Sunday of the Dead – Eternity Sunday

 *** Der deutsche Original-Text wurde gestern eingestellt. 

“Commemorating the dead. Eternity Sunday in November, also called Sunday of the Dead, is dedicated to remembering those who died. Besides commemorating the dead, it is a concern in many worship services to encourage more awareness of our lives and times. This day of commemoration dates back to the Reformation. It is also the end of the Church Year.” (translated from the Webpage of the Protestant Church in Germany.)

Sunday of the Dead. That is how the Church Year ended two days ago. In November no less. No surprise if our mood is far from cheerful… We think of loss and maybe of failing to say what we should have said to those who are now not with us anymore. This year has been particularly painful for many, because we ware unable to stand by those who died, quite literally: unable to stand by their beds to hold their hands; because of the risk of infection, because of travel restrictions. No chance to physically express the love we did feel and could never find the right words for.

Eternity Sunday. That is the other name for last Sunday. That is how God enters the scene and by God’s gracious powers, we all of us, as well as our deceased are wonderfully sheltered.

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning
and never fails to greet us each new day.

Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,
still evil days bring burdens hard to bear.
O give our frightened souls the sure salvation
for which, O Lord, you taught us to prepare.

And when this cup you give is filled to brimming
with bitter suffering, hard to understand,
we take it thankfully and without trembling,
out of so good, and so beloved, a hand.

And this last Sunday in the Church Year is always followed by Advent.
A time of waiting and a time of hope.

Yet when again, in this same world, you give us
the joy we had, the brightness of your sun,
we shall remember all the days we lived through,
and our whole life shall then be yours alone.

Now, when your silence deeply spreads around us,
O let us hear all your creation says -
that world of sound which soundlessly invades us,
and all your children's highest hymns of praise.

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning,
and never fails to greet us each new day.*

I could not say it better that Dietrich Bonhoeffer: our mourning, our fears of pain still to come we can place in God’s hands and what we are given is hope, not the promise of a life without pain, but hope that we will be comforted and that we will not be alone in our suffering.

*Dietrich Bonhoeffer, By Graceous Powers, in his letters to his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer, written in prison in December 1944. Dietrich Bonhoeffer belonged to the Confessional Church and participated in plans to overthrow Hitler. He was hanged for this by the Nazi regime. The theologian and pastor stands for upright Protestants who dared to stand for their faith – even against the powerful of their time.