November 2, 2024 – All Saints (Transferred)

The Wisdom of Solomon is an infrequent visitor to the lectionary, but chapter 3 has etched its way into our liturgical life. In the Burial Rite of the Book of Common Prayer, we are invited to pray:

In the midst of life we are in death;
from whom can we seek help?
From you alone, O Lord,
who by our sins are justly angered.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

Lord, you know the secrets of our hearts;
shut not your ears to our prayers,
but spare us, O Lord.

O worthy and eternal Judge,
do not let the pains of death
turn us away from you at our last hour.

This prayer has its theological roots in the Wisdom of Solomon as well.

The church listens with longing faith for the promise from the Wisdom of Solomon that the “souls of the righteous are in the hand of God.” Conventional wisdom, though, would tell us otherwise as dirt being flung into a casket-filled grave suggests that we finish this life as unrighteous – tossed into the dirt. For all appearances, it is foolish to think otherwise. And that is precisely why the author pushes us beyond “all appearances.” Because, as the text says, our souls are in the hand of God and “no torment will ever touch them.” This is a definitive statement that even though there may be suffering and hardship in the present time, the souls of the righteous will immediately encounter peace in the afterlife. And this is precisely why we are urged not to let the pains of death turn us away from the loving hand of God at the end.

For the Roman Catholics among us, today’s reading defines and provides a basis for purgatory. In verses 4-6, the soul is disciplined, tested, and refined in readiness to join God. The purification of the soul takes place so that the soul will meet God’s will. We can hear an exhortation to be strong and to cling to faith despite any persecution. Article XXII of the Articles of Religion states that the “Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory” is “grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God” (BCP, p. 872). This specifically references the “Romish” practice of Purgatory – selling indulgences that reduced the amount of time of atonement needed for a particular sin – not the concept of Purgatory in general. Regardless, Purgatory is seldom mentioned in Anglican descriptions or speculations concerning life after death, although many Anglicans believe in a continuing process of growth and development after death.

So WHY, then, do we pray for the dead? Do we really believe that our prayers affect the process of growth in God’s love of those who have gone before us? Do we really believe that what we do here on Earth can affect the journey through the process of purification and growth that our departed loved ones are undergoing?

What’s hard to comprehend is that a loving God would arbitrarily choose to sentence someone to an extra minute in a place of suffering. But God values our growth too much to shorten our stay by one minute less than we need. If the knowledge that we are praying in solidarity with those souls actually affects a person’s spiritual growth, then our prayers for the dead are not just to appease God, but to strengthen those people journeying through the process of growth.

People cheering others on make a difference. It’s easier to do something difficult when there are people watching, cheering, telling you that you can do it. Their support changes the experience for those who are doing. Perhaps our prayers for the departed are the same thing. We can’t influence God to set them free from purgatory, and we can’t buy their way out. But maybe our solidarity can help them through, give them strength. We pray for the dead because we still hold them in our love, and because we trust that in God’s presence those who have chosen God will grow in God’s love until they see God as God is.

The doctrine of Purgatory ultimately expresses the hope that God’s power extends beyond the reach of the grave. We hold out hope that we are delivered into the bitterness of eternal death, but are spared through God’s grace and mercy. It is an expression of our assurance as Christians that nothing – not even death – can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Savior.