Rex Stout said there are two sources for statistics—the ones you look up and the ones you make up. But there’s one statistic beyond question: One out of every one dies. Gulp!
But something strange has happened to death in recent years. It seems to have gone AWOL. Nobody wants to think about it while we’re living, even when it looks like it’s just around the corner. And funerals? No thanks. If we can’t avoid the passing of a loved one entirely, keep it short and sweet, and call it a celebration of life.
But Solomon, the wise man, wrote, “Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart” (Eccl 7:2) Better to go to a funeral than a party?
Funerals are speed bumps on life’s road, making us slow down and think. Questions like: “If that was my body in the casket, where would I be?” Or, “Am I using my time wisely?” As Moses put it, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Ps 90:12) Life is a limited-time offer.
Funerals also give us an opportunity to put our beliefs to the test. It isn’t enough for your religion to work for you in the good times. It needs to work when the doc says, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”
I remember the first funeral at which I officiated. The young man was exactly my age. The mother professed to be very religious, but she threw herself right into the grave, wailing, “Jimmy, Jimmy, I’ll never see you again.” Her religion definitely wasn’t working.
Here are the plain facts. We don’t go in order, and no one knows who’s next. Maybe you. Maybe me. Sometimes we have time to get ready; sometimes we don’t. Better to have your bags packed for the last big trip.
On very good authority, there are only two destinations. Jesus, who lived in heaven and came to explain the way there, held that view (see Lk 16:19-31). He spoke more about hell than heaven. His love was warning us.
Contrary to the common idea, heaven is not gained by religious activity or self improvement. Otherwise, Jesus would not have died. He explained, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Lk 5:32) In other words, all He’s asking for is that we get honest about our own chronic moral lapses and our lack of peace when we think about meeting God.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Paul wrote, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1) What does that mean?
“Justified” means God can justly declare me right if I accept His Son as my replacement. He died for me.
“By faith” means we just take God at His word. He says I’m a sinner? Guilty as charged. He says Christ died for sinners? That means me. He asks me to agree with Him and the deal is done. We have “peace with God” through the Lord Jesus.
Death then becomes our doorman, opening the palace gate to the amazing possibilities that are out of this world.
Religion Page article by Jabe Nicholson first published in the Commercial Dispatch on Sunday, Sep 26, 2021.