Have A Blast While You Last Series

Several years ago, The Onion, a satirical magazine, ran a humorous article with a biting truth. They titled the article, “World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100 Percent.” The article reported:

World Health Organization officials expressed disappointment Monday at the group's finding that, despite the enormous efforts of doctors, rescue workers and other medical professionals worldwide, the global death rate remains constant at 100 percent.

Death, a metabolic affliction causing total shutdown of all life functions, has long been considered humanity's number one health concern. Responsible for 100 percent of all recorded fatalities worldwide, the condition has no cure.

“I was really hoping, what with all those new radiology treatments, rescue helicopters, aerobics TV shows and what have you, that we might at least make a dent in it this year,” WHO Director… said, “Unfortunately, it would appear that the death rate remains constant and total, as it has inviolably since the dawn of time” (The Onion, “World Death Rate Still Holding Steady at 100 Percent,” 1-22-97; www.PreachingToday.com).

It reminds me of what Emperor Palpatine said to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Take a look (show You Will Die video clip). “Now, Young Skywalker, you will die!”

Star Wars fans know that Luke Skywalker escapes death that day. But what Emperor Palpatine said to Luke applies to all of us: “You will die!” Whether you have a terminal diagnosis or not, you and me, all of us are terminal.

So, How do you live in light of your impending death? What do you do, knowing that indeed you will die someday? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ecclesiastes 8, Ecclesiastes 8, where Solomon begins his 4th sermon in the book, answering the question: How do you live in light of your inevitable and impending death.

Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out (ESV).

No matter how hard you work, you will never figure God out. Even if you toil night and day to know His plan, it will elude you. So quit trying! As you face a terminal diagnosis, stop toiling to discover God’s purposes. Quit laboring to understand what God is up to. Cease striving to comprehend God’s ways.

Ecclesiastes 9:1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him (ESV).

You don’t know whether you will prosper or suffer. You don’t know whether you will experience love or hate. That’s all in God’s hands. He controls your future, not you.

Now sometimes, when people get a terminal diagnosis, they try bargaining with God. They think that if they do certain things, God will prolong their lives. Perhaps, if they go to church more, if they give more, if they pray more, or if they serve more hours, God will reward them with healing and a longer life. But God works in mysterious ways, in ways different than what most people think. So quit working so hard to solve the puzzle of God’s ways. Instead, just rest in His will for you, and trust His plan.

The World Puzzle Championship takes place every year at locations around the globe. Last October (2022), over 200 puzzle solvers from 31 countries traveled to Krakow, Poland, to participate in the event. According to an article in Time magazine, some time ago (2013), these connoisseurs of puzzles “eat, dream, and on rare occasions when they sleep, dream about puzzles full time.” They're the true fanatics and geniuses of the puzzle world. But the article also noted that hundreds of millions of people around the world do crossword puzzles, play Sudoku, or work to solve puzzles on their computers, phones, or tablets.

Why are puzzles so wildly popular all around the globe? Will Shortz, the crossword editor of The New York Times answered the question this way:

We're faced with problems every day in life, and we almost never get clarity. We jump into the middle of a problem, we carry it through to whatever extent we can to find an answer, and then… we just find the next thing. [But] with a human made puzzle you have the satisfaction of being completely in control: you start the challenge from the beginning, and you move all the way to the end. That's a satisfaction you don't get much in real life. You feel in control, and that's a great feeling” (Lev Grossman, “The Answer Men,” Time, 3-11-13; www.PreachingToday.com).