Original sermon from October 13, 1984
16th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 8:5-15

Icon of the Sower of Seeds

On Death

Today’s Gospel is about planting seeds. It recalls a verse from St. John’s Gospel also about planting seeds. John 12:24.

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

There is a story of a young man who was raised in the church, went to church school, was an altar server, but has stopped attending during his teenage years. He met his pastor one day while driving his motorcycle. The pastor asked why he did not attend church anymore. His answer was about his new motorcycle. He said “I am too busy; I have my new motorcycle and having to much fun.” A week later the pastor happened to see his body laying in the street, He had run into a telephone pole and was killed.

Death is all around us. We think it is not going to happen to us. We see death in nature. Animals die and leaves fall. We experience death when a loved one dies. We know that it is unavoidable as we say, “the only thing for sure in life is death and taxes.” We tend to push it off because we don’t want to deal with it. This is called denial. We can take a philosophical position about life after death hoping there is such a thing. We speculate about death and rebirth as in reincarnation, as the Hindu’s teach. These thoughts become far more frequent as we age. Thoughts about death were no different in times past. Both the Egyptians and Aztecs wallowed in death. In modern times we see a lot of death on TV; how many die in a video game? We see a lot of death, but we deny it because of its terror. Death really is our only true enemy, and it can’t be conquered by us. To defeat death, we must face it and come to terms with it.

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Jesus teaches us that if we love life and want it to continue, we must lose it. If we hate our life and can give it up, we will gain eternal life. What does Jesus mean by these words? The answer may be found in the way the Orthodox Church approaches death. The day of a person’s death is considered a great and glories day. The day is commemorated as is done on the day a saint dies. We sing Memory Eternal which should be sung joylessly. Each time a person dies we proclaim that Christ defeated death. In the Old Testament psalms we read, “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

We are influenced by our society which does everything to belittle and deny death. Modern funeral practices express this denial. The celebration of Halloween treats death as a joke to spread fear with skeletons, ghosts and zombies.

Why should we fear something which has already happened. Well, you may say “I haven’t died yet.” Actually, as baptized Orthodox Christians you have.

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death… buried with him and raised from the dead. Romans 6:3

Those who have been baptized have already died. If we believe what St. Paul says in Roman’s, then it is all over for us. Death is just a passing to a new life just as we go through a doorway into a new room. We are the seed which has fallen to the ground and dies, springing up to eternal life.

How much are we tied to this life? Are we willing to give up our life to gain life? What are we attached to: material positions, relationships, life itself? Are we willing to give them all up? Those attachments mean we are loving this life, which will bring about our loss of life.

The American Indians are a very spiritual people. They have a practice where a man would show his detachment by giving away everything he has from the clothes on his back, to his closest relationships. We can learn from them.

St. Paul says in 1Timothy 6, Godliness and contentment is a great gain for we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.

A prayer from the funeral service:

Where are this world’s pleasures? Where is the display of glories that pass away? Where are the gold and the silver? Where are the throng of servants and their clamor? All are ashes, dust, and shadows. But come, let us cry to the immortal King: “Judge him who has departed from us, O Lord, to be worthy of Your eternal blessings. Give rest to him in unending blessedness.”