When Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” he is not saying that losing a loved one is not painful. But, that death does not have the final answer; death does not have the final word. Because we live in Christ, we also die in and with Christ, and then are reborn into new life in Christ. The sting of death is sin, but that has been removed because through Christ we have been freed from the slavery to sin and death. Because Christ lives, we live, and death itself has been overcome.
That is what we celebrate this Sunday: God overcoming death as the completion of the demonstration of God’s love for the world, in order to save the world. Although our culture makes a much bigger deal about Christmas, Easter is the biggest and most important Christian holiday. We are an Easter people! It is in Christ’s death, and more importantly his resurrection, that our faith is based and found.
And yet, we are still not very good at talking about death, let alone planning for death. Even though death has been overcome by Christ, we will still die. The mortality rate is still 100%, and we are not guaranteed anything. I have had way too many experiences in the ministry of people dying very unexpectedly and often all too soon. I am sure you have as well.
That means that putting off those things that surround death, like estate planning and funeral planning, to name just two, because you can do it later is a fool’s errand. And for those who say, “I have plenty of time, everyone in my family lived a long time,” less than 5% of length of life is genetic, and doesn’t take into account other life events like accidents or global pandemics, for example.
I can also say from experience that when people die with all of their affairs in order, or close to it, it makes it so much easier for families. It eliminates most of the squabbles, which sometimes lead to court cases, expensive court cases, as well as simply trying to figure out what songs you might have wanted at your service.
Planning for your death is not something you do for yourself, although it is, but it’s a gift that you give to your family so they can focus on the most important things after your death, not worrying about the other things that could have been done. It makes the grieving process just a little easier and can remove a little bit of the sting.
And so as we gather this Sunday to celebrate God’s victory over death, I am going to challenge all of us in the coming week, if you have not already done your estate planning, to begin that process. And if you have done it, but it has not been looked at and/or changed in the past five years, to take it out and make sure it’s all still correct.
And then, once that is done, please also write out what you would like to have happen at a funeral or memorial service. I can provide some forms to help you, and I would also be more than willing to assist you in that process and even to keep those forms here at the church so we will have them when they might be needed.
I can guarantee that you and your family will appreciate having done this work sooner rather than when it is too late.
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