Theory of a Dead Man

I have really learned a lot working in a funeral home, and maybe even more importantly, I have grown in ways I really never thought I would have. Our God is so good, even in the midst of tragedy. Our God is good when we are overjoyed. Our God is good when we have no idea ‘what we are going to do with our lives’. Our God is good when He gives us an overwhelming peace about a major decision we are facing. Our God is good when He seems to be utterly silent, even though we hound Him for answers or direction. Our God is good when we hate our jobs. Our God is good when we love our jobs. Our God is good when we can’t find a job. Our God is good.

Some might think it would be depressing to be around death all the time. And I guess to some it would be. To those whose hope is in the world I’m sure it would be tantalizingly painful to think about death, to which end all the worldly things that were worked so hard to obtain will no longer matter. But to those of us whose hope is in Christ, it is almost sweet to be reminded that one day too our voices shall join with ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels around the throne of our everlasting King singing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (on a side note, if you haven’t read Revelation 5, go do so, and try to picture in your head all that it says, it is humbling). There is, however, a little bitterness to go along with the sweet: I am reminded that my life here on earth is so short. It truly is a vapor in the wind. Honestly, can you even compare the 80 or 90 years we will live on this earth (if we are lucky and eat healthy our whole lives!) to the eternity we will spend afterwards??? I can’t, because I can’t comprehend an eternity. But that goes to show how long it really is, longer than any amount of time I can even conjure up. I am not only reminded that my life is short and that I could be taken from this life literally any moment, but that everything I have ever lived for and worked to accomplish, everything I currently live for and hope to accomplish, everything I will ever live for and will hope to accomplish, if not for the Glory of God, is utterly worthless.

I want you to do something if you are willing. Take just a moment to think about your own death. I know it’s not something we like to think about, but we will all be there one day, some of us very, very soon. Imagine first you on your death bed. If you were there right now, would you be recalling all the times that you heard God tell you to go heal the broken, all the times He beckoned you to fall headlong into His arms and give up everything you have, all the times He asked you to go feed the hungry, clothe the naked, share the good news of the freedom and salvation we have in Christ to the lost, all the times He asked you to let go of your fears, to step out of your comfortable life, all the times He asked you to give, to give of your money and your time, all the times He told you to go serve, all the times He told you that if you will only completely give Him your life, that He will give you life to the fullest extent, and all the times you chose your own comfortable life over His kingdom? Now think of your funeral. What would your service look like? Would it be full of people who are ready to praise an Almighty God because of the lives He had changed through a servant who was willing to forego the pleasures and comforts of this world for the Glory and Honor of his or her God?

Our God is good, and yet, He is frightening at the same time. Describing Aslan in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis writes:

"Safe?...Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

I think that’s what scares me the most about God. He isn’t safe. I don’t mean He isn’t safe to trust, because our God will always be with us (Joshua 1:9). But when did Jesus do anything that was safe? He lived such a radical life so very different from that of the world. And it’s just not safe to do so. Not so much that it’s not physically safe to follow God, although Christ certainly obeyed God to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:8), but truly living in abandon for the Glory of God’s kingdom means so much more than just having to give up the rest of our Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights so we can go do the church thing. It means that the bank accounts we find so much comfort and security in will no longer be safe. All of our toys, our fancy cars, boats, motorcycles, and big screen TVs that we so pride ourselves over will be in jeopardy. If we want to get over the lukewarmness of our Christian comfort, we have to know that God is going to ask us to do things that are going to make us downright uncomfortable.

Malachi 3:10 - “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

How many of us are content (or maybe even disheartened) to just hand over 10% of our paycheck every other week just to get it over with? I certainly am guilty of this. But God wants our everything. All of our time, all of our money, all of our effort, all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our desires, all of our love, all of us. And what does He want to do for us? He wants to pour out for us such a blessing that we won’t even know what to do with it! So why do we settle for so so so much less? Why do we settle for the empty pleasures of sex outside of marriage? Why do we settle for the hollow joy of shiny new cars, big houses, and flashy clothes? Why do we settle for the deceptive security of big bank accounts and diversified portfolios? Why do we settle for anything less than the God who brought us out of the slimy pit of our messed up lives and set us on solid ground? Why do we settle for anything less than the God that put a new song in our mouth, a song of freedom and hope? Why do we settle for anything less than the God that loves us unfathomably, endlessly, and unconditionally? Why do we settle for anything less than the God who died for us while we were still happily choosing sin and offers us eternal life, hope and healing not because we have ever done anything good at all, but simply because He is so ridiculously Good???

It is scary to think what God will do with my life when I finally give everything to Him. It’s honestly a little frightening to think about what my life will look like when I let God radically change me. Truthfully I haven’t done that yet. I don’t mean that I am questioning my salvation or anything of that sort because I know I have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and have been completely forgiven for everything I have ever done and everything I will ever do, but what I do mean is that some part of me is still hanging on desperately to this safe and comfortable life that I live. And believe me, it is a comfortable life. I don’t mean to say that I am wealthy or that I have a bunch of nice stuff to show off. But I do mean that I cannot point to any part of my life and honestly tell you that I am absolutely having to trust in the Lord to come through for me. Don’t you think sometimes God just wants us to confess that we don’t love Him like we should? That we love many other things more than we love Him? But that we want to love Him so much that we would willingly and joyfully sell everything we have for the treasure of His kingdom? All God wants me to do is to trust Him. He just wants me to trust that if I will give to the point that it scares me, He will pour out His blessings on me in ways I can’t even understand. That if I will go to the point that I don’t think I can go any further, He will carry me. That if I will love like I have never loved that I will not be disappointed. That if I will give up more than I have ever given, I will gain more than I have ever gained. And honestly I am ready. I am tired of striving for comfort. I am sick of being content with safety. And all God wants us to do is allow Him to change us. Bring it on God, I am ready. I am scared, but I am willing.

Do you want to live in abandon for God’s kingdom? He simply wants us to give all to Him. And He is waiting to pour out His blessing upon us. I urge you not to forget about eternity. Don’t forget that one day those of us who have given our lives to our Savior will gather around the throne of God with 100 million plus angels and saints and sing praises to His name for an eternity! And that’s all that matters. God’s glory is all that matters. God’s glory is all that will ever matter. In the end, where we worked and if we liked our jobs or not won’t matter. It won’t matter if we got married or had children. It won’t matter if we had a college education or a GED. It won’t matter if we drove a porsche or a pinto. It won’t matter if our stocks were diversified or if we lived on food stamps. It won’t matter if we wore gucci or goodwill. It won’t matter. It will not matter. The only thing that will matter is if we loved God and if we loved people (and ourselves don’t count). Close your eyes and picture yourself in a sea of millions of saints and angels singing with all of your heart, shouting as loud as you can praises to God. Hear the roar of hundreds of millions of voices crying out “Worthy is the Lamb!” That’s all that matters in this life.

And so is the Theory of a Dead Man: For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, and they have no reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.