9-24-2016

Good Morning All!!

        1 Corinthians 15:26; “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

    It is always a difficult time and often brings about difficult questions.  Someone is watching a loved one who is in the process of dying.  It might be cancer or some other disease.  There is no apparent chance of recovery and the disease has progressed to where the loved one is in pain and discomfort.  They may even be no longer conscious. It is hard to watch a loved one suffer.  So the inevitable question is, “Is it wrong to pray for them to die?”  When you see the pain in their eyes, it is hard to tell them “yes, it is wrong”.  At times like this I tell them pray for peace, for comfort, for God’s mercy; these are better prayers and are pleasing to God.  It is hard because I understand their thinking and the logic can be there.  When a Christian dies, his spirit goes to heaven and he no longer knows or feels pain.  This is our goal so why not pray for it?  We don’t pray for death because death is the enemy; death is the whole problem.

     Death steals from us.  When someone dies, we lose all they have to give and they no longer experience life.  When I was in college, I majored in history and had a desire for local history.  Yet I let a tremendous opportunity slip through my fingers.  At that time, many of the children of the men and women who chartered this church were alive and healthy.  I could have interviewed them and had a wealth of information and knowledge but I didn’t do it, I never thought of it at the time.  Many years later when I did think of it, they were dead.  Death robbed me of that experience.  My father and my mother-in-law are still alive and my grandchildren get to know them and they get to know that next generation.  Yet my mother and father-in-law are in their heavenly glory, great absolutely, but death robbed my grandchildren from fishing with my father-in-law or learning to cook from my mother.  Death is the enemy; it is not our friend.

    We do not fear death for death is defeated but we shouldn’t seek death or desire it especially in this twisted world.  If we are seen as wanting death the world will ask why we fight abortion or euthanasia or selective genetic practices.  If death means heaven, why fight?  We fight because life is a precious gift from God and should never be taken or controlled by anyone other than God.  So pray for peace, pray for mercy, pray for comfort, and pray for God’s eternal love.

    If you have prayed for one of your loved ones to die, God forgives you because God hears what you desire even when our words are not always the best.  It is really a question of our witness to the world.  We do not fear death but we do not desire it either.  God is a God of life.  He is a God of hope and a God who gives us a future filled with eternal joy.  Death is our enemy but thanks be to God that we have victory over death because of Jesus.

Father of all mercy, be with those who are dying and be with the loved ones left behind.  Father, we are in pain and in confusion and you read our hearts and hear our pain and our sorrow.  Keep us in the safety of your love and help us to speak your words of love and truth.  In the precious name of our loving and living Savior, Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret