Archive article 16
"........ we would prefer to be with the Lord"
a phrase which transforms death from a tragedy into a triumph!
When the evening sports news opens with a quiet music, no words, just an image with a few words indicating special human qualities, I know that someone important has died. That’s what happened when Luciano Pavarotti died, and it happened last week. Instead of the latest goal or headlines announcing the latest transfer of players, I saw a cyclist pedalling hard up a mountain, heard beautiful music and read the phrase, “A gentleman rider”. Immediately I knew a famous cyclist had died. The introduction to Sports News, 7th February ’10 was dedicated to Franco Ballerini the head manager of the Italian cycling team who had died just a few hours earlier in a serious car accident during a Rally.
The news of such a tragic loss is hard to take. When someone with a terminal illness dies there’s a general sense of something having taken place which was inevitable – almost a sense of relief because the person is no longer suffering. But when there’s an accident and someone is literally taken from us, there’s a profound sense of shock which often is accompanied by a sense of disorientation. This has been our experience recently as a dear friend passed away in a totally unexpected manner. His family was waiting for him to arrive for the Christmas festivities and he never arrived. He was found on the floor of his own home without any indication of being sick or of anything having been wrong.
But how deeply the apostle Paul’s words in the title transform our perspective on our friend’s death. Humanly there is still a profound sense of grief. We can’t not sense the loss of his company in life. A dear friend is no longer with us and his presence is missed, especially by his family. But for him or her who is no longer with us? The apostle Paul said: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 58). Yes, he would say that because He had seen Christ when he became a Christian on the road to Damascus: he knew personally the sort of glory and splendour which there is in heaven – incomparable with any earthly grandeur.
Accidents which suddenly snatch our friends from us are sorrowful, but if the person was a Christian who was trusting in Christ, how can we think of it as actually being a ‘tragedy’? It’s impossible for heaven to be a sad and melancholic place! No, the apostle Paul, knew this for he had earlier written: “Now e know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” (2 Corinthians 51)
In fact, the entire Bible is a passionate invitation to not see our lives without seeing them in relationship to God. The coming of Jesus Christ, this episode around which the entire Bible revolves, took place so that a way into heaven would be opened. Christ’s death wasn’t casual or unexpected. He came to die so that sin would no longer separate us from God – “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”! This triumphant new reality was shouted by a risen Christ to all humanity – death no longer reigns!!
What happened to the manager of the Italian cycling team, what happened to our friend, and what happened to thousands in the earthquake in Haiti the 12th January, will happen to each of us. One day we too shall be taken from earth. When that happens, will we go to be at home with the Lord? Will it be wonderful to leave our human tent for a Residence which is unimaginably magnificent (just read the last 2 chapters in our Bible to get some idea of its lustre and breathtaking wonder)?
These simple words by Paul re-dimension our entire life. They constitute a fantastic invitation to turn to Christ so that we, too, may live forever in Christ’s presence. So why wait? Why not begin today. The words are absolutely true: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” John 336.
It speaks of something which takes place now. . . and there’s no greater security or happiness than know this is true of us too!
Pastor Paul Finch
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