Facing Death

Today, we continue taking a look at some challenging topics of the Bible. And if you've looked at the bulletin you know the topic that I've chosen. I'm going to talk to you about death. To be more specific, I'm going to talk to you about your death.

There is a reason why the Spirit guided me to this topic. In the days of my youth, there were certain topics that were just not discussed, at least not in polite society. As you know, that way of looking at things has changed, and it has changed dramatically. All manner of topics once considered completely off limits are now frontpage stories, things easily discussed with anyone. And among some, being able to do that is a sign of being freed from the silly restraints of a bygone era.

However, there remains one topic that isn't widely discussed, except possibly in some very detached manner: death. You can have quite the detailed conversation about all sorts of things, but you had better not bring up the fact that the people you're talking with are going to die, especially if their health is not doing very well. Nowadays, the topic of death is avoided even at funerals. These have become 'celebrations of life' where all the happy times and great achievements of whoever is being celebrated are recounted. His life will be discussed but not his death.

This would be sad if I were just talking about the people out there, unbelievers. But it's worse than sad. Lots of Christians also avoid talking about death. Even for Christians, talking about death, your own death or the death of someone you care about is something to be avoided. The exception might be if you're not really talking about death but about how wonderful it will be after death. Talking about heaven is fine, but not the process of leaving here in order to get there.

But it's just a fact. You're going to die. It might happen very quickly and be relatively painless. Or it might be a long, drawn out and very painful affair. However it happens, you're going to die. That is something that you need to face. And looking at death, your death, square in the face can be so very helpful. It is the first step in preparing for what will certainly happen one day.

What I'd like to do this morning is to help you to face your death. And I'd like to do that so that you will be able to live well.

Here's bit of Scripture that has something important to say about preparing for your coming death.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalms 90.12

Let's take this apart.

What is the psalmist getting at when he prays that he and the others with him would be able to number their days? It's about acknowledging that the number of days that any of us have are quite limited. They don't go on forever. One of these days will be our last.

The writer is asking God to teach him to come to grips with this. He wants God to give him the grace that he needs to face his death.

He has a good reason for this request. He knows that all who are able to face their death will gain some insight about their life. These will be blessed with an invaluable tool for living well. But this insight, this wisdom, is forfeited if you refuse to face what will most certainly happen. Doing that leads away from wisdom and into foolishness. And that is something that I'd like all of you to avoid.

So, why is it that so many Christians are afraid of death? Actually, I need to refine that question a bit. Most Christians that you know aren't afraid of being dead. They'll talk about heaven fairly easily. It's a different story, though, if we're talking about the process of dying. That's what so many fear. Why?

I've come up with two reasons for this. Here's the first. Many Christians these days are too tied to the world. They have been affected by the influences of the world. That's the result of a lifetime of listening to the world's lies about how life works. So, we've all heard, 'You can do whatever you put your mind to'. That lie has become obvious to us. But here is one that is more subtle. 'You can understand life well enough without any reference to God.' Now, it's not that they've said that out loud. But it has been modeled for us. It's the assumption in so many classrooms. And then, there's this. 'Life is about enjoying yourself. Your having as good a time as you are able is the goal of life. Anything that gets in the way of that just needs to be gotten rid of.' Because of lies like these, and other influences, so many Christians have become just like the unbelievers, afraid of dying.

The second reason why so many Christians fear dying is the flip side of the first reason. They have not been well trained as disciples of Jesus. So, part of developing into mature disciples is experiencing suffering for the sake of Jesus. You can learn much about life when you suffer. It's in the midst of suffering that you are able to learn some very important lessons. Suffering is hard, but it is so very good.

But if a Christian believes that life is about enjoying yourself and avoiding anything that gets in the way of enjoying yourself, then what you'll end up with is a stunted disciple, someone who hasn’t learned key lessons about how life actually works, someone who is afraid of dying.

Consider this question. 'How would you like to die?' One very common answer is, 'In my sleep. I won't feel it then.' Do you see how that is a worldly answer? The right answer for a Christian is, 'I want to die in whatever way Jesus wants. My goal is to make Him look as good as I can'. So, cancer? Alzheimer’s? Some other terrible fate? Are they allowed possibilities? The answer for us needs to be a very clear, 'Yes'.

It's here that we need to remember these words of Jesus.

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 8.34

When He mentioned a cross to those people He wasn't talking about some inconvenience, what some today call a 'cross to bear'. No, He was talking about a real death, a very painful death, crucifixion. And there would be many who would, in fact, die very painful deaths in submission to this requirement that Jesus established. Has anything changed? What difference does it make if Jesus' will for one of His disciples is slow death by crucifixion or a slow death by cancer? Those who follow Jesus have signed away any rights to comment on how they would like to die.

Having established the goal, the next question is obvious. How do we get there? How are we to get to the point of fearlessly facing our death as faithful disciples of Jesus? Our text has some wisdom for this.

The psalmist offers up a prayer. And his request is simple: 'teach us'. Learning how to die well is not something that you figure out on your own. It is something that you need to be taught. And the person who does the teaching is the Spirit of God. Understanding this makes a very large difference. It means that you don't change yourself; an impossible task. No, instead, you are changed. You are changed by the grace of God. This is the right thing to ask for when it comes to facing your death: teach us. It's a way of depending on grace instead of depending on your own futile efforts.

Now, having said that, I don't mean to suggest that there is nothing for you to do. There is much for you to do. It's just that your hope is not in what you do. Your hope is in what the Spirit does, as He makes use of the things that you do. 

So, what you need to do is apply yourself to the Scriptures. The Spirit uses the Scriptures to bring about change. Let me mention a few places that can be quite helpful.

This is from James.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4.13-15

So, what are you? What does James say? You are a mist. Here think about a morning fog. And what happens as the day grows warmer? The fog vanishes. That's you, 'a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes'.

And it's not just James who thinks in this way. This is from a Psalm.

As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. Psalms 103.15-16

Here today. Gone tomorrow. You lead a life that is brief and uncertain.

Now, some of you might be reacting to that by thinking, 'It sounds so depressing. It's as if I'm not worth anything.' People respond in that way if they believe the lies of the world. The truth of the Gospel is clear. You are very significant; certainly significant to God. But that doesn't change the fact that your life is brief and, as far as you know, uncertain. And it is the God who considers you so significant who decides how long your life will be and what exactly will happen while you live.

It is clear that you are submitting to how God defines your life when you not just say but deeply feel, 'If the Lord wills, I will live and do this or that'. It is as you are taught by the Spirit to respond in that way to the little details of daily living that you will also learn how to respond in that way when it comes time for you to die, however that is to happen.

One result of being blessed with the ability to understand yourself in this way is an amazing peace that the Spirit gives. You don't control your life. What happens next is not up to you. But it is up to your Father. And He is very good when it comes to making such decisions. Trusting Him in this results in the gift of a great peace. And that peace extends even to the process of dying.

Here's another Scripture that fits.

And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12.16-21

That rich man was so focused on laying up treasures for himself that he neglected to be prepared to die. His goal was to be able to tell himself, 'Relax, eat, drink, be merry'. How many have that as their goal and label it their retirement plan? What is that but more foolishness from the world.

One day your soul will be required of you. Jesus is warning you not to be so focused on gathering in treasures or other similar things, that you are unprepared for death.

And that leads to this Scripture.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5.10

On the day that you die, you will stand before Jesus. You will be evaluated by Him. He will look over your life, all that you did, 'whether good or evil'.

Too many Christians are frightened by the thought of Jesus evaluating their lives. But they do that because they forget the Gospel. They think that what Jesus will be looking for is a good life, a life - what, with more good than bad? How much more good than bad? What's a passing grade? Seventy percent good? Sixty? Fifty-one percent? Is that the definition of a good life? Isn't that salvation by works?

What will Jesus be looking for? He will be looking for repentance and faith. That way of life will result in some amazingly good works, different ways that the kingdom is advanced by what you do. But please note that the expectation of repentance and faith also assumes something else. It assumes that there will also be some amazingly bad works, some really serious sin. But isn't that what repentance is about, dealing with really serious sin? Jesus will be looking to see if there has been the expected development as a disciple who, in humble reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit, endeavors to live as becomes a follower of Christ.

So, this is what you should be working at as you prepare for that day: lots of repenting of sin and coming to Jesus in faith for forgiveness and change. If that's your life, then you have nothing to fear when the day arrives for Jesus to evaluate you.

That leads to this parable that Jesus told about being evaluated.

And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25.22-23

There are a few things that I would like you to see here. First, did you notice that I didn't read the part of the parable that talks about the servant with the five talents? There are those who are blessed with awesome gifts from God, and they do some pretty dramatic things for the kingdom. But that's not any of us. We all are two talent people. We are blessed with abilities from God, but nothing astounding. Just two talents. And as a result, while the five-talent servant returned an additional five talents to his master, the two-talent servant only returned an additional two talents. We're not going to make a big splash like the five talent guys. Just two talents worth of splash.

This is something I have learned only recently. I am one of the two talent guys. Learning this about myself has been so very liberating for me. Jesus expects only two talents in return from me. I am learning to expect that of myself. I hope all of you, especially you kids, will learn this. We are two talent people. And that's all that Jesus expects of us.

But here is something else that you really need to see from this parable. What Jesus will say to the five talent guys, He will say to you also.

Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

Those are tremendous words from Jesus that we all long to hear. And the fact of the matter is that you will hear Jesus speak those words to you on the day of your death. All you need to do is pray something like this:

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Pray that and then pay attention to what the Spirit teaches you about how to live well. If you do that, then you will not fear anything, not even death itself.