Pastor Jon Burgess
August 14, 2016 - W1633

Death is a subject that we are uncomfortable talking about, because it hurts. You have either experienced grief from the loss of a loved one in your own life, or you are related to someone who has lost a loved one. When we obtain God’s perspective on what happens when a loved one dies, then we will know how to respond to death, and how to live out our lives on earth. Leighla’s testimony about her husband’s passing gives me the encouragement that I can face any loss that comes my way, because I know Jesus as Leighla does. 

Wise King Solomon said we should talk a lot about death. The Bible says, “Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies – so the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.” Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

King Solomon is saying that we need to know how to respond to the death of a loved one so that we will know how to live.

The Book of John calls our life a vapor. Job calls our life a breath. Psalm 90 calls our life a sigh, which I want to refer to as a dash. Life is a dash, because we are running, running, and running; however, life is also represented by the dash between dates that you see on a tomb stone.

Last year I went to Oregon to preside over my grandmother’s memorial service. I walked through the cemetery and I noticed a head stone that had my last name inscribed on it, which was followed by a dash. This dash was sandwiched between the date of this man’s birth, and the date of his death. King Solomon said it is the time between one’s birth and death, represented by this dash that matters.

Pastor Jonathan Smith’s memorial service is on Sunday. While you are there, I want you to ask yourself four questions.   These questions were manifested from four questions that Jesus had asked himself after He had gone through the loss of a loved one – a friend named Lazarus.

Is it the …

Death of life or life after death?

While presiding over my grandmother’s funeral, I watched as the funeral workers placed my grandmother’s ashes wrapped in a plain paper bag on top of my grandfather’s ashes that were entombed in a memorial wall. The whole scenario struck me as being wrong because the workers didn’t seem to celebrate or care about her passing. Well God quickly spoke to me and told me that it was my responsibility to celebrate her life, and to apply what I learned from her life in the way I live out my life.

From this experience, I asked myself this question. Was this the death of my Grandmother’s life or was this the beginning of her life after death? All of us need to ask ourselves this question when a loved one dies. Was that person’s death a period or was it a comma in their life?

My Grandmother’s death was the beginning of her life after her death. Jesus was talking about this in this Bible narrative: “Lord, Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give You whatever You ask.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:21-26

Martha was grieving over the death of her brother, Lazarus, and was frustrated because Jesus was talking about how Lazarus would be resurrected into Heaven, but she wanted Lazarus alive now. Jesus said to Martha that He knew that Martha had seen people healed and she was wondering why He had not healed Lazarus. Jesus was asking her if she believed and trusted in Him.

A study on American Theological views says that sixty-seven percent of Americans believe Heaven is a real place. Forty-five percent of Americans believe that there are many ways to Heaven besides Jesus, and six in ten Americans believe that Hell is a real place. Death and life after death, force us to ask ourselves about this afterlife.

When we think about a loved one who has died, we want to think that they are in a better place.

Better place beliefs include:

• Nod to God – Family mentioned God once or twice.

• Sincere virtue – family thinks their loved one did good things, so they are sure that person is in Heaven.

• Good Heart – That person had a really good heart, even though they may have not shown it.

Our life after death is determined by our life on earth, and for whom we are living. Jesus wants to make sure that we and our family members know Him.

If there is no Hell, then

• Sounds less offensive.

• Salvation is secondary

• Obedience is Optional.

The first question leads to the second question. So ask yourself at your next memorial service, “Is my Assignment by Divine Design or default?”

My Grandmother witnessed my Grandfather’s passing. My Grandmother said she saw my   Grandfather raise his paralyzed hand, look at something that she could not see, and then smile. She then asked him if he was leaving, and he nodded his head and passed. A nurse who was watching this said most of the time she sees terror in the person’s eyes who is passing, and in the family members who witness this. My Grandmother went on to say that there is nothing to be afraid of when you die if you know Jesus.

The question is, “Are you living on an assignment?”

Jesus went to where Lazarus was buried, and the people told him, “‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone You, and yet You are going back?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’… So then He told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’” John 11:8-10, 14-15

What Jesus is saying, is that when you are living on assignment, you have nothing to fear, as long as God wants you there. When you are living on assignment we do not let fear make our decisions – we let Jesus make them. Our assignment is to make sure that as many people as possible come to know Jesus. The Bible says, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is Christ, the son of God. That believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31

The third question is, “Am I following the Shepherd’s leading or simply stuck?”

When we hear Jesus saying, “I am the good shepherd.” This means He rescues us when we get stuck and He will take us through our grief. Psalm 23 says that Jesus will walk us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

The heart of our shepherd Jesus was displayed when He met with Mary. The Bible says, “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ He asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how He loved him!’” John 11:32-36

Jesus was angry and in agony from seeing the effects that sin and death had on His friends. When you are angry at a disease that has affected your loved one, Jesus is also angry. When you are in agony, Jesus knows exactly what you are feeling. Make sure that you go through your hard times with your shepherd. If we try to go through our grief alone, we will end up setting up our tent in the Shadow of the Valley of Death.

The final question is, “Should there be …

Heaven in the here and now or The Hereafter?”

The answer is both. When I was living in Kona and pastoring New Hope Legacy, all of my boys would gather at our house to see the green flash that sometimes happens when the sun disappears into the water at sunset. All Christians are called to be the green flash on the dash. This is where Heaven meets earth.

The Bible says, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ He said. ‘But Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there for four days.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank You that you have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.’” John 11:38-42

You are the ambassadors to heaven. You are going to bring life where there is only death. Heaven is not just for the hereafter – it is for the here and now. We pray for people’s healing, but Jesus decides whether a person will be healed on earth or healed eternally in Heaven. We are the people who will hope, where there is no hope, and who will stand and walk where no one else wants to go.

Last week, Lacy Bierman walked up to me and gave my family and me a container of German chocolate cream cheese brownies that she made using a recipe passed down to her from her Grandmother. She said she wanted to give me these treats in appreciation for my wife and Ross who immediately came up to comfort her and pray over her when she entered the sanctuary. She was distraught over her Mom’s text message that her grandmother had passed away from cancer. God resurrected Lacy’s heart in the middle of her loss, because she was not staying camped at her loss. Lacy was willing to bless others as she walked through her own loss.                                                        

Study Suggestions

1. What will people say about how you spent your dash?

2. When someone dies, is it the death of life or life after death? Why?

3. How are you doing your assignment by Divine Design?

4. What is wrong with some of the “Better place” beliefs?