Questions About Death and Life

 

We all have to deal with death sometime. During this pandemic, there has been much death, which has brought fear and apprehension. The brokenness of this world is apparent with the spread of this disease. We long for a better place. The scriptures tell us God once created a perfect place which was called Eden.  However, the book of Revelation tells us that God has created a New Eden that will one day be our home. One thing for sure is that death and suffering were never part of his original creation no the new earth; we experience them because they are the results of our rebellion against God. We were never meant to live in a world like this. Instead, were designed to live in an unspoiled world. We are wired to long for it, as Solomon says, “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Eccl 3:11).

When death comes, it brings questions—difficult questions that have allusive answers. These questions are not new. We find them in this Old Testament story.  Elijah, the prophet, had been sent to a poor widow who sustained him during a prolonged drought. God miraculously provided for her so she could sustain his prophet. However, during this time, the woman’s small child grew very ill and died (1 Kings 17:17-18). As the woman helplessly tried to stop death, she saw her little boy die. She voiced two questions. They are questions we still ask when death stalks us. First, “What do you have against me God?” and the second is, “Is it my fault that this happened” (1 Kings 17:17-18)?

When death happens, and we cannot stop it, it often does not feel right. Our mind tells us something is wrong, so we question God, “Why have you done this to me?” We just can’t accept the idea that this is how things have to be, so we cry out?” Then when we do not get an answer from God, we blame ourselves. This tragedy must be my fault. Did I cause this? Was my sin responsible for my son’s death? It is what we, as humans do. We ascribe meaning to what doesn’t make sense. When we can’t figure it out, we usually blame someone but mostly ourselves.

Elijah did not attempt to answer her questions, which is what any wise person should do when confronted with those questions. We cannot answer why. We can only listen and be there for the person. To explain the unexplainable is to make their pain worse.

Elijah took the little boy in his arms and carried him upstairs to his room, where he pleaded with God for his intervention. Elijah voices the woman’s question, “O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” (1 Kings 17:20). His question is a protest against what has happened. God listened and answered Elijah’s plea, “The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived” (1 Kings 17:22). This was an extraordinary demonstration of the Lord’s power to overcome death. It’s the first time in the Bible anything like this had happened. The God of the Bible is the God of life and death. That had to be quite a scene when Elijah carried the child back down to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” (1 Kings 17:23).

What happened in this story when Elijah stayed in the widow’s house was the beginning of something bigger and more significant than what appeared to be happening. What God was doing in that place was bigger than Elijah, bigger than the widow, and even bigger than Israel. What God is doing in your life is more significant than you. Ask God to let you see it, especially when you are dealing with difficult situations such as death. If you are willing to trust God, then you will come to see the bigger picture.

God’s Word is Our Guide, Not Culture

Culture is the unwritten set of values that come from society. These beliefs influence our behavior and how we choose to live our lives. Culture tells us how to dress, how to talk, how to interact with each other. Culture varies from one place to the next, but in every area of the world, culture has a powerful impact on our lives. Christians, however, believe that our beliefs, values, and behavior should be informed by scripture. There is no problem with the influence of culture unless it contradicts the biblical mandates for our lives. When that happens, we believe we should choose to obey scripture and ignore what the culture says to us. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples of the confrontation of culture and the Bible.

It’s culturally acceptable for teenagers to be sexually active, but that is contrary to scripture. Today the majority of teens are sexually active when they graduate High School. Many parents condone their teens’ choice to be sexually active and even support them in this behavior. However, scripture is unequivocal that sexual intimacy should belong to marriage: “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Heb 13:4). Culture argues that it is too hard for teenagers to control their sexual impulses, so we should expect them to be sexually active. This is not the view of scripture. God views sex as something extraordinary—so unique that it should be reserved for your life partner.

Culture is misinforming us in this area because teenagers are suffering enormously from the fallout of being sexually involved with other teens. A teen is not equipped emotionally or psychologically to deal with such an intense relationship. What happens to their emotions when they break up? This sexual involvement is contributing to teen depression, teen alcoholism, and teen suicide.

Our culture overwhelmingly approves of the social drinking of alcohol. It is so culturally acceptable that if you choose not to drink, you will be viewed as odd. Scripture gives us many warnings about alcohol,

“Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise” (Prov 20:1). Our culture seems to ignore the basic facts of the danger of a substance that is so addictive. There are between 15-18 million alcoholics in this country and how many more million family members are caught in the vice of dealing with these substance abusers. Did you know that 40% of all family problems brought to the domestic court are alcohol-related? Almost 60% of all domestic assaults are alcohol-related. An astounding 75% of all juvenile delinquents have a least one alcoholic parent. Alcohol abuse is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Alcohol may be culturally acceptable, but scripture would teach us to view it very differently.

The essential thing in a Christian’s life is his or her connection to God. The Bible informs that connection. From the scriptures, we are informed of what is important, what has value, and what does not, what is temporal and what is eternal. Culture has value, but scripture always has the final word for a believer.

Love Requires Discipline

I was pretty young when I learned the lesson of how difficult it is to cover up sin. My older brother, a cousin, and I chose as live targets our neighbor’s chickens. We used our 22 caliber rifle to pick them off at close range. After we had killed at least a dozen of those poor creatures, we had to come up with a plan of how we would hide our crime. We chose the same method as Moses, that of burying them in the ground. At first, it looked as if our scheme had worked. However, to our dismay, the neighbor’s dogs unearthed an excellent meal for themselves and, at the same time, uncovered the whole dastardly deed. Our crime began to unravel at breakneck speed.

I’ll never forget the day I looked up and saw the troubled neighbor coming to our house. I overheard his conversation at the door with my mother, “Mrs. Brooks, my dogs have uncovered nearly a dozen dead chickens. Would your boys have any idea what happened?” She answered, “I don’t know, but I will find out.” She first asked my brother, who didn’t know a thing. Then she honed in on me, and I was a pushover, so I confessed the whole crime. My brother had threatened me that if I told, I too would suffer the same fate as the chickens—however, the burden of concealing this sin any longer was too much to bear.

My mother proceeded to give my brother and me her hardest spanking, but the worst part was, “You stay here in your room until your father comes home, and he will give you something to remember, and he did.” My father drove a truck, so I could hear the truck when it came home. I can still hear the gears shifting; the motor coming to a stop, my mother informing my father, the doorknob turning, and then my father staring at me. My father believed in corporal punishment, and that day he left a great impression on me as to what I had done. Also, my father took us to the neighbor where we apologized for our misdeed, and we let him know that we would be making restitution to pay the man in full for his loss. It certainly seemed like a dumb idea when it was all over. Unquestionably, I would tell anyone never to try to bury chickens in the dirt when there are dogs in the vicinity.

My brother did, however, teach me a lesson that day. Later, he said as only he could say, “Hey, dummy, don’t you know how to take your medicine?” My brother had a real way with words. He went on to explain that when I tried to run away from my father when he was giving me a spanking, it would hurt more. On the contrary, if I could learn as he had to embrace my father, his swing would be shortened and would not hurt nearly as much. It was true.

Even though at the time I dreaded the discipline I received from my father, as I got older, I came to appreciate what he did for me.  The writer of Hebrews says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Heb 12:11).  Hebrews goes on to say that: “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness” (Heb 12:10).

If we run to God when he disciplines us, we will spare ourselves so much agony. God loves us, and everything he does for us is for his glory, and he wants us to be more like him. If we can remind ourselves that God takes no pleasure in our pain, but he always has a higher purpose when he disciplines us.