Without Fear

Dear Friend of Burke UMC,

In our funeral services there is the line, “In the midst of life we are in death.” I can’t claim to fully understand this, but the last 24 hours have brought me a new perspective.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the home of a woman (not from our church) who knows she will not live much beyond Christmas, if that long.  This morning I was visited by a woman whose husband died suddenly just yesterday.  This was her first morning without him in her world in 47 years.  This afternoon a brief conversation with a woman approaching the second anniversary of her son’s death.

These women have given me a glimpse into the reality that some of us, in the midst of the world’s ongoing pace, are facing and feeling keenly the reality of death. “In the midst of this ‘real world’ of ours, part of us lives closely with the inevitable reality of death,”

It was this way for Jesus, too.  Long before he began his Last Supper and journey to the cross, he lived his whole life in preparation for his death. “The Son of man is destined to suffer grievously,” he said, “and to be put to death.” Peter tried to contradict him. “No, Lord, this must not happen to you.” Yet Jesus responded with words that imply that Peter’s reaction – to deny the reality of death – is supremely dangerous:  “Get behind me, Satan!”

Henri Nouwen reminds us that the person who wants to lead a spiritual life cannot do so without facing clearly the prospect of suffering and death.  But only the faith of Jesus enables us to do that without fear. Jesus showed that suffering and death do not bar the way to new life – they have become through him the very way to it.

I am touched this afternoon by these women. None of them complained or shook their fist at God. Each of them was thankful for life, and each grateful to God. Each of them had a matter-of-fact-ness about death – not denying its pain but accepting its presence and anticipating.  And each was trusting in God for the gift of new life that is far more than we can ever ask or imagine.

That acceptance is a hallmark of the life lived close to God – the kind of life that truly matters. 

Grace and peace,

Larry