Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

Home Archives for Death

Resurrection People

Posted on Written by Leave a Comment

I read this sentence in Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright and thought I would share it with you.

“Our task in the present . . . is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.”

Resurrection PeopleThere is a challenge at the end of this sentence. The way Christians live should give evidence of the truth of Easter. The way Christians live should also give people a foretaste of what life will be like when Jesus comes back to make everything right.

If Easter really happened (I believe it did), then why do I get upset by the small things in my life. If death is truly conquered, what problem that I face is bigger than death? (Tweet This)

Also, the fact that salvation is only on the basis of God’s grace and the work of Jesus, we can live in the confidence that when the final day takes place, it will be a day of rejoicing. The king will return, depose the usurpers and set everything right. That will be a party and our life right now should reflect that hope.

As N. T. Wright points out, this hope will affect our worship and our mission. It will affect our gatherings and what we do out in the world.

We are to be resurrection people.

N. T. Wright on Death and Tyrants

Posted on Written by 2 Comments

On death and tyrants“Death is the last weapon of the tyrant, and the point of the resurrection, despite much misunderstanding, is that death has been defeated. Resurrection is not he redescription of death, it is its overthrow, and, with that, the overthrow of those whose power depends on it. Despite the sneers and slurs of some contemporary scholars, it was those who believed in the bodily resurrection who who were burned at the stake and thrown to the lions.”

N. T. Wright in Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

Farewell to a neighbor: Four lessons I learn from his death

Posted on Written by Leave a Comment

Gravestone
Used by permission of freefoto.com

He was my neighbor. On Friday he was found in his home, the victim of an apparent heart attack. He had been dead for quite some time but no-one knew. His death was entirely unexpected.

I would like to say that he was a good neighbor. I would like to say that he was pleasant and friendly. I would like to say that he had a kind word for anyone and everyone. I would like to say all of these things but none of them were true. He was not a nice man and he terrorized the neighborhood with threats and misinformation.

I am relieved to have to no longer deal with my neighbor’s nonsense. But I find that the initial sense of relief is giving way to a sadness that is of an intensity that is surprising to me.

I will admit that I prayed many times that my neighbor would either move away or be healed. Certainly I did not enjoy the status quo, not knowing if he would become violent or carry through on one of his threats. I also did not enjoy the fact that he took a particular dislike to me. I would have been happy to find that my neighbor moved away. But I was not happy about getting the news of his death.

The way it ended was not something that I wished for him. Ezekiel 18:23 declares “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? This story could have had a much nicer ending.

In the end, my neighbor chose a path that left him alone with no-one to comfort or care for him. He died friendless because of poor choices throughout his life. He was like the proverbial dog that bit the hand of the one who fed him, reaping the consequences of his actions. Over the years people had reached out and tried to help my neighbor but some combination of pride, delusion and anger prevented him from receiving that help.

Could something have been done to help this man? Should the state have stepped in long ago when his behavior started being erratic and antisocial? If current child protection laws were in effect in the 50’s and 60’s could the abuse that my neighbor suffered at the hands of his father have been avoided? If so, would the outcome have been different?

These questions are unanswerable; any answers would be speculative at best. But they highlight one source of my sadness. My neighbor’s life did not have to be what it was. He was the victim of poor choices, some his own and some the choices of his own father. A life not lived well contributes to my sadness.

As a Christian I also understand that there are eternal consequences to the choice that we make in life. Part of my neighbor’s rejection of the people around him was tied up in his rejection of God.

I mentioned above his particular dislike for me. Prior to our purchase of our house, it was a rental property. One of the tenants while it was a rental was the pastor of a local church. His name was also Mark and he also shaved his head. In his delusion, my neighbor would sometime get me confused with that pastor and would express his hatred toward God and the church.

In Matthew 7:23, Jesus warns that a relationship with Jesus is the requirement for entrance into Heaven. I do not presume to know if my neighbor ever entered into that relationship, but there was no evidence that he had. This also contributes to my sadness and forms the bigger portion of it.

All this reminds me of four things:

  1. As C. S. Lewis pointed out, statistics prove that one out of one of us dies. We all must face that ultimate transition and how we end up is a summation of our choices, both small and large. We should, moment-by-moment, choose well.
  2. I am reminded that it is all about relationship. In the end there is one relationship that matters and that is the one with Jesus Christ. The first great command is to love God with our entire being.
  3. The second command is to love our neighbor. It seems to me that one who seeks to live out the two great commands will not die friendless. I am reminded that people matter more than accomplishment or things.
  4. I am reminded that we fathers have a huge responsibility. We must follow the medical code of “first do no harm” and above that seek to do good for our children.

Thoughts on death prompted by my dog

Posted on Written by 1 Comment

SammyI understand that the decline and death of a dog is not a major event in the larger scheme of things. But, our 10 year old golden retriever is having health issues which may lead to his death and it is difficult to watch. Compared to the loss of a spouse, parent, sibling or child, this is a very small hurt, but a real one none-the-less.

There is something in us that balks at death and is rightly angered by it. Yet in our response, we must be careful to understand our part in the root cause of death. We, like our first parents, begin life in rebellion against God. Apart from Christ we are by nature people who choose the behavior that caused death in the first place. In Romans 8:20 Paul tells us that the creation was subjected to futility by our rebellion and that creation groans to be released from that futility.

But God, combining love and justice, opened a way for us to experience life. Jesus took death upon himself so that we might have life. Death was defeated on the Cross. In Christ we are made alive (Ephesians 2:5).

We still must face the temporal consequences of our rebellion. God, in his wisdom, has not removed the consequence of physical death. As C. S. Lewis noted, statistics prove that one out of one of us dies. While I am not anxious for my own death or the death of those I love, I do see physical death as a mercy.

In Romans 7 Paul laments his inability to conquer his sinful tendencies. If Paul could not master himself fully, it is unlikely that I will do better. We know from Scripture that we will not fully expunge sin from our lives. John tells us in 1 John 1:10 that anyone who claims he does not sin is a liar. I ask myself this question in the face of death, would I want to continue forever in this state of partial cleansing? In the absence of fear of the process of dying, the answer would be no, I would prefer to move on and be with Christ. The result of that reunion would be the removal of all trace of sin in my life.

So while we must experience the physical deaths of friends and relatives, in Christ we have the hope of future reunion. While the pain of separation and the suffering leading up to death are very real, the sting is reduced for those who are in Christ.

I find comfort in worship of a God who wept at the grave of a friend, who understands that death and dying did not have to be. We have a God who grieves alongside us in the small hurts and the large. Pain, suffering and death did not have to be and Jesus experienced all these in his Earthly life. As one who has been through the pain, Jesus can connect with my experience and show me hope that I will emerge the better for it.

I will close with Hebrews 4:15–16 from the Amplified Bible:

15 For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

16 Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

Thank God that we don’t have to go it alone.

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama