
As we navigate in our region, nation and world through unchartered political waters, we will do well to remember the Christian contribution to an understanding of what human flourishing looks like. It is seen in that upstairs room in Joppa, a community of care and service of others – the stuff of daily, eternal life. As we live with genuine fears and real challenges in our nation and world, I pray as Christians we will witness to the qualities and values of eternal life.
When we are tempted to think that life in all its fulness is to be found in achieving power over others, or ever-increasing levels of material affluence, or celebrity status, I think we are invited to recall what eternal life is all about. Yes, it is about victory over the grave – death will not be the end – but it is about much more than that. Eternal life is what Tabitha lived in love and service and what made her so attractive to others. Eternal life is what shone out from the Royal Maundy recipients. Eternal life is what I believe Pope Leo XIV will live out to the world.
I thank God for the eternal life lived out in the service and care of this cathedral community, both those worshipping with us today and those who work and volunteer throughout the week. You are witnesses that life in all its fulness is to be found not in serving ourselves but serving others, not in simply acquiring more for ourselves but sharing what we have received, not in seeking status for ourselves but seeking the praise who one who died and rose again for us, the one who has won the ultimate victory and invites us to live in his freedom, in his peace and in his love. Fed spiritually by the love of Jesus Christ in his body and blood, may we live that eternal life, today and forever. Amen.