Jesus spent forty days after his resurrection talking to his disciples about the Kingdom of God. And so in these six weeks of Easter, the forty days leading up to the Ascension, we spend time revelling in the resurrection of Jesus, and asking “What difference does it make?”.
We remember this when we read the Acts of the Apostles, and the speeches in John’s Gospels where Jesus teaches about our day to day relationship with God. Last week Robert spoke about the blueprint for church life: Fellowship, Teaching, Prayer, Worship and Growth. This week I have chosen the title “Trusting in Death”.
There are said to be only two certainties: death and taxes. A few people seem to be very effective at reducing or avoiding paying tax, but none of us will escape the death of our present, mortal bodies.
The big claim that Christians make is that Jesus has conquered death. We see this in the words of Jesus, that he has gone to prepare a place for each of us, and also in the example of the first martyr, Stephen. Recalling the example of his master Jesus, Stephen has been arrested on a trumped up charge, subjected to a show trial with false evidence, condemned to public execution, prays for his killers, and entrusts his spirit into the care of God.
We see again the mystery of God’s purposes. Stephen has emerged as one of the first deacons, full of God’s grace and power, well known for doing great wonders and miraculous signs. It is this man, for whom we can see such promise and who is such an essential part of the growing church, who suffers this violent, premature death. How can we explain this?
Every one of us must confront the issue of death. We lose the ones we love. We know that we will die one day. How can we cope with this?
The root question behind this is whether God is real. We wonder whether we can trust him or if he is real at all.
Many of us struggle with a sense of unease, a disappointment with life, a sense that there should be more to life than this.
One response to this might be a world weary cynicism: “always look on the bright side of life”, “leave ‘em laughing”, “ultimately there is no point or meaning to anything”.
What does our resurrection faith say to this?
Jesus confronts two problems when he is speaking to his disciples. How do we handle it when we seem to have made a muck of our lives, and does God answer prayer?
Peter has just learned that at the climax of Jesus’ life and ministry, when Jesus will need his disciples more than at any other time, Peter will disown him. Into that stunned, crushed silence, Jesus speaks the life giving words: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in me … I go to prepare a place for you.” You might be the greatest failure there has ever been. You might be the best, the greatest at your chosen job or profession, or in your family or relationships. The truth is – in the eternal scheme of things – it does not matter. It will not affect what happens to you when you die. What matters, all that matters, is that you trust, rely on and place all your hope in Jesus. He loves you, he wants you to experience his love, and he promises that whatever happens to you, and whenever it happens, he will care for you.
When we face the big difficulties and we desperately need God to intervene, we fall back on Jesus’ invitation to trust him, and through him the Father. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and we look to experience his love in every day life. A bit like those who run the marathon, we start with small walks and runs. We look for Jesus every day in the small things. Stephen was a man who trusted God in what might seem relatively small things, like the distribution of food to the widows. When the crisis of martyrdom reared up, though, he was in training and equipped, ready. When I spend time with someone who is dying, it is an encouragement to me when I quote “Do not let your hearts be troubled”, and they join in the rest of the quotation by heart. Time spent reading scripture and in prayer is never wasted.
In these forty days of Easter, let us resolve to learn a trust in Jesus and his word, to live a trust in Jesus and his word, which will sustain us every day in this life, and carry us together into the next, where he has prepared a place for each of us.
Discussion Starters
What do you make of the quip that Christian faith is “Pie in the sky when you die”?
What parts of the worship or life of the church give us most comfort when we think about Christian attitudes to death.
An important part of the role of a Soul Friend (Anamchara, Spiritual Director) is to discuss eternal matters, and to accompany us at the time of death. When did you last talk with someone about the death of someone close to you, or your own death?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment