01-04-2022
For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted…
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray. Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
I Peter 4:7-8
Tomorrow we will be “laying to rest” a beloved sister in Christ. She has lived a long and beautiful life. It was time for her to depart her earthly vessel.
In the last two years we have regrettably bid farewell to many of our family and friends. It is almost unbearable the amount of death we have seen during this epidemic. And, yet, the Bible expressly tells us…there is a time to die.
Perhaps you've heard the Latin phrase "Memento Mori" - simply translated, it means, "Remember, you must die."
And not just people. Things as well. Businesses have closed. Schools have been shut down. Athletic events canceled. Travel forbidden. And yes, some houses of worship have permanently shut their doors. There is a time to die.
Peter - a fisherman, husband, follower of a wandering homeless Rabbi and one who was not afraid to speak his mind - told the readers of one of his letters that “the end of all things is near.” And the homeless Rabbi he followed? He spoke often of the end.
Lately - and we have no intentions of being morbid here - it seems that the word “expiration” has been popping up more than we want it to. Milk expires. Bread expires. Your car warranty expires (but don’t worry, they’ll call you and let you know that). Churches expire. We expire.
But that should not shake us. Whether we use the term expired, closed down, closed out, shut down, phased out, turned off, promoted to glory, inherit our reward, extinguished, quelled, suppressed, silenced, or even folded…none of us escapes the truth that we will die. It is what it is.
But, is that bad?
This might be a good time to remind ourselves that those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ also believe his words, “Don't be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. There are many rooms in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. You know the way to where I am going.”
Without making everyone upset…we don’t really know that much about heaven. Truth be told the Bible is not completely clear about what happens to us when we die. There are illustrations, ideas, thoughts, words, and interpretations galore. Yet, no one really knows…only the Designer, Creator and Architect knows. Yet, we believe. We have faith.
The wonderful Christian author James Packer writes about this dilemma in his book, “Your Father Loves You.” He says: “We know very little about heaven, but I once heard a theologian describe it as ‘an unknown region with a well-know inhabitant,’ and there is not a better way to think of it than that.”
Richard Baxter, the 17th century Puritan expressed the thought in these lines: "My knowledge of that life is small, the eye of faith is dim, but it's enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with him."
To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting him face to face and being with him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us…and, not so ironically, especially when life ends.
Perhaps it was Ira Stanphill who understood it best:
I don't know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine, for its skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future, for I know what Jesus said,
And today I'll walk beside Him, for He knows what is ahead.
Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.
Steve and Missy
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