Saturday, March 12, 2016

Fifty-five (55) and Counting...Grace in Death

I was checking out at the doctor's last week, and they give you a printout with your prescriptions and it has your name, address, and there it was:  55 (my age).  How did it get to be 55?

What's it like being 55?  Well, I've been thinking about death a lot.  The last time that I spent this much time thinking about death, I was 36 and in a state of deep depression.  I was considering taking my life.  Then, I heard about a Jesus that I had never heard about...the Savior of sinners--deep-down irrepressible sinners...sinners who would be sinners until they died.  A god who would love His children even if they never changed!!!  It saved my life.

Now, at 55, my thoughts of death aren't depressing, but they do make me ponder about the God that I began learning about in January, 1998.

I've heard a couple of sermons lately that deal with death.  The first was by Bishop Sloan at the Advent on Ash Wednesday.  This man is full of grace.  From what I can tell, he is more liberal than the Advent.  Yet, he appreciates and supports the proclamation of the Gospel at the Advent.  The Bishop is a true Christian--he is not put off by others with different views.  Instead, he supports those that proclaim Christ's grace to mankind.  He doesn't group people.

At the end of his sermon, when he was talking about man returning to dust, he proclaimed:  "We are returning to that from whence we came--love."

The second sermon was given at the funeral of a friend dating back to 5th grade.  The pastor said that, when he was talking with David about the state of his cancer, David said:  "When I was first diagnosed, I thought I was on a path to recovery."  Three weeks before his death, David learned that his "path wasn't headed where he thought."  His cancer had taken a turn for the worse.  "I won't recover, but I wouldn't change anything--I have Jesus."

As the pastor continued, he read verses from the Scripture dealing with our afterlives.  He kept reading verses which said that "all" would be saved.  After the funeral, I asked him if he believed in "universal redemption."  What?  "The salvation of all by virtue of Christ's death on the Cross." I replied.  No, he doesn't believe in that, but he had not considered it before.  I told him that I had only come across this idea about 3 years ago.

So, at age 55, I take heart that, when a friend is facing death, he says that he wouldn't change anything.  He, like Bishop Sloan, understood that he was going back to pure love.

At age 55, I take heart that Jesus came to redeem everyone and, if that's Jesus purpose, then it denigrates Christ when we claim that only those with faith will be saved.

At age 55, it hurts me when I hear a person thanking Christ for saving him and others with faith.  It's that group thing--our group is okay, our group is preferred, and yours is not.

Thank goodness that God knows nothing of groups---Jesus came for both the Jews and the Gentiles.  In other words, Jesus came for the believers and unbelievers.  God wouldn't have it any other way--after all, He is love, and we are day by day getting closer to our reunion with that love.

Thank goodness that my thoughts of death are no longer about suicide but about reunion with our one, true Father.

Thank goodness for those who, wittingly or unwittingly, proclaim these truths, truths which allow us to enjoy each day of our lives--whether in health or illness, whether in riches or poverty--and which give us the basis for proclaiming God's love to all.




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