What to expect when you are facing death

There are certain things that I expect to hear when I am at a funeral... or even more so when I am doing one. The words are familiar: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you maybe also.” (John 14.1-3) We hear these words in moments of sorrow and fear; in time of pain and loss. It was such a moment when Jesus first spoke them to the 12 and the other disciples gathered in that room that night he was betrayed by one of his own to death. What we don’t often hear or understand is that the trials and Jesus’ death are not the last word. It is not the end of all things but the start of the new thing that God is doing.

We are encouraged by Jesus to keep moving forward into what is going to happen next. Yes, there is going to be an arrest. Yes there are going to be trails and there is going to be false witness. True beatings are going to be administered and most certainly blood is going to be split. It is who were are and it has been displayed in the life and death of Jesus. Yet in spite of all that is going to happen, including the fact that the 12 are going to run away and hide, they and we with them, are called to continue in our faith, trust and participation in Jesus. Faith is more than knowledge of something; it is what we act upon when things are hard and despite. Faith is what we learning when things are good and quiet so that we can continue to live the same when it feels like the world is coming completely apart.

Trust is where we choose to put our personal and corporate faith. It goes to that one person, that one thing that we will trust above all else and above all others. Trust is what propels us through days of calamity and upholds us through nights of worry, sorrow and despair. We tend to worship what we trust. We are often inclined to exalt that which we trust; most often ourselves. We are invited by Christ to look past all that we think is coming and recognize that he is in control. He is the One with the plan and he is the One who will see it through to fruition. Trusting Jesus, means that we are going to be faithful to him and him alone. Putting our faith in him means that we are going to participate in living the life he has and that we are called to in him.

In moments of heartache and disappointment, we can remember this: we are not forgotten. We are expected and God is ready for us. We are not mistakes. We are not accidents. God is ready and waiting for us, having made both room and ready for each and for all of us. Do you want to see heaven? Do you want to know what it is like? Then come and see. Come with us and find Jesus in Galilee. Come and see and live the live that he is offering us. Learn to trust him now, in the small things and in the easy seasons so that when the water is rough and the waves and wind are high we have someone to call out to and depend on. Expect to hear his voice, to know his presence and to live his life because someday we will live it forever.

Jason+