Death In Christian Perspective

SAT., JULY 15, 1989, 3:07 PM
105 FINE ARTS, SYNOD SCHOOL

The day has arrived, the drive was without unfortunate incident, and you have returned to a now familiar place. You are well-prepared for your class. Actually you are overprepared… but don’t fret if all that is planned doesn’t happen. Be relaxed and “let it flow.” For be assured that I shall be with you.

This was a Teaching you truly didn’t plan for, so I’ll make it both expected and unexpected. You know this perspective, but let Me offer you a refresher. It might come in handy in discussions during the week.

As God Almighty I am the Creator who gives life. But in the life cycles I have established there must also be death. Death is the end of life in a physical body. Death is the continuation of spirit life without a physical body.

Christian doctrine says that the time of death is the time of judgment on how you have lived your life in the earth. If you have accepted Me as Jesus, the Lord and Christ, your spirit comes into every closer relationship with Me, and the spirit’s path is happily upward. If you have not accepted Me, or even rejected Me, your spirit continues, but in a very unpleasant, unfulfilled, purposeless fashion. Everything between the extremes tends toward one or the other. This can be called heaven and hell, except it isn’t quite so polarized.

I would add that the judgment takes into account motivation, opportunities, and the true state of one’s spirit. For example, one who has been a devout Moslem in an Islamic land and who has carried out the spiritual practices of the Koran with love and dedication will likely be in a “higher heaven” than a member of a Christian church who has done much griping about the church not being run in good, business-like fashion. It’s a complex process, and actual overt practices are only some of the criteria. The born-again Christian who accepts his salvation humbly but proudly has the easiest time with continuing life, but there is nothing automatic that comes from identifying minimally with the Christian community.

Death is an important symbol in the Christian perspective. As Jesus I chose to die at a rather young age, after a short preaching and teaching ministry. I gave My life that there might be grace, forgiveness, and acceptance. There is nothing wrong with following rules and “being good,” just as there is nothing wrong with living a long, active life and dying of natural, deteriorative causes. I chose the unlikely symbol, which brings the unlikely consequences.

There is no Christian reason for embalming and restoring the dead body. I approve of expensive, long lasting caskets and vaults about the way I approve of bombers and missiles. I see this as a cultural fetish that should not be linked with the Christian faith. It is not grossly unchristian, but it is a practice of which I don’t approve.

As I have told you before, some grieving is the expression of honest love and devotion to a soul who has passed on over… and much grieving is an expression of selfishness and sentimentality. Non-attachment is not strong, accepted Christian doctrine, but it should be. That is, you can love and cherish every moment with another, but accept this as a gift rather than as something earned or deserved. If the other is a strong Christian, be and feel pleased as that one passes on over. Probably you will meet again, and the time between shall be as nothing. You know this happens with earth friendships. It certainly is so in continuing spiritual friendships.

Life is to use and to invest, not to save. The parable of the talents is about life and death. Invest your life with others rather than withdrawing in order to preserve and prolong it. Much hospital and nursing home care of elderly persons is inappropriate. When life has no purpose other than to perpetuate itself it should be over. Medical care often prevents this. Pity!