We are entering into the season of Halloween when death is somewhat romanticized, fictionalized, or relegated to the realm of the unknown. People dress in costumes depicting ghosts, vampires, zombies, and a host of other creatures associated with death, yet give little attention to the reality. Frankly, people sometimes wonder about people that talk a lot about death.
However, when someone we knew and loved dies, we are forced to consider death from a different perspective. Death takes on a stark reality and is seen as a genuine part of the human experience. It is in these moments, even if only in the brief minutes of a funeral service, that death is addressed and questions are raised about the meaning and brevity of life. It is a time when we experience the pain and sorrow death causes as the reality of separation settles into our world. Then we learn that death is not just a seasonal thought, it is an invasive reality. President Andrew Jackson was right when he wrote: "When death comes, he respects neither age nor merit. He sweeps from this earthly existence the sick and the strong, the rich and the poor, and should teach us to prepare for death."
In the last several weeks there have been five funerals in our church. The ages of those who have passed from this life have ranged from seven months to ninety-two years. There were both males and females who died. Deaths occurred after a prolonged illness and in one instance after a tragic accident. In this context it seems rather bizarre not to think about life and death even if I might prefer other topics to occupy my thinking.
One of the major themes that has crossed my mind is that life should not be measured in years alone. Among other things, life should be measured by impact. There are many who have lived long lives yet made little impact. Others, who only lived a brief time, none-the-less made a significant impact. Sadly, the impact a life has upon individuals is often not expressed until after someone has died. Then the imprint of their life surfaces as people take time to process the way the person has touched their own life. Wouldn’t it be nice to engage in that process before a person dies and then encourage them by articulating how loved and important they are to us? One woman perhaps captured those sentiments when she said, “I told my husband to send me the flowers now and not wait for my funeral!”
Another thought that crossed my mind is, “Stop living life thinking it will go on forever in this world.” How often have I said that “sometime” I will do something I have always wanted to do? Death reminds us that sooner than we expect that time is gone and the “sometime” will never come. Several years ago there was a movie called The Bucket List about two terminally ill men who leave a cancer ward for a road trip with a wish list of things they want to do before they die – or in their terms “kick the bucket.” One man was a flamboyant millionaire and the other a quiet mechanic, but both faced the end of life realizing that they had unrealized dreams. The story focuses upon them trying to squeeze what they wanted to do in life into the remaining time they had. Wouldn’t a better plan be to live each day with reckless abandon to the glory of God, doing His will, and living by faith? Perhaps our “bucket list” would then be pretty short!
Tomorrow I will officiate at another funeral for a friend. He probably had a pretty short “bucket list” when the Lord called him home. It was not just because he lived a long life. It was because he lived a life of impact. He lived each day with the excitement that “This is the day that the Lord has made we will be glad and rejoice in it” (Psalm 118:24). He desired to make his Savior known and found his greatest joy in telling someone the good news of the Gospel because he knew that he was Christ’s ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20). He wrote to me that he wanted to live life “going the last mile” – and that he did. He held nothing back. He lived a life fully invested in the Savior he loved, because he knew he served the Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved him so much that He died for him (1 John 4:19).
Perhaps this is a good time to think about death. It may not be a pleasant exercise, but certainly a wise and necessary one. You prepare for death while you are alive, not after you have died. Life on earth is briefer that we think and eternity is longer than we can imagine.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Are We Still In Our Terrible Twos?
The two-year-old boy with a tangled mass of blond curls and deep blue eyes had his gaze locked upon his dad’s. Standing in front of his father he was at best petite and in reality just a miniature person. However, at this moment, his dad’s physical size meant nothing. The child was again preparing to declare his independence from the “establishment.” The directive from his father was clearly and lovingly given, but the mind of the cute little boy was busy processing how he was going to respond in such a way that he would declare and establish his independence. After a pause, defiantly he stuck his little tongue out toward his dad as if to say, “I’m going to try it one more time. I don’t want anyone – even someone who loves me – to tell me what to do.” The response of his dad was the same as it had been numerous times that day. The corresponding results were: a child disciplined, tears flowed, assurances of love from a patient father expressed, and little arms tightly hugged his father’s neck. The words formed in my mind, “When will he ever learn? He is not going to win!” Then I mused, “Welcome to the terrible twos!”
Just using the phrase “the terrible twos” conjures up all sorts of images. Despite the image we imagine, they seem to communicate the same thing, an immature child is trying to declare their independence from parental authority – and anyone else’s for that matter. Those who observe such rebellious encounters try and comfort exasperated parents by saying, “Don’t worry, they will grow out of this.”
However, it seems to me that some people have a hard time getting past their “terrible twos.” An individual may be in their 40s, but they still have a defiant spirit that sticks their proverbial tongue out at the world declaring, “No one can tell me what to do!” Their defiance creates havoc in their lives and yet they persist. They are just an older model of the “terrible twos.” They do not consider nor care now hopeless their action may be, they just feel better that they have expressed resistance to an authority.
Our Heavenly Father deals with rebellious children all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve in a way “stuck out” their defiant tongues to God by ignoring His clear directive “not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). The result was God’s loving discipline and His gracious provision to restore them to fellowship with Him once again. What a display of amazing gracious love!
Humanity through the centuries has continued to display “terrible-two-defiance.” The Psalmist captures this spirit when he asks, “Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters’” (2:1-3). It sounds like a bad case of the “terrible twos,” doesn’t it? As foolish as it is to defy an earthly father, it is even more arrogant to rebel against a Heavenly Father, who is all powerful and righteous. What an encouragement to realize that our Heavenly Father is even more gracious with us than our earthly fathers.
The terrible twos resurface in all of us from time to time. A clear biblical command is encountered and we seem to intentionally resist the directive rather than submit to it. In those times perhaps we need to reflect upon how immature and foolish that response is. To borrow the words of the Apostle Paul, “When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV). Perhaps we need to get past our “terrible twos” and start living as spiritually mature people who seek to practice unreserved obedience to our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much that He gives us guidance to live successfully in this world. He also loves us so much that he doesn’t let us get away with our “terrible-two-defiance” that ignores His directives. Is it time to grow up yet?
Just using the phrase “the terrible twos” conjures up all sorts of images. Despite the image we imagine, they seem to communicate the same thing, an immature child is trying to declare their independence from parental authority – and anyone else’s for that matter. Those who observe such rebellious encounters try and comfort exasperated parents by saying, “Don’t worry, they will grow out of this.”
However, it seems to me that some people have a hard time getting past their “terrible twos.” An individual may be in their 40s, but they still have a defiant spirit that sticks their proverbial tongue out at the world declaring, “No one can tell me what to do!” Their defiance creates havoc in their lives and yet they persist. They are just an older model of the “terrible twos.” They do not consider nor care now hopeless their action may be, they just feel better that they have expressed resistance to an authority.
Our Heavenly Father deals with rebellious children all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve in a way “stuck out” their defiant tongues to God by ignoring His clear directive “not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). The result was God’s loving discipline and His gracious provision to restore them to fellowship with Him once again. What a display of amazing gracious love!
Humanity through the centuries has continued to display “terrible-two-defiance.” The Psalmist captures this spirit when he asks, “Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters’” (2:1-3). It sounds like a bad case of the “terrible twos,” doesn’t it? As foolish as it is to defy an earthly father, it is even more arrogant to rebel against a Heavenly Father, who is all powerful and righteous. What an encouragement to realize that our Heavenly Father is even more gracious with us than our earthly fathers.
The terrible twos resurface in all of us from time to time. A clear biblical command is encountered and we seem to intentionally resist the directive rather than submit to it. In those times perhaps we need to reflect upon how immature and foolish that response is. To borrow the words of the Apostle Paul, “When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV). Perhaps we need to get past our “terrible twos” and start living as spiritually mature people who seek to practice unreserved obedience to our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much that He gives us guidance to live successfully in this world. He also loves us so much that he doesn’t let us get away with our “terrible-two-defiance” that ignores His directives. Is it time to grow up yet?
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