A friend is dying. Life has not been kind to this dear man. His body over time has become a personal prison, a cage that is shut and locked. Modern medicine could only offer faint whispers of hope, a few illusive shadows of a better tomorrow, and nothing more. However, in his long struggle, his faith remains. He clutches to a singular promise: The dead will rise again and live forever. His conversation during this difficult time has been clear and pointed: How can a man know for sure if eternity is his? Can a person ever rest in the knowledge that they truly are a child of God? Is salvation a certainty or only a topic of after-dinner discussions for learned theologians? In our current religious culture, topics concerning life after death, judgment seats, and eternal rewards seem trivial and speculative. As one modern writer quips, "eternal life is less about a kind of time that starts when we die, and more about a quality and vitality of life now." So books on "having your best life now," "maximizing the moment", and "discovering the power within you" are flying off the shelves because they perfectly appeal to the candy coated appetite of consumer America. Meanwhile we put eternal realities on hold, because we are too busy chasing the glitter and sparkle of the stuff we want to have now! I still believe the writer of Ecclesiastes was right, "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." Facing the truth that your body is wearing out is frightening. We hide the sick and dress up the dead. We celebrate youth. So we lift more weights, eat less gluten, suck in our cheeks, and flex in the mirror. But when it is your turn to lay in the hospital bed and watch fluid drip - - you begin to ask real questions. Life comes into focus and plastic religious slogans no longer work. A friend is dying. That means answers must be honest. He wants to know if you, as his pastor, really believe what you say. Pain will not put up with a poser. Sadly, most Christians these days are. That is why so few visit the sick. But my friend needs answers, you need answers, your children need answers. I love how C. S. Lewis answers the question concerning eternity: "We are very shy nowadays of even mentioning heaven. We are afraid of the jeer about ‘pie in the sky’, and of being told that we are trying to ‘escape’ from the duty of making a happy world here and now into dreams of a happy world elsewhere. But either there is ‘pie in the sky’ or there is not. If there is not, then Christianity is false, for this doctrine is woven into its whole fabric. If there is, then this truth, like any other, must be faced, whether it is useful at political meetings or no. Again, we are afraid that heaven is a bribe, and that if we make it our goal we shall no longer be disinterested. It is not so. Heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can desire. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to. There are rewards that do not sully motives. A man’s love for a woman is not mercenary because he wants to marry her, nor his love for poetry mercenary because he wants to read it." Heaven, resurrection and life eternal is "woven into our whole fabric." If there is not 'pie in the sky', who cares about the meal down here? What use is it if we enjoy a fancy dinner of eating for seventy to eighty years, and then like a mindless cow, go to the slaughterhouse of the grave left with nothing? Rather silly life of total futility isn't it; even if I look and act cool wearing an expensive suit while eating at the most exquisite restaurants? And then you have to consider the 'what if?' What if I choose to ignore all the scriptural warnings and then they prove to be true? What if they are worse than I anything I could ever imagine? People are not smart because they choose to ignore what they cannot see. People are not brilliant because they can smugly sneer at death while thumbing their nose at what lies beyond. The wise consider all the options. Wisdom especially listens to the words of the man who has faced death and survived. That man is Jesus. A friend is dying...and he is wise. He is clinging to Jesus! Are you?
4 Comments
stacie
4/7/2015 10:33:28 pm
Love everything about this!
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Chris
4/8/2015 01:49:36 am
Stacie, right now, you are living well. Most people that die poorly never knew how to live well. Will is proof of your love of Jesus!
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Jill
4/8/2015 12:17:19 am
A brother lays dying! And he is wise, he is clinging to Jesus! I am so very sad as I read this, knowing that soon we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death with him.
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Chris
4/8/2015 01:45:34 am
jill, it is a privilege serving you and your family
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