do what we do?
Trumpet calls in church
At a recent funeral we played the Last Post and Reveille as part of an RSL farewell to a returned serviceman.
Why these two particular trumpet commands; the last of the day signalling lights our and the first commanding all to get out of bed ready for service.
At this point we see again the profound way in which the message about Jesus of Nazareth has penetrated out culture.
We play the Last Post to farewell a dead comrade, to remind ourselves that we will all face death whether in battle or our beds. None of us, even our heros, are immortal. What the Apostle Paul calls ‘the wages of sin” come even to the most noble of humanity.
We pause, we mourn, we remember.
But we are not left “to grieve as those without hope”. (1 Thessalonians 4. 13-18)
Reveille is sounded. A new day is announced. We are called to look forward to the day of resurrection. We are reminded that all who die in the faith of Christ are destined for a “resurrection like his”. (Romans 6.1-5)
So when you hears these call remember the Easter message:
Christ is Risen
He is risen, indeed!