Why Seek the Living Among the Dead

I cherish the story that Phil told us about his mother.  After Phil’s father passed away, Phil’s mother was asked if she wanted to go to her husband’s gravesite.  She answered with a “No.”  She was asked again followed by, “Are you sure?”  Phil’s mother answered, “If he were there, I’d be there everyday.  But he’s not there.”

I love this story.  It reminds me of when the women came to the tomb where Jesus was buried only to find it empty and two men asking them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)  I hear this question frequently as I read the pages of Scripture.

For instance, remember when Jesus talked about the things we value?  Jesus tells us not to place a lot of stock—a lot of time, resources, and energy on the things that are temporal, but pursue the things that are eternal (Matthew 6:19-34).  The Proverbs warn us, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12).

I don’t think that Jesus or Scripture is saying that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with the things of the world, but rather esteem the things of God as the highest priority.

 This reminds me of a eulogy that someone gave.   The speaker said, “I don’t know anyone who was on their death bed lamenting that they had spent more time at the office.”

I think Jesus is telling us that when we strive for the things of God, everything will work out in our favor. (Matthew 6:33).

Experiencing God

For the most part, I think that most people are uncomfortable, if not afraid about the subject of experiencing God.  I know that when someone tells me, “God spoke to me” I feel myself tense up and want to walk away from this person.

However, James tells me, “[I] should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” (James 1:19) and Paul warns, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all…” (I Thessalonians 5:20-21).  Other Biblical writers give us the same message, but they also show us that God is involved personally not only in the lives of His people, but in the world around us.

David invites us to “Taste and see that the LORD is good…” (Psalms 34:8).  I cannot think of a better word than “experience” to replace the word, “taste.”  In the New Testament, Peter tells believer to “crave spiritual milk…now that you have tasted that the LORD is good.” (I Peter 2:2-3).

Remember when Paul wrote, “…we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death” (II Corinthians 1:8-9)?  Remember how he started off his letter?  Paul writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  the  Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles…our comfort abounds through Christ” (II Corinthians 1:3-5).  I hear Paul saying that like despair, we can experience the comfort of God in abundance.

When Jesus (Matthew 5:11-12) and James (James 1:2) tells us to rejoice in our trials, have you ever thought to yourselves, “Yeah, right…” Yet, Peter affirms that in trials, we can be “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (I Peter 1:8).

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this joy, however Luke helps me by showing me what it looks like.  In Acts 5:40-41, after the apostles were beaten and threatened, the scriptures tell us that the apostles went away “rejoicing.”  Then in Acts 16, after Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, we are told that at midnight, they were found to be “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).  I am quite confident they weren’t singing, “Nobody knows the trouble we’ve seen…” because all the other prisoners were listening to them.

But that’s not all.  Scripture says that we can experience a peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7), a love that is beyond knowledge (Ephesians 3:19), and a life that is abundant and overflowing (John 4:4, 10:10).

The Bible tells and shows us even more about experiencing God, but there are three things that I’ve concluded.  First, experiencing God is supernatural—it’s outside the realm of what we can personally acquire or achieve.  It has to be given to us by God Himself.

Secondly, scripture was given to reveal God.  Ultimately, Jesus came to make God known and to invite us into a relationship with Him.  Listen to the invitation from the One whom the Father sent:

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Finally, I hear scripture making a distinction between knowing God and experiencing God.  Experiencing God should not be our goal.  Experiencing God is the fruit or the consequence of knowing God. In Philippians 3:4-11, isn’t Paul saying that he wants to understand all of his experiences—his joys and sorrows; his triumphs and defeats in the context of knowing God?  I hear Paul saying if it’s not about God or knowing Him, its value can be found in the sewer.

I could be wrong.  I am often accused of having SLD—selective listening disorder.   What do you think?

I Am the Way

Since I’ve had my knees operated on, Lois and I often go for walks together to help each other recuperate from our respective surgeries.  Lois had her knee operated on a year ago while I had mine done three months ago.  A few days ago as we walked, we talked about where we were in our respective recovery.  We talked about our expectations, our progress, our disappointments, and we came to the conclusion that we just weren’t sure how everything was going to work out.

The more I think about this conversation, the more I realize that this is what we all face—the uncertainties of life with an opportunity to seek God.  The God of the Bible invites people to journey with Him through life.  In the Old Testament, God appears to Abraham and tells him to leave his family and familiar surroundings to a place, “I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

In the New Testament Jesus appeared to some men and invited them to “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 4:19) and later, He extended the invitation to all, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).  In other words, Jesus is saying, if you want to do life with Me, “I am the way” (John 14:6). 

Looking at how Jesus’ earthly life played out, following Jesus is not entirely attractive or appealing; however, His promises of, “Surely, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) and “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6) is.

I could write my own narrative but I have a feeling that I will not follow my script and the epilogue will end in a shocker.  However, if I do life with Jesus, I have a strong suspicion that life will be filled with drama, but will end better than I expect (see Philippians 2, II  Timothy 2:11-12).