Читать книгу Living, Dying, Living Forever - David Sherbino - Страница 4

Introduction

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up…a time to seek, and a time to lose. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,6, NRSV)

These words from Ecclesiastes are familiar to most, yet seldom do we give serious consideration to the implication of this message for our lives. On one level we know there is a time for all of us to die, but at another level we want to keep the topic of death away from our day-to-day experience.

Regularly we are confronted by images of death through news events about accidents, homicides, terrorist attacks, civil wars or natural disasters. We are exposed to images of children dying from disease and famine with appeals to the wider community to assist in any way possible. Perhaps some of you have lost a loved one, and you know the sorrow and heartbreak death brings.

In the Old Testament, death was perceived as a reality that needed to be acknowledged. The Psalmist wrote, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). In a recent course I taught on death and dying, students were asked to take some time to discuss their thoughts about death with family members and what they desired when the time came for them to die. At the end of the semester when the subject was revisited, less than half the class had talked to their family members about dying, and of the half who did many of their family members told them they did not want to pursue the conversation. It was too upsetting to think about dying, and they wanted to avoid discussing the topic, because death is something that is bad.

Granted, most would not see death as something good, but some deaths are perceived as better than others. In the Old Testament a premature death was perceived as a bad death, and even today we speak of people dying too young. The implication is that they have not had the opportunity to experience life to the full. When Hezekiah, the king of Judah, was recovering from his illness, he reflected on dying at such a young age. “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?” (Isaiah 38:10).

Death by violence was also considered a bad death. Amos the prophet spoke about Jeroboam, who would die by the sword. Today we still use the words of Jesus: “All who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). The implication is that those who choose to live a violent life will die a violent death, but we also view any death by violence as horrible.

Lastly, to die without an heir was considered a bad death. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells of a man who had no heir and yet worked all of his life, gaining great wealth. Ultimately it was in vain; there was no one to whom he could pass it on, and he would die alone (Ecclesiastes 4:8).

Absalom, the son of King David, was a man whose life embodied all three aspects of a bad death. He died as a young man, he died a violent death, and he left no heir. On the other hand, to die a good death meant you died in old age, having lived your life to the full; you died in peace and you died with your children and family surrounding you.¹ If you ask people today what constitutes a good death they will say, “Having lived a full life, at peace with everyone, and being surrounded by your loved ones.”

These three factors were major concerns about death, but the Old Testament saints had one more concern. They believed death would separate the person from God, and this alone made death so terrible. The prophet Isaiah declared, “The grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise…The living, the living—they praise you” (Isaiah 38:18–19). The thought of death filled people with despair since God could not be praised from the grave, but the psalmist introduced a word of hope. He declared, “God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself” (Psalm 49:15). In other words, death was not the end of it all, but God would take his own to be with him. Ultimately this hope was fully realized by the resurrection of Jesus, who conquered death and assured his followers that death was not final or the end. Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25–26). God triumphed over death!

We will all die, but in order to die well we need to learn to live well. John Henry Cardinal Newman once stated, “Fear not that your life will come to an end, but rather that it will never have had a beginning.”

In medieval times Christians thought about their death. Disease that brought about death was rampant, and daily the death toll rose. The awareness of their impending death caused many to prepare for it through what was termed ars moriendi (the art of dying).² This was a series of instructions on how to prepare for one’s death, and death was seen as a spiritual event that was to be actively undertaken in the light of eternity.

In many respects the life we are living is a prelude and preparation for the life to come. The psychologist Theresa Rando suggests that knowing we will die one day helps us to live differently: we will savour life; we will find new strength to make major decisions; it will reveal the importance of intimacy and to see our achievements as having had significance.³ All this may be true, but from a Christian perspective there is much more.

If we are going to live forever in eternity with God, then first and foremost we need to consider our relationship with God. One day we will step through the doorway of death and stand face to face with God. Knowing this, it is essential we grow in our relationship with God. We need to be focused on developing a deeper intimacy with the One who created us and who called us to be his children. Therefore we need to ask, “Do I love God more and more day by day? Is there anything that is taking his rightful place in my life? Is there anything that is causing me to drift away from him?”

We need to anticipate that along the way there will be challenges and difficulties that can cause us to lose focus. We may drift away from God, or we may find that these troublesome times are really opportunities to learn to depend on him for more and more of his strength. Author Ken Boa writes,

Far from promising a life of ease and prosperity, the New Testament affirms that those who follow Christ will face a new dimension of obstacles and struggles that they did not know before they committed their lives to him. In fact, the intensity of spiritual warfare is proportional to the seriousness of a believer’s response to the terms of discipleship…At the end of his last discourse to his disciples, Jesus assured them “These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).⁴

This workbook is designed to help you explore a number of issues that relate to your life and your relationship with God. In our living and in our dying we need to be assured daily of the grace and love of God. Living, Dying, Living Forever is a spiritual experience that will enable you to consider how to live differently in order that you may die well and have the assurance of living forever. You need to be able to sort out issues that will make the journey exciting and hopeful.

Take your time, explore the issues raised, ask God to give you the insight and wisdom you need, and then act on whatever he tells you to do. God will empower you to take the right steps. You may want to quit; persevere. You are on a journey, and when this phase of eternal life is completed, God will call you home, and you will see him face to face.

Prayer

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24–25)