Father, a lot is going on right now. I would pray that you would watch over us, keep us safe, bring us through exactly to the place You want us to be. Amen.
Acts 2:22-41 (<<click here to read the passage)
Death. We don’t like talking about it. We don’t like planning for it – even though we know that it is inevitable. Christians like to throw in a statement regarding Jesus’ ultimate return, hoping that we can sidestep death and stride right into God’s presence. That day will surely come but we best be prepared for what will surely come.
This past December I officiated the services of three wonderful women. The first was a dear friend that I had worked with for several years at my third “church” – Kohl’s. By just about everyone’s account, she was far too young to have succumbed to death. She was a young 57.
The other two ladies were members of one of the first congregations that I pastored in the United Methodist Church. I thought of them as old then but that was 20 years ago! One was 92 and the other missed her 100th birthday by a mere 21 days! They were quite a bit older, but did that make their passing any easier on those who loved them? No…there were tears shed at all three partings. The deaths of all three were felt deeply by many.
And they are most certainly not alone. We have all lost family and other loved ones in recent memory. And, really, just because they are recent doesn’t matter a whole lot. Those we have lost in years past can still bring tears to our eyes – mothers, fathers, grandparents, and the list goes on and on.
In my 20 years of pastoral ministry, I’ve been a part of 58 services where people have had to say their final goodbyes to those near and dear to their hearts. But I can’t hold a candle to my dad who just retired from the ministry three years ago at the “young” age of 81. The funeral and graveside services at which he officiated numbered well into the hundreds.
So why this morbid topic? After all, I did say we don’t like talking about it.
After the infilling of the Holy Spirit of those 120 gathered in the upper room, Peter stepped out to address the crowd of astonished onlookers. We find a portion of his sermon in verses 23-24. He declared,
“…this Man [Jesus], when handed over [to the Roman authorities] according to the predetermined decision and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross and put to death by the hands of lawless and godless men. But God raised Him up, releasing Him and bringing an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in death’s power.” AMP
What got my attention was that last sentence, which I emboldened.
So many of the services that have been held throughout the millennia remembering those who have gone before us have been filled with agony. Each passing individual it seems has been impossibly wrapped in death’s clutches and we’ve been powerless to overcome it.
But that is where we are wrong!
Death’s power has been defeated! The agony of death has been brought to end! Yes, we still have to deal with it. But in the scheme of time, it is but a breath. Only the shell of those who die in the Lord has been destroyed. Only their souls have left us, and we will see them again when we are united in the glorified bodies we will inhabit for all of eternity! Death no longer has the final word. God took care of that! Eternal praise to Him!
Jan 4th, 2022, Tues, 5:51 pm
