When I
open Facebook, it always asks, “What’s on your mind, George?” I was tempted
recently to answer with one word, “Death,” to see what the response would be.
It’s true, however, I do think of death rather often, for several reasons. One,
because its in the news – graphically and repeatedly. I should stop watching
the news, but I won’t. I am reminded of death also because of my age. The
longer I live the more friends and family members I lose. Another reason I
think of death is that both my daughter and my wife have had near death
experiences. One doesn’t forget things like that.
My
reading also leads me to think about death. Some books I read are mysteries,
which always focus on someone’s death. A book I am re-reading now is not a
mystery, but it speaks of death often. It is titled, My Grandfather’s Blessings. Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging,
by Dr Rachel Naomi Remen, a medical doctor who works with cancer patients. One
of them had survived 3 major surgeries in only 5 months. He described himself
to her afterward as being “born again.” She asked him what he meant, and he
said the experience of facing his death had challenged his ideas about life. He
was stripped of all that he knew, all of those ideologies and philosophies that
he had built his life on, and was “left only with the unshakable conviction
that life itself was holy.” She commented, “he had discovered that we live not
by choice but by grace. And that life itself is a blessing” (p 325).
As I
thought about this it occurred to me that Jesus must have thought something
like this when he faced death during his ministry. He knew that he would not
die for a Pharisaic ideology – or for any other ideology people build their
lives on – and certainly not any of the
polarizing “isms” that divide us today. He was very clear about why he came,
which was also why he had to die. He said it plainly in John 10:10-11, “I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep.” If you read through John’s Gospel you will find over and over
again that its all about life. He opens by saying, “In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,” and quickly adds, “In him
was life and the life was the light of all people.” And he continues throughout
the Gospel to show us the one who said “I am the way the truth and the life… “
and “I am the resurrection and the life.”
The
cancer patient was right. Life is holy, and it is ours by grace. This broken bread and the cup remind us of
the life Jesus gave that we might live. It would be appropriate when we lift
the cup to use the traditional Jewish toast that says simply, “To Life!”
