So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 5:6-8)
While my friend did lose a loved one, his sorrow was not evident by his emotions. See, he knows that one day he will see his loved one again, because they are in a better place with Jesus. In the meantime, my friend is comforted by the understanding his loved one is in a better place. Oh he misses the physicality of the person, but lives with joy in his heart that the suffering of his loved one has ended, and is now happy for the temporary separation.
This made me think of how others have reacted to the loss of a loved one. Now I understand the grief one feels over the loss of a loved one who did not believe in Christ. For their soul will be forever separated from GOD, where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. For them you should grieve and shed a tear for. I too have lost friends and family members who were not Christians. Grieving their loss is appropriate, since they are lost forever, and thus we will never see them again. However, as Christians, we have the promise of the cross, the resurrection, and eternal life in the presence of GOD.
Often times I have shared the following analogy with friends to help them realize that they should rejoice when a brother or sister in Christ dies, because they are in a better place. If any tears are to be shed over the death of a Brother or sister in Christ, then it should be for those who survive and still must continue living in this world that only promises us pain and suffering.
Have you ever made plans to go on a long trip with a loved one, but at the last moment something came up so you could not leave on time? You tell your loved one you will catch up with them after you take care of whatever it was that will delay your departure. You and your loved one are comforted by the knowledge you both will be reunited as soon as you arrive. This is no different than if a beloved Christian friend, or family member, dies before you. While we do feel sorrow for the absence of their physical body, we should not grieve their departure. I say departure instead of loss, because we know exactly where they are.
So why would we want to be so sorrowful knowing they are where we wish we could be? Would you be sorrowful if your loved one or good friend went to Hawaii on a vacation, but there was no way to contact them? You know they are having the time of their life, and soon they will return from vacation, or you may join them, but just because you cannot communicate with them, does not mean you should cry or be grief stricken.
Well, know this dear sisters and brothers, your saved friends and loved ones who departed this destination before you, are truly having the time of their existence. An existence which will last an eternity with no pain, no sorrow, and no end. An existence we all, as Christians, long for. So why be sorrowful? Please feel joy for their early departure, knowing they just arrived at their desired destination a tad bit earlier than you will. I say a tad bit, because regardless of how many years you continue living in this world, those who in GOD’s presence, are now living in GOD’s timezone. Where one day will be like a thousand years, and a thousand years will be like one day.
So instead of agonizing and crying over their loss, we should do as my friend told me he is doing. Singing a song of joy, because his loved one’s pain and suffering has ended. Knowing they are where we too wish to be, we should feel good for them, and not sorry for ourselves. As Christians we should be looking at life and death the way the Apostles did, who gave their all. Up to, and including death, to preach the Gospel. Never once considering the sorrow our death would bring to others.
I believe this is one of the reasons some Christians struggle after the loss of a loved one, they know was also saved. Or at least they fail to project much faith that they will ever see their loved one again. We need to understand that with a sacrificial mindset, we and our fellow Christians should look forward to the day we die. Especially if our death comes from spreading the Gospel. For what good is our faith, if we are unwilling to sacrifice all this world has to offer us for that which we preach? After all, what is better, to be in the World with all the agony and misery, or to be in the present of GOD for an eternity of bliss?
I have always been fascinated by the way some practice funeral processions in New Orleans. They are having a party. With musical instruments, singing, and dancing as they move on down the road to the cemetery where the shell of their loved will be buried. Key word, “shell”, because as I already pointed out, the Scriptures tell us,
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 5:8)
Thus, their joy is complete, because their loved one is already with Christ. All they have to do is put the shell in the grave. They realize that this World is full of suffering and death, yet in that death there is a release from the suffering this world has to offer. If you and your loved ons are believing children of Christ, then you should have a good feeling in your heart that their misery and suffering is over.
We read in John 11:35, that Jesus wept before HE raised Lazarus from the grave. The next verse tells us how the Jews responded to HIS weeping, (36) “See how He loved him!” Now, while I agree that Jesus loved Lazarus, I also believe HE wept because HE had to bring Lazarus back to life. Remember, Jesus deliberately delayed HIS arrival until after Lazarus was dead and in the tomb for 4 days. Martha tells us his body was already decomposing,
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
(John 11:39)
Think about it, his suffering was over. So that awaited Lazarus, was for Christ to die so he could be take him to heaven with HIM. Yet, Jesus allowed Lazarus to suffer for a few days before he died. Then HE brought him back to life after 4 days so HE could use him as an example of the resurrection. Plus, Jesus knew that the Pharisees would plot to murder him.
Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
(John 12:9-11)
This is why I am convinced Jesus wept, because HE knew that Lazarus was on his way to heaven, but now he was coming back into this miserable world where eventually he would have to suffer and die again. We never learn how he eventually died, but maybe he was eventually martyred even? So, Jesus wept, but not over the death of Lazarus, but I believe HE wept because his suffering was not over.
There is an old pop song from the early 1960’s by “The Cavaliers” called, “Oh Where Can My Baby Be“. The song is about a guy who’s girlfriend had died in a car accident. Yet he knows she has gone to heaven.
Oh where, oh where, can my baby be? the Lord took her away from me. she’s gone to heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when I leave this world.
He knows she is in heaven, and that he will only see her if he too goes to heaven. Now, the words are not Biblical by any means, because one must accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, and nothing in the song offers that. Yet the sentiment that he recognizes he will only meet her again if he goes to heaven is my point. We all want to see our loved ones who left before us, but if they are in a better place, then we should be desirous to be with them there.
Well, the only way to see those you know are in heaven is for you to also give your heart, soul, and mind to Christ. Just ask in Jesus’ name for our Father in heaven to forgive you of your sinful life, accept that Jesus died on the cross to take away your sins, and that you know His resurrection guarantees you will have life after death. Then when you leave this old world, you too will see your loved one’s who just took an early flight.
I pray those who have ears to hear will hear His voice and call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
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