I am doing a funeral today. This funeral is for a person who died suddenly and way “too young.” No one expected him to go. He was expected to get up and go to work in the morning. From what I understand, from talking to family and friends, he was a good man; kind, hard working, loved to do things outdoors. I am rather sad I never got to meet this man. 

Sounds like he lived life fully. He was prosperous enough. He was in good enough health. Or so they thought. But both his son and his wife said “He wasn’t a religious man. He wasn’t even all that spiritual. That stuff just wasn’t his thing.” It reminds me of a story Jesus told that is recorded in Luke.

¹⁶Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' ¹⁸Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' ²⁰But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' (Luke 12:16-20)

The stuff still exists, but there is no life to use it… so what good is it? We, as human beings, we live to live. We live each day as if there is no way our world might get turned upside down. We make plans and dreams. We have routines and customs. We have things we love to do, and things that need done, and love or not, all of those things are taken from us. We aren’t asked if it is convenient, there are no options given in the end. And whether the end comes suddenly and unexpectedly, as for our brother whom we lay to rest today, or whether there are weeks and months to prepare, there are dreams unrealized. There are plans that are dangling. There are new demands on the next generation. Decisions must be made. Details must be taken care of. There is about to be an emptiness in the daily and weekly rhythms.

We do not know when “our life will be demanded of us” and we will be no more able to carry out the plans we have made nor fulfill the dreams. What seems “enough” at first glance may not have anything to do with what a person really needs. Our mortality is not something over which we have control. What we really need is love. God’s love is a given, but what good is it if we don’t know it? Building and maintaining a relationship with God is the “real thing.” The love of family and friends is the second most precious and powerful “thing” that we have. Building our life around possessions leaves us empty at the end. Building our life around relationships, with God and with one another, is the source of the real riches in life.

So in this season as we prepare to celebrate the incarnation—God among us in the form of Jesus—make the most of your relationships. Reconcile with those from whom you are estranged. Forgive and be forgiven. Say “thank you” and “I love you” a lot. Take time to really BE with people and with God. It will “make” Christmas for you. I guarantee it.

Blessings to you from Pastor Karla