For many days now I have sat in the hospital with my mom,
and other family members. We have ridden on the roller coaster of emotion as we
have watch my father struggle through many battles with his health, not the
least of which is cancer. Each moment we hope for the best, praying for
miracles, while trusting the Lord’s decisions for his life. Dad, at least, is
not in any pain, but it is hard to watch such a strong man become so weak and
tired. He is strong in spirit and continues to do all he can, even when he goes
through physical therapy for a swallowing issue.
As I work on a final exam for my master’s class, a woman of
75ish sat down with a younger woman (perhaps a daughter). The younger woman
told her that if the patient (they were visiting) didn’t have surgery, the hospital
would call hospice and she would die. If they did the surgery it would prolong
her life, but it would eventually come back. The older woman began to weep.
I began to think of how suffering and death is bitter. There
is nothing pleasurable or joyous about sickness, injustice, hatred, or any
number of ugly things like death. It is interesting how we go through life with
little thought of suffering and death, until it jumps out at us. It is like
being home alone. We never think of the monster under the bed, until we get
ready to turn the lights off. I think it is sort of like that with death.
In the early church, they often thought of death as the
undoing or unmaking of what God had created. It was a destroyer of that which
was created good. It is an enemy to all of God’s creation. We often think of
seeds as dying, and some might argue that death was a part of God’s plan. I am
not convinced. A seed may technically die, but only so it may become something
more, so that it can become what it was created to be, a flower, or a tree.
Then, I started thinking about Jesus. He was the first human
that was created for the purpose of dying. He was like a seed. He suffered, died,
was buried, and he arose from the dead. He became the perfect human and perfect
God. Through his great sacrifice he made away for us to be seeds that fall from
the Tree of Life. Jesus is the tree, and yes just like him we will suffer and
we will die. Then, just like him, we will be raised imperishable. We will be
what we were created to be. But, none of this can happen without Faith in Him.
I wish it was enough to just believe that he is the Son of
God and that he died for my sin and has forgiven me. But true faith reveals
itself in responding to the Gift of God in daily obedience. Like a seed, I am
in the process of dying. Dying to myself. As I decrease, he will increase in my
life. When this seed falls to the ground, is covered by the earth, a day will
come when the Son will rise, and he will come to reap what he has sown. Then I
shall live, like I have never lived before. Rest well, ye servants of the Lord,
your King is coming.
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