Jump Start # 1832

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The news this morning headlines to high profile deaths, both suicides. The Facebook killer, shot himself as police were about to close in on him. Former NFL great, Aaron Hernadez, hung himself in prison. He had been found guilty of murder and was serving his sentence. Suicide is problem. Distraught high school students turn to killing themselves every year. The problem is so serious that there are national hotlines that people can call to help prevent this ugly tragedy.

There are many reasons why a person chooses to end their life. It’s complicated. Simplistic answers do not fix the problems. What is worse is for the family who has to deal with the aftermath. There is a stigma about suicide. The problems that the person could not face are often thrown upon the family and now they have to deal with them.

A deeply underlining belief is that death will end all the pain and death will escape all the coming trouble that one has caused. If I could just die, then it will all be over. It’s not. All suicide does is cast one into eternity, and before a God that they did not believe in nor followed.

Job asked the question, “If a man dies will he live again?” The answer is yes. Not here. Not as reincarnation. But the image of God that we are made in is a everlasting soul that transcends death. The body can die, but the soul won’t. All that a person is, continues on. So choosing death, doesn’t end things. It may elude capture by the police and it may escape a long prison sentence, but it never escapes God. Once a person has crossed over into the eternal side of things, there are no more options. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

The jailer in Acts 16, drew his sword and was ready to take his life, when the apostle Paul told him that all the prisoners were still there. He then preached Christ to him. Not only was a life saved from death, but a life was saved by Christ. The jailer became a Christian.

Wrong choices often leads to one last final wrong choice, suicide. It is especially troubling to hear of young people choosing suicide. When my kids were in high school, a friend of a friend of theirs drop by one day to show one of my sons how to play drums. He was a friendly kid. He was in a band. I met him and to this day remember his name. He took his life. That was shocking to our family. There was a man years ago who was married to one of our members. I talked with him once about God. He claimed he was an agnostic. They had serious financial problems. She called early one morning. I arrived about the time the police did. I headed to the basement, the police right behind me. I turned the corner and nearly ran into his hanging body. That image haunted me for a long time.

I’m not an expert in this area and won’t pretend to be. There are some things that ought to be put on the table before the family.

• Suicide isn’t an option. Be blunt and plain talking about that.
• Problems can be dealt with one by one.
• With God we can overcome.
• Broken hearts and bullied are very real to young people. Parents need to be involved. Recognize what is going on in the lives and hearts of their children.
• Get professional help. It’s better to do that than to have to sit down with the funeral director.
• Pray. Pray. Pray.
• If necessary, make drastic changes. You may have to switch schools. You may have to move to a different community. You may have to switch congregations. But do what you have to.
• Drugs and alcohol are a quick path to a dead end street, including suicide. Know who your kids are texting and are friends with, where they are going and what they are doing.

There is another aspect that we need to mention. When a family has suffered the pain of a suicide, be helpful to them. Don’t be noisy. Don’t ask dumb things such as: “Did they leave a note?” Or, “Did you see this coming?” Or, even worse, “How did they do it?” Think about these families. They are hurting. They are trying to understand why? They are embarrassed and ashamed. Your inappropriate questions only deepens the pain. Instead of helping, you hurt. It is these kinds of questions that make some families shy away from the very people who ought to help them, the people of God. They don’t come to services, not because they do not believe, but they fear all the personal and private interrogations that they receive when they walk through the doors. The answers to those questions do not change the situation. It does not bring the person back. It only satisfies your curious mind which often leads you to telling others what you found out. Don’t do that. Take some food and sit on the couch with them and let them know that you care. Ask if you can take care of house work or yard work for a while. Bring groceries. Don’t stay long. Don’t talk much.

The greatest prevention to suicide is a strong faith in Christ. Knowing that God forgives and loves me even when He knows who I am and what I have done is powerful. Christ forgave Paul, who stood and watched the preacher Stephen being assassinated. The same Paul who ran down other Christians, men and women, and had them brought to Jewish authorities. Who knows how many of those early believers were executed because of Paul. He had blood on his hands and his heart. Yet, Christ forgave him. We need to preach that lesson. We need to believe that God will give each of us a second chance. It doesn’t matter how bad we were, God will forgive if we come to Him, believe Him and obey Him.

We have but one life. It’s precious. We need to use it for the glory of God. Problems come and problems go, but it’s that one and only life that we have that we must treasure and use rightly. Death isn’t the end. There is never a “The End,” to our story. What death does end is our options. Our options to be right with God. Our options to work through and find solutions to our problems. Our options to turn things around. Death seals our fate.

Parents, get talking to your kids. Be on their side. Make your home an environment that even when they have sinned and messed up, they are loved and helped. Preach Christ.

Roger