“Death “No subject is more
difficult for us to face than that of death. I say, “Death is a very dull, miserable
thing, and I use to put my head in the sand and think to myself,” I do not
whatsoever want to deal with it. But, of course, we can’t evade it. We all have
loved ones and friends who have died or will die. And we must die. But it’s
still difficult to think about it. I repeat,” No subject is more difficult for
us to face than that of death. People even often say,
see you tomorrow unless I’m dead. With That question/word in mind, it has
caused me so much confusion as a child of God’s. Especially, when as a very
young man, I experienced the death of my mother. Within the distinct pain of
grief, I could hear her voice reminding me that the bible says,” that since
Christ defeated death, we’re supposed to be joyful and victorious through it
all”. Losing her was so overwhelming for
me at that age that I denial her words of wisdom as well the process of
grieving even today as an adult; not knowing at the time she was preparing me
for the things that would come, often I could hear the echoes of her voice, reminding
me how God will work it all together for good, believe it to be true. You will
still grieve, be scared and feel the pain and God has a purpose for all of his
Children of Faith.
It
would be a great ending for me to say all is well, Not! Throughout my life it
has been hard to even attend a funeral (I may add hospital as well) of a
friend, student or family member without feeling some kind of mental or emotional
pain. All this time my ears were locked out of the messages given at each
funeral, until recently. I decided to
take the plunge and really listen and unlock my ears to Pastor Langewish as he preached, while
attending a series of funerals at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Wow, I must admit,
it took several funerals to really understand the happiness, joy and imagery he
presented each time. He reminded us all that, a funeral is not primarily about
the deceased. A funeral is for the you, the “Living”. The deceased are in good
shape with the Lord as he individualized their eulogy and thank God for them.
But the message he presented to us was for all the people who were in
attendance, those who were remembering, those like me who were grieving
silently. This was one of celebration. He talked about Jesus. He
did it carefully, tastefully, joyfully with a gladness and energy on his face
that I had never seen before it was so natural and done in an un-sanctimonious
way; in terms that the man on the street appreciated (in my case my mind as if
I was a child). He once said, our role is to show the relevance of Jesus in
this death.
Oh! How precious is the dust of a
believer!” This means death can neither hurt their body nor yet their souls,
and then it is well with then. Death will not have the last word for Jesus has conquered the
grave. Because he rose, we too shall rise. In that faith we take courage to
live for Christ with reckless abandon because death is not the end of our
story. After each funeral all I could see on each person’s face was a smile as big
as a “Sugar Cookie”.
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be
uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve
like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who
have fallen asleep in him. According
to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until
the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen
asleep. For
the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are
left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.18 Therefore encourage one
another with these words”. 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18
This lesson says to me, “No matter how high you rise, how long
you are in the flight, you will still need to fall down. That is given. And to
cope with the fear of this fall is very easy – stop thinking about yourself as
the master of your body. Face the thought that you are just a tenant. And
because you don’t know the length of your rent, remember that it can end at any
second. We are all debtors, and our debts will certainly be recovered, no
matter if we are afraid of it or not. So, is there a point of being afraid?”
Genesis 23 provides
some answers to the question of how believers should deal with death. Abraham,
the man of faith, loses his wife, Sarah. His response reflects both realism and
faith. It is interesting that only two verses deal with Sarah’s death and
Abraham’s grief, whereas 18 verses deal with his negotiations to secure a
burial plot. You have to ask, why is so much space devoted to that which, at
first glance, seems insignificant? The answer is given in Hebrews
11:13-16, which talks about Abraham and Sarah’s faith.
The most important thing to remember regarding death is the
truth about life. You love your family and care for them, but God loves them
more. You may worry about your earthly legacy, but God’s more concerned with a
kingdom perspective. All the paperwork in the world won’t bring the peace of
mind of one simple action: “Abide In me” John 15:4. When we are able to keep
that kingdom perspective, we’ll be able to fulfill
1 John 3:1-2 “See how great a love the Father has
bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For
this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved,
now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We
know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as
He is.”
It will be so evident that we do not belong in this world
that others will see it, too. We will so take ownership of our position as
children of God that we will actively seek the day we can be like Christ and
see Him as He is.
Although we may have
hurt in the memory of that loved one while we are in this life and go through
the grief process, there will come a time when each born-again believer will be
with the Lord. In that day “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" Revelation 21:4.
We cannot comprehend how that will be because we live in time and are
constrained by our finite minds. However, just the thought of that is enough to
bring comfort and encouragement. When we see the Lord, all of the sorrow we
have now will disappear. "You now have sorrow; but I will see you again
and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you" John
16:22.
In the meantime, we can lean on the everlasting arms of
God, who feels our pain and comforts us with His great love and mercy.
God Bless You and This Ministry!
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