Facing Death Without Blinking
Sermon
Don't Forget This!
Second Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (Last Third) Cycle C
When I was a little boy growing up in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania's First Presbyterian Church, one of those Christian chalk artists with black light, neon colors, and black felt canvas who made pictures of Jesus look like those Elvis portraits for sale on the side of the road at the beach showed up as entertainment for a Sunday evening potluck dinner.
Sparing us the turmoil of trying to differentiate one king from the other, he drew a picture of the new and improved Jerusalem. And as chalk dust glimmered in the black light in rhythm with his deliberate drawing, the artist kept repeating, "I can't wait to go home to see Jesus and join him in the new Jerusalem where there'll be no more crying or pain or mourning or disease or death."
And so I went home that night and announced over milk and cookies, "I can't wait to die so I can go home to Jesus and that place that man was talking about." Without hesitating but with unmistakable insistence, my dad said, "Son, you've got a lot of living to do first."
It was my first introduction to a basic paradox of Christianity: God declared this life to be good and the afterlife to be even better.
God expects us to enjoy this life to the fullest because it's so good and face death without blinking because it's the prelude to absolute wholeness, happiness, joy, and security.
Obviously, it doesn't take a very perceptive person to figure out who is psyched for the present, unafraid of the future, and facing death without blinking.
They are the existentially and eternally confident people living within the spirit of Paul, who wrote:
The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith ... there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing... The Lord will... save me for his heavenly Kingdom.
-- 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 18
That's why Christians like David A. Redding can say, "Anyone who feels sorry for a dead Christian, as though the poor chap were missing something, is himself missing the transfiguring promotion involved" (Getting Through the Night, 1972).
It's like the dying man who said to his pastor, "Don't worry about me, Pastor, for I shall be well in the morning."
I think of the little boy who was dying. No one would tell him. Finally, a hospital aide took his hands, placed them between her hands, and said, "Johnny, God made you. God loves you. God sent his Son to save you. And now God wants you to come home and be with him." The boy got up on his elbows and said, "Say it again." The aide repeated, "Johnny, God made you. God loves you. God sent his Son to save you. And now God wants you to come home and be with him." And Johnny said, "Tell God, 'Thanks!' "
It's like Bill and Gloria Gaither have taught us to sing, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future."
God's people experience the goodness of this life with eyes wide open. And God's people face death without blinking.
God's people trust and experience the saving power of God in Jesus through faith.
When I was pastor of Kansas City's Second Presbyterian Church, I visited a dying woman named Jodie Harrison. We prayed, sat together at the table of Holy Communion, and then followed the healing prescription of James 5:13-16:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
I was convinced God had healed Jodie. I told her.
Not long after that, I held Jodie's hand and shared her last lucid moments before going home. I said, "I'm so sorry. I thought God had healed you. I can't figure this out. I felt God's healing in your life." Jodie smiled and said, "Bob, God has healed me. I've always prayed my family would love and support and care for each other. I'm so thankful to God for healing my family. And don't forget, I'm going to heaven. That's not so bad. So cheer up!"
God's people face death without blinking.
While being stoned to death for preaching Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior, Stephen prayed calmly, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (see Acts 7).
God's people face death without blinking.
Moments before being burned at the stake for preaching the gospel, John Hus said, "In the truth of the Gospel I have written, taught, and preached; today I will gladly die."
God's people face death without blinking.
A. A. Hodge, Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton from 1877 until 1886, ended Evangelical Theology: Lectures on Doctrine like this:
And now these lectures have ended. We shall not meet together here any more. Let us pledge one another, as we part, to reassemble in heaven. We are now parting from one another, as pilgrims part upon the road. Let us turn our steps homeward, for if we do we shall soon -- some of us now very soon -- "be at home with the Lord." Adieu!
Dr. Hodge uttered these words in Philadelphia on May 30, 1886. He went home to God on November 12, 1886.
God's people face death without blinking.
Only steps from being lynched for affirming Jesus as Lord of all including Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer turned to a young English officer and announced, "This is the end. For me the beginning of life."
God's people face death without blinking.
Addison H. Leitch, the much beloved and quotable theology professor at Grove City College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary, Pittsburgh Seminary, Tarkio College, and Gordon-Conwell Seminary, said softly to his wife on the last day of life after many months of torturous pain, "He will lift me up." She asked, "Who will lift you up?" And his last words were, "Jesus Christ will lift me up."
God's people face death without blinking.
When my Grandpa Hayden was dying in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he called me in Kansas City. I said I'd catch a plane to be by his side. He said, "Bobby, that won't be necessary. When I die, you'll preside at the service. Then I'll see you later."
God's people face death without blinking.
Some of my best friends have died in the last few years. But I still feel them. They're alive in Jesus. And because we share the same Lord, they're alive in me too.
God's people face death without blinking.
How about you? Are you afraid of that first moment after you stop breathing?
Well, no one has to keep that feeling. Anyone can experience the wholeness, happiness, joy, and eternal security of Christianity.
It's so simple. Invite Jesus into your heart as Lord and Savior and then hang out with him in worship, Bible study, sacraments, fellowship with the saints, and prayer.
When Tony Campolo was at Center (May 31, 1998), he stressed silencing ourselves to feel and know God's love and guidance.
Francis of Assisi would pray one phrase all day and night: "My God and my all!"
When Louis Evans was plagued by migraine headaches, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Praise me!" So Louie did, does, and hasn't had a migraine since.
If you want to get rid of the headaches in your life -- especially that irrational fear of death -- invite Christ in and let him love you here, now, and forevermore.
Doing that, you will be psyched about today and unafraid about tomorrow.
God's people face death without blinking.
Sparing us the turmoil of trying to differentiate one king from the other, he drew a picture of the new and improved Jerusalem. And as chalk dust glimmered in the black light in rhythm with his deliberate drawing, the artist kept repeating, "I can't wait to go home to see Jesus and join him in the new Jerusalem where there'll be no more crying or pain or mourning or disease or death."
And so I went home that night and announced over milk and cookies, "I can't wait to die so I can go home to Jesus and that place that man was talking about." Without hesitating but with unmistakable insistence, my dad said, "Son, you've got a lot of living to do first."
It was my first introduction to a basic paradox of Christianity: God declared this life to be good and the afterlife to be even better.
God expects us to enjoy this life to the fullest because it's so good and face death without blinking because it's the prelude to absolute wholeness, happiness, joy, and security.
Obviously, it doesn't take a very perceptive person to figure out who is psyched for the present, unafraid of the future, and facing death without blinking.
They are the existentially and eternally confident people living within the spirit of Paul, who wrote:
The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith ... there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing... The Lord will... save me for his heavenly Kingdom.
-- 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 18
That's why Christians like David A. Redding can say, "Anyone who feels sorry for a dead Christian, as though the poor chap were missing something, is himself missing the transfiguring promotion involved" (Getting Through the Night, 1972).
It's like the dying man who said to his pastor, "Don't worry about me, Pastor, for I shall be well in the morning."
I think of the little boy who was dying. No one would tell him. Finally, a hospital aide took his hands, placed them between her hands, and said, "Johnny, God made you. God loves you. God sent his Son to save you. And now God wants you to come home and be with him." The boy got up on his elbows and said, "Say it again." The aide repeated, "Johnny, God made you. God loves you. God sent his Son to save you. And now God wants you to come home and be with him." And Johnny said, "Tell God, 'Thanks!' "
It's like Bill and Gloria Gaither have taught us to sing, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future."
God's people experience the goodness of this life with eyes wide open. And God's people face death without blinking.
God's people trust and experience the saving power of God in Jesus through faith.
When I was pastor of Kansas City's Second Presbyterian Church, I visited a dying woman named Jodie Harrison. We prayed, sat together at the table of Holy Communion, and then followed the healing prescription of James 5:13-16:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
I was convinced God had healed Jodie. I told her.
Not long after that, I held Jodie's hand and shared her last lucid moments before going home. I said, "I'm so sorry. I thought God had healed you. I can't figure this out. I felt God's healing in your life." Jodie smiled and said, "Bob, God has healed me. I've always prayed my family would love and support and care for each other. I'm so thankful to God for healing my family. And don't forget, I'm going to heaven. That's not so bad. So cheer up!"
God's people face death without blinking.
While being stoned to death for preaching Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior, Stephen prayed calmly, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (see Acts 7).
God's people face death without blinking.
Moments before being burned at the stake for preaching the gospel, John Hus said, "In the truth of the Gospel I have written, taught, and preached; today I will gladly die."
God's people face death without blinking.
A. A. Hodge, Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton from 1877 until 1886, ended Evangelical Theology: Lectures on Doctrine like this:
And now these lectures have ended. We shall not meet together here any more. Let us pledge one another, as we part, to reassemble in heaven. We are now parting from one another, as pilgrims part upon the road. Let us turn our steps homeward, for if we do we shall soon -- some of us now very soon -- "be at home with the Lord." Adieu!
Dr. Hodge uttered these words in Philadelphia on May 30, 1886. He went home to God on November 12, 1886.
God's people face death without blinking.
Only steps from being lynched for affirming Jesus as Lord of all including Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer turned to a young English officer and announced, "This is the end. For me the beginning of life."
God's people face death without blinking.
Addison H. Leitch, the much beloved and quotable theology professor at Grove City College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary, Pittsburgh Seminary, Tarkio College, and Gordon-Conwell Seminary, said softly to his wife on the last day of life after many months of torturous pain, "He will lift me up." She asked, "Who will lift you up?" And his last words were, "Jesus Christ will lift me up."
God's people face death without blinking.
When my Grandpa Hayden was dying in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he called me in Kansas City. I said I'd catch a plane to be by his side. He said, "Bobby, that won't be necessary. When I die, you'll preside at the service. Then I'll see you later."
God's people face death without blinking.
Some of my best friends have died in the last few years. But I still feel them. They're alive in Jesus. And because we share the same Lord, they're alive in me too.
God's people face death without blinking.
How about you? Are you afraid of that first moment after you stop breathing?
Well, no one has to keep that feeling. Anyone can experience the wholeness, happiness, joy, and eternal security of Christianity.
It's so simple. Invite Jesus into your heart as Lord and Savior and then hang out with him in worship, Bible study, sacraments, fellowship with the saints, and prayer.
When Tony Campolo was at Center (May 31, 1998), he stressed silencing ourselves to feel and know God's love and guidance.
Francis of Assisi would pray one phrase all day and night: "My God and my all!"
When Louis Evans was plagued by migraine headaches, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Praise me!" So Louie did, does, and hasn't had a migraine since.
If you want to get rid of the headaches in your life -- especially that irrational fear of death -- invite Christ in and let him love you here, now, and forevermore.
Doing that, you will be psyched about today and unafraid about tomorrow.
God's people face death without blinking.
