Death
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15:50-55 (NRSV)
STORY
Celine Dion was married to her husband, Rene Agnelli, for 21 years when he died on January 14, 2016. They met when she was a 12-year-old singer and he became her manager. They later married and he continued to manage her career. Despite their 25-year age difference, it was a very loving and committed relationship. Together they had three children. Rene was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999, and it was successfully treated. But then in 2014 it returned, and this time it was terminal. As the disease progressed Rene was unable to speak, so he began to write his wife notes. In the last days of his life Rene wrote, “The end is near, I feel it.” Celine shot back, “How can you say that?” Years later, reflecting on that moment Celine realized, “Now I know it’s possible for someone dying to feel when it comes.”
DEVOTION
In our reading this morning the Apostle Paul addresses the issue of death. I think what is most important in what he wrote is that Paul acknowledges our fear of death. The fear of death is the last stranglehold that Satan has on us. To escape that fear the demonic offers us many false promises to escape such a fate, allowing us to continue to cling to our earthly existence; though, as Christians, we know there is only one promise that we can rely upon to give us assurance in death and that is the resurrection of Jesus. If we live in Christ, we have no fear of death. Death has no “sing” over us for living in Christ “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Previously in this letter Paul assures us that in God’s created world there is a transformation from life to death to a resurrected life anew. Paul turned to the natural world to illustrate such a process. From agriculture he borrowed the example of seeds whose bodies differ from the grain they produce. From this analogy Paul affirmed that the transformation in death to a new heavenly life “the perishable inherits the imperishable, and we will be changed.” Paul is uncertain how this will occur for it is a “mystery.”
Points to Ponder
> How does Satan use death as a way to follow him and not Jesus
o For me: Satan uses the fear of death to keep us attached to this earthly material world
> What is the sting of death
o For me: It is the fear of the unknown
> In your quiet moments when you can avoid making a public confession do you have a latent fear of death
o For me: Though I believe in the teachings of the Bible and I do have faith and I am assured of my salvation I am still anxious about the unknown beyond this life
> Does the imperishable body mean that heaven is a spiritual realm or a perfect mirror of our life on earth
o For me: I do not believe that heaven is a perfected mirror image of earth as we will dwell in a spiritual realm – the picture language of heaven like so many pictorial descriptions in the scriptures is to help us understand by giving us something that we can relate to
> Is it possible for people to welcome death
o For me: I believe that the elderly and the seriously ill welcome the healing that comes with death – I witnessed this many times as a pastor and in visiting my maternal grandmother and my father
> How do you view the promise of the resurrection in your life and how does it affect your daily living
o For me: It is a promise of hope for this life and the next – though in faith I can find intellectual solace in this promise though at times I can still be physically anxious
Please share other Points to Ponder so I can update my list
Please share your thoughts with me – if you desire I will publish them for others to read anonymously or first name only or your entire name as you choose