On death and dying

John 11:1-16

          Death is such a peculiar thing.  Why do we fear it so?  I have seen my share of death first hand and it is often not pretty. If not because of any violence that might be involved, because it rips us from those we know and love.

          There are opposing forces at work in death. As believers, we await the next plane of our existence, our eternal life in heaven or whatever else it may be.  At the same time that we respect life, this life, it often it masks the fear of leaving this world in fear of what the next life will bring. Perhaps in another sense respect is misleading. We really want to hold onto this life not just out of fear but out of comfort. Perhaps we have had a good material life. What will the next life bring? Totally unknown and will it be condemnation or ecstasy of the presence of God? Perhaps we have had a good life filled with family and friends. We may love it so much we are reluctant to say good bye.

          Saying good bye as a fear of dying is a natural, human emotion. When I would speak at wake services I often noted how Jesus reacted from Thursday evening on to the time of his death. The last supper after all else and it's significance was quite literally his last supper with his friends. These are guys he travelled with, ate with and drank wine with. These were best buds and he was saying goodbye. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he cried over leaving his mother and 'disciple whom Jesus loved'. Jesus had prayed that if this cup could pass him by and yet he drank from this tortured cup willingly for us.

          I know the pain of not wanting to be parted with a loved one. When my own mother said she was ready to go home, I said no. I know when my friend was being tortured, living in pain, his wife could not bear to let him go. He lingered so long and in this respect fear of his death was a selfish respect for life on her part. It is a selfishness that fully understand.

           The opposition to fear of dying would be to embrace it.  I have seen so many cases when the person who is dying says that they are ready, the family 'releases the person', they can go home to the Father. This is a joyous transition. While perhaps tinged by earful goodbyes it is also an acknowledgement  of the hope and joy of new life. It is  a remembrance of the fact that we are Easter people, celebrating Easter Sunday, new life and the Resurrection.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’