We are near the end of another church year. At this time of the year the themes typically begin pointing us to the ’end times.’ And our readings today don’t disappoint. Today we turn our attention to matters that are difficult – to matters that deal with the end of life. The readings for today point us to our mortality. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines the word mortal like this: “Subject to death” – as in mortal man. It is a reminder that we are only “human.” We are mortals – part of a humanity that is subject to death.
Let me share something very personal with you. As a child, and even as a young adult – I avoided anything to do with death. I didn’t go to funerals. I didn’t want to think about the mortality of the people that I loved. It was scary and sad to think about such things. Mortality and death were themes that I avoided. Even today, it is traumatic to deal with the thought that someone whom the Lord has brought into my life might die.
I remember my dad as a very vital, strong man. He would get up before the sun to go work. He loved life. He loved his family. He loved me. He enjoyed being with his friends. Even as a man in his mid-eighties, he would drive to a café twice a day – morning and evening - to visit with his friends over a cup of coffee. And then something strange began to happen. His friends began to die - one after the other after the other. The last time I saw my dad with his friends, he was hanging out with young whippersnappers of 60 and 70 years of age. You see, he had outlived most of his childhood companions.
But I didn’t want to think or accept the possibility that dad would die. The thought was abhorrent to me. Even as my dad’s health began to deteriorate, I didn’t want to deal with the thought of saying good-bye to him. Slowly, my dad’s world was reduced to walking between the bedroom and the table he had set up in the living room. At first he could make this trip on his own. But then he couldn’t even do this without the help of a walker. When I visited, most of the time I would find him seated at this table. And I’d join him and play cards with him for an hour or two, and we’d talk. I didn’t want to deal with the thought that he wouldn’t be here one day.
It is painful, unnerving and sometimes scary to think about our own mortality. It is, in many ways, even more difficult to think about the mortality of those whom we love. But the Bible calls us to recognize that we are mortal. We are called to recognize that, one day, our life on this earth will come to an end. Today we’ll look at the scriptures to find out why it is important to recognize this important reality. This thought is poetically, and very starkly, expressed in the words of the Old Testament lesson from Job. Let me read it for you:
[JOB 14.1-6: 1 Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. 2 He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure. 3 Do you fix your eye on such a one? Will you bring him before you for judgment? 4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! 5 Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. 6 So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired man. (NIV)]
Job went through some really hard times. You see, Job was a servant of God. He had been blessed with family, wealth and possessions. But all of a sudden, his life took a dramatic turn for the worse. He was painfully reminded that he was mortal and that those he loved were mortal. Without warning – disaster after disaster came upon him. His sons and daughters were killed. His servants were killed. He lost all his wealth. He lost his herds of oxen and donkeys. His sheep were consumed by fire that seemed to fall from the sky. The camels he owned were stolen by raiding parties. He was plagued by sores and boils that the scriptures tell us covered him from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. In short, death came a calling, and Job became intensely and painfully aware of his mortality.
If this weren’t bad enough, Job had to endure the harping of three of his friends. They tried to convince Job that his suffering was the result of his sin. But Job protests. In fact, today’s text is part of Job’s own defense. In effect, Job says, “I’m only a mortal. I’m human. My time on this earth is limited - like a flower or like a fleeting shadow. I am impure and therefore, good cannot grow out of me. I cannot go beyond the days that have been ordained for my life.” “The lifespan of a mortal,” says Job, “Is like a day at work for a hired man. It ends at the end of the work day.” Job in effect was saying, “What else can I expect other than suffering? That is what being a mortal is all about.”
Tough words. Life is equated with a hard day of work. So what about us? Does the issue of your mortality ever come to mind? Is it scary? Is it OK to dwell on the fact that we are mortal? I think that the answer is a surprising yes! Not only do I think that it is healthy, but it is also Biblical. Moody Bible Institute has a daily devotional similar to our ’Portals of Prayer’. Some years back they had the following thought in one of their daily devotions:
Philip II, father of Alexander the Great and king of Macedon, was always accompanied by two men who had a very interesting duty. One man was to say to him each morning, “Philip, remember that you are but a man,” while the second asked the king each evening, “Philip, have you remembered that you are but a man?” (Today in the Word, March 30, 1993)
Philip wanted to be reminded of his mortality. He knew that it was important to recognize this. How about us? You see, there are many compelling reasons to recognize our mortality. By understanding that we are mortal – we will, like Job, recognize that we have limits. We are forced to be humble. Facing our mortality can teach us to treasure and value the time that we have been given by God. It compels us to love people and to really take a clear inventory of what is important in our lives.
A pastor tells the story of a businessman who gets a visit by an angel. This businessman was granted one wish by the angel. And so the businessman asked for a look at stock prices in the future. The angel gave him a future copy of the NY Times. He was greedily considering the money that he would make, when something caught his eye. On the next page, he saw his own obituary. Suddenly the money didn’t seem so important after all. (Troy Mason, sermoncentral.com) Recognizing that we are mortal makes us reorder priorities. It causes us to take inventory. And the conclusion – life itself is what is important. Everything else, money, careers, the economy - takes a back seat.
By recognizing that we are mortal, we learn to depend on God. We learn that God is the only source of help and comfort. We see that our ways are unjust, and that God’s ways are righteous and holy. Job himself says this by asking these two rhetorical questions: “Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” (Job 4:17) The obvious answer to both questions: No! We need God to make us righteous. We need God to make us pure. We cannot do it on our own. We recognize that our sinfulness makes death a reality. And so with these questions, Job shows us that our mortality places us squarely at the mercy of a holy, righteous God.
You see, when I finally faced the mortality of my father, it was another death – Jesus Christ’s – that gave me hope. It is in the forgiveness that Jesus won that our human mortality is transcended. When we feel like Job - hopelessly bound to our mortal bodies – maybe bodies that are full of pain – God promises us help through the cross and resurrection of Jesus.
You see, beloved, Jesus’ resurrection is also our resurrection. He shares it with us by grace through faith. When in our mortality we recognize that we need God, Christ comes to us and restores us. Paul the Apostle said it this way, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11)
George Bush Sr. represented the United States at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. He was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev’s widow. She stood motionless by the coffin. Seconds before it was closed, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev’s wife performed an act of great courage and hope. She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest. Her gesture must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all - hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life - the life that was best represented by Jesus, Who died on the cross. And she hoped that Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband. (Gary Thomas, Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.)
You see, Christ came to change our mortality. He came to give us hope as we face the fact that this life will end. Remember how Merriam-Webster defined the word mortal? – “subject to death?” Well Jesus came to redefine it through his cross and resurrection. He came to change our mortality from a curse to a blessing. “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54)
Beloved, let Jesus sooth any fears you may have about your mortality. He came to give us life and that more abundantly. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
