Last Sunday after Pentecost 23.11.08 Taking the sting out of death.
The last Sunday. Everything has an end. Endings can be sad, sometimes glad, like a bad film or speech. Or school.
Either way things must end. Fortunately people do not end entirely, just change addresses – from earth to Heaven, preferably.
Death is a great separator of people, but does not have the final word. Life is changed not ended.
We are familiar with death insofar as we know it must happen; and we have experienced the death of others.
For all that it is an extraordinary adventure we are not familiar with. We say, Prepare for it, but we do not know the first thing about it in many ways. So we need lots of encouragement and reassurance. Is there a way to overcome the fear of death?
What is it we fear? Several things.
The pain of dying
Facing judgment
Leaving behind those we love
The general unknown of the whole thing.
What is the remedy for all these fears? Well, the sting of death is sin.
It is sin which makes death as frightening as it is.
If we could get rid of the sin death would have no sting and we would approach it without fear.
Or to put it another way – Getting rid of sin is the same as coming into closer union with Christ.
Sin is whatever divides us from Christ. As we draw closer to Him the sin evaporates. He forgives it, removes it, and gives us grace not to sin again.
Thus we do not fear pain because we do that only when we are too preoccupied with ourselves. Union with Christ frees us to think about others not just self.
We do not fear judgment because we are close to Him and in a state of grace. Thus our salvation is assured.
We do not fear leaving people and things behind because we entrust everyone and everything to Him.
Develop the spiritual instinct and we do not cling so much to the material. The only reason we cling to this life is that we have not familiarised ourselves enough with the spiritual dimension. It is all very shadowy and distant to us, but it need not be.
We do not fear the unknown because it is known to Him and we trust Him to carry us through as He has done in every other part of our lives.
The crucial thing at all times is get rid of the sin. Confess it, repent it, stamp it out, break the bad habits, and in its place will come a new peace and serenity.
Some prefer not to talk about death. That is their way of coping.
Others cope by stressing the certainty of heaven, and they do mean certain. Everyone goes there!
We cope by making sure we are in union with Jesus Christ, the one essential quality which will carry us to Heaven.
And we can look forward to Heaven. We cannot imagine Heaven clearly but it is no less real for that. It is one happy ending that can be guaranteed. There is a lot to be looked forward to in death if we get it right.
In any case it is inevitable so we have to face it somehow. Why not with the full light of faith and hope?
One more fear: Is it a lonely thing to die? In one sense, yes, because each dies alone. No one can go with us. But people from Heaven can accompany us, and they do. Not least Our Lord Himself; the One who is to judge us is already with us.
The Last Sunday, but not the end of us. No Last Sunday for us because we will live forever!
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