Comments from a pastor with experience in parish ministry and hospital chaplaincy in Southern California and in Europe:

This Case Study ends with Charlotte considering how to prepare her sermon for the Sunday morning worship service, which will take place tomorrow. Vic's death affects many people. Not only has he been a father to his son and a leader in the congregation and community, but many people, and perhaps the congregation, itself, have depended on him for his generous financial assistance. Charlotte is correct in deciding to make Vic Vargo, his position in the community, and the effect of his death on Almond Springs the focus of the sermon.

In this situation, I see that to many in the community the world may seem to be crumbling around them. As I developed the sermon, I would use the Exile as a biblical metaphor through which we can begin to reckon with the events of the past day and the continuing effect of Vic's death on all of us. In Exile, Israel codified her history. The stories of Israel's origins were organized, written down, and probably told many times. Spiritual resources were found in both story and law which helped to give strength and identity to a people who were trying to come to terms with the loss of the kind of life they had known. People living "in a strange land" were able to preserve both identity and hope by telling the stories that remind them of who they are and of how God has acted graciously on their behalf from the very beginning of time.

The biblical creation story, in particular, will be helpful to us. It asserts that in Creation, God brought order out of chaos. The world is portrayed as a friendly world carefully brought into being by a good God. This helped Israel to maintain faith that God would again bring order out of the chaos of the Exile. Likewise, the biblical account of Creation can help us to hold on to hope in the chaos and sadness which will follow the death of a very influential member of the Almond Springs community.

In preaching the sermon on Sunday I would begin by simply reading the biblical account of Creation. I would not try to explain or comment on this scripture until later. Instead, I would move abruptly into the more obviously pastoral part of the sermon. I would share my experience of Vic's death, sharing some of what happened at the hospital. I would also make a point of sharing my feelings of loss and confusion about Vic's death, and how it was affecting me personally. I would hope that the rest of the congregation would begin to identify with my feelings. Next I would acknowledge some of the ways that Vic had been important in the community and in the church so that others might become more comfortable recognizing the effects of his death on themselves and on the whole community.

Finally, I would return to the Creation story. I can now interpret Creation to the congregation. I would explain that during the Exile, the Creation story had taught Israel that out of chaos, a good God had brought order. We can be assured that even though life in Almond Springs may be chaotic just now, a good God is working to bring order. There will be life for us even as we work through this experience of exile.