Its the account of the raising by Jesus of his friend Lazarus. Because the story is a drama with several actors, I have asked some members of the congregation to help with the telling. Today I want to talk with you about a subject that we often find difficult to talk about.
Sex is easy to talk about compared to death.
We as a society don't like to think or talk about suffering and death much, and we do our best to shield ourselves from its reality. One symptom of this denial is that until the recent, growing acceptance of hospice care, the modern practice has been for people to die not in the homes where they had lived their lives, but in hospitals, out of sight, out of mind. Nevermind that the game is fixed, with the final score assured. Some will say it is not. The Templeton Prize for Science and Religion was recently awarded to Ian Barbour, who has written a number of fine books on the interrelationship of religion and science.