Our Days Are Numbered
Celebration Service
May 5, 2002
A man went in for his annual checkup and received a phone call from his physician a couple of days later.
The doctor said, "I’m afraid I have some bad news for you."
"What’s the news?" the man asked. "Well, you have only 48 hours to live."
"That is bad news!" said the shocked patient.
" I’m afraid I have even worse news," the doctor continued.
"What could be worse than what you’ve already told me?" the patient stammered.
"I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday."
Death. The mere mention of the word causes many people, including Christians, to shiver. It’s been said that people will talk about nearly anything these days, but the one taboo left in America is the topic of death. Preacher John Lares said in his message, "Good News for a Weeping World":
Do you know what the modern taboo is? I read an article recently that said that we now wear on our T-shirts what we used to keep secret from our closest friends. Isn’t that the truth? Look at the messages on some T-shirts. How open our society is about so many things! When I was young, you didn’t talk about a lot of those things, especially in mixed company. Now, it seems that anything goes--except for one subject. You know what the modern taboo is? Death, don’t talk to people about death. They don’t want to talk about it.
Well John you’re right. Generally speaking, people don’t want to talk about death. Oh, it’s true enough that we are aware of its inevitability. Most of us are honest enough to admit its going to happen to us one day. But the fact remains that we still don’t want to have an honest discussion about it. It’s morbid. It’s depressing, It’s too morose. Granted, it can be these things, but only if we separate death from life. You see from God’s perspective, death is merely the beginning of real life. Real life, that is, if we have openly accepted the gift of His Son Jesus Christ into our hearts.
It’s just interesting to me that death was never part of the big picture. When our original parents, Adam and Eve, were created, they were created perfect. This means that they were created to live forever. Well, the first few days went smoothly enough, but then the train got derailed. Here’s how it really happened…
And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetable of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
And Satan created McDonald’s. And McDonald’s brought forth the 99 cent double cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?" And Man said, "Super size them." And Man gained pounds.
And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that Man so admired.
And Satan brought forth chocolate. And woman gained pounds.
And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."
And Satan brought forth ice cream. And woman gained pounds.
And God said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."
And Satan brought forth chicken fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained pounds and his bad cholesterol went straight through the roof.
And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.
And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And Man gained pounds.
And God said, "You’re running up the score, Devil." And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.
And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also. And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol. And Satan saw and said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.
And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery and gastric bypass surgery.
And Satan created HMO’s.
Seriously though, God’s original creation was perfect in every way. Adam and Eve were originally designed to live forever. But then Satan got involved and the whole wonderful party was crashed. Sin entered into mankind’s history and severely affected his relationship with God. Since then we have had to deal with death. It’s fascinating to me to read the story of Lazarus. Just before Jesus raised His friend from the dead, did you know that Jesus wept? I know, many of us know this to be the shortest verse in the Bible, but in my humble opinion it is also one of the most profound.
Listen to the story in John’s own words, John 11:30-35: Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. [31] When the people who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. [32] When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
[33] When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. [34] "Where have you put him?" he asked them.
They told him, "Lord, come and see." [35] Then Jesus wept.
Why did Jesus weep? I mean He knew that Lazarus’ death was intended to bring glory to God. So why the sadness? Jesus wept because death was never intended as part of God’s original equation. Our Lord and Savior’s heart broke not merely because His friend had suffered death, but more significantly, because his friend should have never had to suffer death in the first place. In a word, Jesus wept because of the consequences man’s sin brought forth.
As a result, from the very moment we are born, we live in the shadow of death. Its ominous figure stalks us at every turn. Our mortality is something we must learn to live with in this life. The problem is, we frail human beings spend too little time meditating on the significance of our mortality. Turn with me in your Bibles to
Psalm 90:1-12:
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. [2] Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
[3] You turn man back into dust And say, "Return, O children of men." [4] For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. [5] You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. [6] In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.
[7] For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. [8] You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. [9] For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.
[10] As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. [11] Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? [12] So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
In this Psalm, widely considered to be the oldest of the 150 Psalms, Moses reminds us of some pretty important truths. To begin with, Moses reminds Who God is. Let’s digest verses 1 & 2 a piece at a time.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. The psalmist declares that the Lord has always been the dwelling place of His saints. The Hebrew word here means “protecting shelter”. We must never forget that God is in heaven above serving as the protective roof over our heads, an oasis of refreshment and encampment for his people for many generations. Deut. 33:27 states: The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He thrusts out the enemy before you; it is he who cries, ’Destroy them!’
Next we read: [2] Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. What vivid imagery Moses uses here. God is the Creator of Heaven and earth. This reminds me of Col. 1:17: He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Verses 1 & 2 serve a specific purpose, they remind us that God is God, the omnipotent Creator of all things and in Whom all things are held together. This is important because the psalmist is about to contrast the Creator against the creation, namely man.
[3] You turn man back into dust And say, "Return, O children of men." [4] For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. [5] You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. [6] In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.
In less than a week I will be performing a funeral for my father’s best friend and a friend to me as well. Toward the end of the interment I will say these familiar words, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” We use these words because they signify God’s eternality and man’s finite nature. Moses compares us to grass that sprouts tender and green in the morning, but by twilight, we are withered away.
Next Moses turns our attention to mans’ sin problem and God’s wrath against our sinful attitude. [7] For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. [8] You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. [9] For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.
God is holy and cannot tolerate sin. As was said earlier, when Adam and Eve sinned in their rebellion to God’s command, it turned our world upside down. In their shame, Adam and Eve attempted to hide from God, more specifically, they attempted to hide their sin from God, but God cannot be hidden from. It’s the same in our lives isn’t it? We sin and then, in our guilt, we attempt to hide ourselves from God, but verse eight makes it clear that our sins are always before God, even what we believe to be our secret sins. Therefore man lives under the wrath of God because of his sin. Sin is what brought death to our race and since we all will face death what wisdom is there for us that shows us how to respond, how to live in light of this truth? Listen closely to verses 10-12: [10] As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. [11] Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? [12] So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Isn’t it amazing that even back then, man’s lifespan was generally what it is today. We each are expected to live close to seventy years, women of course are given a few extra which doesn’t seem all that fair. Anyway, if we are healthy, we may even expect to hit eighty before we pass from this life.
It’s easy to live a long life, at least in America. Look at the statistics: Out of every 100,000 persons, 88,361 reach 50 years of age, more than 70,000 make it to 70, and almost 17,000 get to 85 or more. Staying around a long time, however, should not be our primary goal. Rather, we should be concerned with giving significance and value to all our years and not letting them end in shame and disgrace.
How we finish the race depends to a great extent on the pace we set along the way. Joseph Wittig remarked that when we write people’s biographies we should start with their death, not their birth. After all, we have nothing to do with the way our life began, but we have a lot to do with the way it ends.
Take, for example, George Sogcwe of S. Africa. Apparently George decided to fake his death as a test.
"I wanted to know what people would say about me when I’m dead," he said. "I’m satisfied they spoke the truth about me and not lies."
George says he’s gonna keep the coffin for his real funeral ... which may be held sooner than he thinks, if he keeps pulling stunts like this!
Did you know it’s estimated that Every hour 5417 people die? Sometimes death takes its time in coming and those on the threshold can linger for weeks, even months. And then there are times when death blindsides us. It never ceases to both amaze and humble me when I consider how unexpectedly our lives can end. That’s how it happened to Bob McKinley who lived in West Virginia. He was driving home Wednesday afternoon on a day that was drizzly and humid. He was driving up a hill. Coming from the other direction on a two-lane highway was a tractor-trailer with an empty, flatbed trailer. Just as Bob topped the hill and made the bend, the tractor-trailer came down. The tractor held the road, but the empty flatbed trailer flung around and wiped Bob off the road and into eternity. You don’t know, do you? We just don’t know under what circumstances our lives will come to an end.
We just don’t have the luxury that God afforded King Hezekiah. Listen to this: 2 Kings 20:1
About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: "This is what the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness."
In light of God’s wisdom, we must learn two things. Turn in your programs to the outline there. One, we must learn to live our lives NOT detached from the reality of death, but RATHER in light of it. When we live with our frailty in mind, we tend to live life from a more clarified point of view. Our priorities tend to stay in the right order. We value family and friends, even treasure them rather than take them for granted. We focus on the things that really matter.
Two, we learn to PUT our affairs in order and KEEP them in order. In order to clarify this point I will close this morning with the following story…
I watched a man die last night.
Hospice Room 436 lay unusually quiet -- except for labored breathing, a sound like a man running a long final lap. His blue hospital gown rose and fell on the heaving chest.
The black magic marker tag above the bed read: "Gillis, Algerd." Al was the father of Michael, my friend. When my dad died, eight years ago, Michael stood by me. When the sympathy cards had stopped coming and I began the terrifying freefall into grief, Michael had been my parachute. Now I could stand with him in vigil at his father’s deathbed.
I tried to look into Al’s eyes, which had always been playful. He had reminded me of Pinocchio’s Gepetto. Under his silver eyebrows, dark now circled the eyes; his lids were slightly open, but the eyes were rolled back and showed only white. Clear, plastic tubing snaked from the wall to a mask covering his nose and mouth. The nurses said he might make it through the night; they weren’t sure. His kidneys were shutting down. His fingertips and earlobes were tinged blue.
Out in the shiny hospital hallway, laundry carts stood silent. It was deep past midnight, and we were alone: a son, a wife, a dying dad, a friend.
Hearing is the last sense to fade, so Michael and his wife, Stephanie, spoke to his dad -- beautiful words, tender words. "I love you, Dad," Michael said. "I’m here with you, and you won’t be abandoned. You won’t be left alone."
"Thank you for all you’ve given us," Stephanie added, holding his hand, which occasionally twitched, from the stroke or the morphine.
Al had always been generous, helping with school expenses or other needs. "Whenever you helped us," Michael said, "and we said thank you, you just told us, ’That’s what dads are for.’ " He paused, then repeated, "That’s what dads are for."
Michael and Stephanie caressed Al’s forehead and hands and arms, with all the tenderness of a mother for a newborn baby.
When I finally had to leave Hospice Room 436 and walk down the quiet, shiny hallway to the elevators, I thought about what I’d seen.
Death changes the conversation. It strips away cheap social conventions and calls us to either be silent or to speak from the heart. In that room, the only words that seemed appropriate were the kind that are deep and clear and true.
Death changes the calculation. Whatever seemed so important during life -- job or money or house or success -- doesn’t matter now. When you’re in extremis, the most important thing, apart from being ready to meet God, is to be surrounded by people who love you.
I walked out of the emergency room exit, the only one still open, praying for Al and Michael and Stephanie. And praying for myself.
My life story is still being written, but the pages had just been flipped forward: I saw my next-to-last chapter. The essential skills in that moment will be to give and receive love. Am I willing to take the risk? Can I speak more often from the heart, tender words that leave me fully open? Can I receive love from others -- openly receive -- or do I shuffle and protest?
People today -- especially those in their twenties and thirties, I’ve found -- long for community, for authenticity. If we are to lead them, we need to learn the lessons of Hospice Room 436.
On Friday I will fly to Phoenix to perform the funeral for Carol Chapman, a man who was very special to me when I was growing up. My mom and dad and brother would often go camping with the Chapman family and we had so much fun together. Carol was always a happy man who was quick to offer a smile. In fact, only three days before he passed on, Sheri and I sat across from he and his wife Linda laughing and joking. Now he’s gone and it’s left a big empty space inside. I hope to comfort Linda and her two sons this coming Saturday. Please pray for me as I share God’s love with them. None of them know the Lord and I hope I can show them the way during this difficult time.
In the meantime, I urge each person here to start living life in the presence of death. Allow it to temper your soul and purify your priorities. Set your affairs in order so that when death comes, it doesn’t leave your family out in the cold. I have prepared a list of things to help you and your loved one prepare for the transition. It is a practical list which should be of value if you read through it. In the meantime I leave you with these closing words from King David: Psalm 39:4
"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.
Let’s pray…
