October 30, 2021
Westbury, NY
John 6:37-40
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
For those who don’t know me, my name is George Baum, and I am an Episcopal priest, living in Ohio. And I’m also sort of still on the staff here at THE LIFE, as Content Editor and Social Media editor. (You can’t get rid of me, just because I live two states away.) I’ve known Pastor Vetrano and his family for . . . longer than I haven’t known them. Pastor Justin and I are Godfathers to one another’s eldest children. (I mean, like literal godfathers.) And Pastor Vetrano asked me to say a few words this morning. Now, I know you’ve already heard a lot of words today, so I am going to keep the emphasis on a few . . . words this morning.
So the first words I want to say are from the mouth of Jesus. In the 6th chapter of John’s gospel, we read:
Jesus said to the people, “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day."
“This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” This is my absolute favorite verse in the whole Bible.
I have told my family—and anyone else who will listen—that this is the gospel reading I want at my own funeral. And then I want the preacher to come up, and read those words again: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” And then, I want the preacher to read the fist law of thermodynamics—about the conservation of energy—and then just sit back down. That’s it. I honestly think Bob Vetrano would get a kick out of that. Because, just like Pop pop’s hideous shirt, it is subversive, and it is true. But let me explain.
In a nutshell, the law of the conservation of energy states that energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed; they can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another. You can turn matter into energy, and you can turn energy into matter, but you can never actually lose anything. Anything in the entire universe. Physical things can never be destroyed; they can only be changed, because they are part of this closed system of creation. (And don’t even get me started on how every speck of zinc in your body was created in the aftermath of a supernova.) Jesus said, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
Or, going back to the 3rd chapter of Genesis, you could think of it another way: Out of dust we were formed, and to dust we shall return . . . until the last day when Jesus raises us back up, because Jesus loses nothing that belongs to him.
Yes, Bob Vetrano is lost to us—while we continue our earthly pilgrimage—but he never was, and is not now, lost to God. Jesus does not lose what is his. We are precious in his sight, and he holds us tightly throughout our lives, even when we don’t notice that we are being held. Bob was given to Jesus in Baptism. Just as you were given to God in your Baptism. Jesus is holding onto Bob, and Jesus is holding onto you.
Jesus said, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” May we all trust in the promises of Jesus, and live our lives knowing that we too will be raised up on the last day. Because we are precious in God’s sight, we belong to Jesus, and Jesus does not lose what is his. Not even Pop pop's hideous shirt. Nothing and no one is lost to Jesus. Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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