Jump Start # 1140

1 Corinthians 15:56 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

  This morning I go to bury a friend. He was special to me and enriched my life in so many ways. I have been to the cemetery often as a preacher. It never gets easy and it never seems normal. The funeral of a Christian is emotional. The world seems a bit darker because one of God’s children are no longer gracing it. We know, we believe, the Scriptures teach and God promises, that the death of the righteous is precious to God. That helps on days like today. We know that this is not goodbye, it’s a see you in a little while. We know the book of our life does not end with the last page at the cemetery. There is no last page. We live on and on and what a wonderful blessing that is. Death is Satan’s greatest trump card. It’s his big gun. It’s the one thing we can’t get around. Death comes. However, because of Jesus, up from the grave He arose. Satan is defeated by the resurrection of Christ. Jesus was the first to rise to never die again. Lazarus, he had to die again. The synagogue official’s little girl, she had to die again. The boy who fell asleep while Paul preached and fell out the window and died, he had to die again. Not Jesus. He was raised to never die again. And because of that we too shall rise never to die again. So our verse taunts death. Where is your sting? Where is your victory? Because of Jesus, death loses. Because of Jesus, Satan loses. The pain of death is not as severe because of Jesus. There is a victory. Heaven is ours because of Jesus.

I have been to a lot of cemeteries in my life. Sometimes I was looking for the grave of some long ago preacher. Sometimes I was looking for branches in the family tree. Sometimes I was just looking. There is something peaceful about cemeteries. Some think they are creepy. I don’t. The older the cemetery the better in my book. I don’t like those flat stones on the ground, modern cemeteries. They lack character. I like the verses, poems, tall stones and short ornate stones. I like the stones that look like trees with branches cut off. I like the little lambs that adorned the graves of children.

There are some valuable lessons learned in cemeteries, especially the older ones.

First, most of the people buried in old cemeteries have been dead longer than they were alive. That’s an amazing fact. Cemeteries remind us how short life is. It seems that since this is true, we ought to put more attention into the eternal than we do the here and now. We need to give thought about our walk with Christ and how we are living. We will be in the eternal for an eternity. Here is brief. Here is not long at all.

Second, what each person thought was so important is now forgotten. Looking at old tombstones, you wonder what worries they had and what issues they faced. Farmers worried about the weather, that is long gone now. Droughts and floods have passed. Mothers fussed over mending patches on the knees of pants. There were economic concerns, political concerns, threats of wars, sick babies, leaky roofs and all the things that we often are bothered about. Forgotten. Gone. Not a concern anymore. The problems that cripple us, do not cross over the boundary of death. Cancer, heart disease, financial ruin, flat tires, phone calls in the middle of the night, stress at work, none of those things will be found in the next world. Problems stay here. Problems not only stay here, they will be forgotten. A generation or two later, and no one will know, or even care. That certainly has a way of putting things in perspective.

Third, Each stone had three things. A beginning date, birth, and ending date, death, and a dash in between. The first and last dates are determined by God. We don’t have much of a say in those things. We don’t have a say about when we are born. We don’t get to pick out the generation. God does. The dash however, is our life. The dash is made up of the choices that we make. Good, bad, long, short, helpful, hurtful, side by side, the people rest, each given a dash. Each responsible for that dash. Each known by that dash. That dash defines us. That dash determines where we will spend eternity. The dash is given to us. What we make of it says everything. Your life summed up by a dash. All those years. All those conversations. All those plans, thoughts, adventures, sweat, toil, hardships, blessings—all of it, in a dash. We are not given two or three dashes. Just one. One life. One opportunity to do something good and right. One chance to know God. One. One dash.

Fourth, each person was loved by God. Some may not have realized that. Some may have doubted that. But they were. They were blessed, loved and God wanted them to spend eternity with Hm. Each person was important to God. Each name was a soul that Jesus died for. Many, long forgotten, even by distant family members, are never forgotten by God. The deeds, even simple ones, such as giving a cup of cold water is remembered by God. The cemetery finds those who died in sin and those who died forgiven of their sins. Just and unjust, side by side, for one final time, until eternity makes that grand separation for all times. Known, loved and blessed by God—each person.

Fifth, death doesn’t care who you are. The old cemeteries will be the home to those who played professional sports, were movers and shakers in their communities and those who died before they even got a chance. Death strikes the rich and the poor. A person can’t flee to a “death-free” haven. They do not exist. This reminds us that death takes our friends and our family. Death is ugly, mean and uncaring. Often, as I experience today, the best are taken. It is not fair, but fairness is not a word that death knows.

Finally, I have a divine appointment coming. Hebrews 9 teaches, “It is appointed unto man once to die…” I won’t miss that appointment. I won’t be able to skip that appointment. It’s coming. When I realize this, I can make the most of my time, my life and this day. Today is a gift of God. Today is a blessing. I need to honor God with it, realizing that some day I will be out of days here. I will move on to the next room and be set into eternity. No one escapes this. The old cemeteries prove that.

Life is precious. Make the most of it. Use your time wisely. Don’t get bogged down in things that do not matter, especially in eternity. Don’t miss God. Love Him. Walk with Him. Obey Him. Know Him. Honor Him. Follow Him. Trust Him. If you do, someday He’ll call you home to be with Him.

We are the victors, thanks to Jesus Christ.

Roger