“No Escape … Only Preparation“, by Rev. Tom Duley
Sermon Series: Dysfunctional Families of the Old Testament
When I was called into ministry I was both happy and cautious. It was an amazing thing to me (and still is) that God would want me to be a minister in his Church. That thought gave me great joy. But my joy was tempered by much caution. I was cautious because I simply did not believe that I was worthy of this calling. But, in moving through the process of discernment my calling was confirmed and I was ordained in the United Methodist Church. One of the things I was most cautious about was being with people when they were facing death. The thought of being with someone who had just lost a loved one or of being with someone who was facing their own death gave me great pause. I knew that eventually this situation would come my way and I was terrified by the prospect. When I was called to my first death bed situation I made a complete mess of it. However, as time has passed I have come to realize that one of the highest privileges a minister has is to be with people as they deal with death. Today we will look at the death of Sarah. Looking at her death will give us the opportunity to think about our own deaths and how we are going about preparing for that time in our life.
~Tom Duley
The Word
Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites, “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.”
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