SURROUNDED BY DEATH AND DYING!

In Romans 8:36 the Apostle Paul describes one portion of the human condition as being surrounded by death. It reminds us that we live in a "fallen world" in rebellion to God. It wasn't God's intent for creation, but disobedience and sin have their reward; the wages of sin are death. I'm not just talking about physical death. I refer more broadly to the death of marriages, friendships, businesses, dreams, hopes, opportunities, careers, and the list could go on and on. We don't prepare well for the end of things, particularly death. We assume life will pretty much go on as it has in the past and we are shocked when we think about the number of the candles on the cake this year.

Every day at The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and at Harborview where my brother is still in intensive care, I see life and death on a intimate


 basis. It is sobering, it causes one to reflect upon one's own eternal condition. I memorized a verse in High School from Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me; and the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." I dedicated my life to living out that verse. I am only now beginning to understand its full implications. We tend to rush past the crucifixion part when we are young and think we will live forever. We want so deeply for Christ to live His abundant life in our lives. We are almost intoxicated with the hope of becoming a new creation in Christ that we fail to think about what it could possibly mean to be crucified with Christ.I still don't understand all that it means, but I am getting glimpses. Crucifixion took a long time. It was intended by the Romans as the ultimate form of execution that would deter criminal behavior.That Jesus willingly went to the cross to conquer death is the rock that anchors my soul.

Death in Christ is a miraculous and wonderful gift. To claim all the promises of the One who promises to be the Resurrection and the Life gives us a boldness and confidence to "surthrive" even human mortality. But the process of dying still sucks. It often hangs on to the vestiges of when it was the ultimate destiny of humanity and makes the process bitter and trying. Maybe that is part of what being crucified with Christ is all about. To share in physical pain, the loss of control and the releasing of our souls into the Hands of God, may have some redemptive value we just can't see. At the end of that journey, however, I do know what awaits those who die in Christ. Twice in my baseball/softball career I have been up to bat in the bottom of the last inning with the game on the line. If I struck out or made an out, we would lose. If I got a hit, particularly a home run, we would win. Miraculously, both times I hit a home run. Each time as I was rounding 2nd base I was suddenly grabbed by the entire team and hosted on their shoulders and carried to third base and finally home. That is what dying in Christ is like. God's angels come swooping down and carry you home because you have fought the good fight, you have finished the race, you are lifted up on eagle's wings and you go home.
My brother Tom may have the privilege of that journey in the coming days or weeks. I wrote several days ago that God was speaking to my heart that "My brother would rise!" Jesus assures us that even if we die physically, we will live in and with Him forever. My greatest sorrow is what life is like dying without Christ?


Bellingham, WA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Fall of 1973

We "surthrived" undergraduate studies at Western Washington University and it was decision time again. What did God want us to do with our lives? We had met a missionary team in France that ministered through a mission called "L'eau Vive", Living Waters. They made a strong appeal for us to return to France, after raising our own financial support and partner with them in ministry. We both felt that was a distinct option and prayerfully sought God's guidance. I knew that I needed formal Theological Education, so I applied to Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. and was accepted into their 2 year program to obtain a Master's in Christian Studies. Kriss had experienced a true vocation of care giving working in the nursing home. She applied to Whatcom Community College for the LPN program and was also accepted. Now we were both students, working part-time jobs and one of us had to commute. Obviously, it would be more appropriate for me to travel 4 days a week to Vancouver than for her to drive 5 days a week to Bellingham. These were the days before Homeland Security and Terrorism. I could get to Vancouver in an hour, stopping just minutes at the border crossing. In fact, some of the personnel on both sides of the border got so used to seeing me come and go that they just waved me on. That wouldn't and shouldn't happen today.

Both of our coursework was demanding and rewarding. Starting theological education was like going to first grade all over again. Learning new alphabets, this time Greek and Hebrew. Vocabulary that everyone else seemed to know, except me. Volumes and volumes of books to read and research. I knew that I was starting in the middle of the pack, but I was determined to do my best and accomplish all God had for me to do in that setting. By the end of the first year, I felt like I was running with the leaders of the pack. I had learned how to study and dissect God's Word. The greater challenge is finding out the rest of your life how to live God's Word. Kriss excelled in Nursing School and today, after all these years, she is essentially my personal LPN, upon whom I am pretty much totally dependent. God's timing reveals God's sovereignty.

We continued our Friday Night Bible Studies in Bellingham that year. Lives were changed and we forged bonds of love and fellowship that sustain us to this day. Nothing replaces a long-term friendship, not even family.Antoine de St. Exupery's masterful insights into friendship in WIND, SAND AND STARS, are an inspiration to me. He essentially says that you cannot replace a forever friend. It would be like planting an acorn in the ground one day and expecting to sit under its shade tomorrow. It is in the long-term battles of life and death, victory and failure, that the bonds of true love are forged. And when those giant oaks that have surrounded and protected us are removed and taken down. Our lives seem defoliated, naked, vulnerable. That is how I will feel when my brother Tom goes home. But I live in a forest of equally majestic oaks and they will stretch out their strong limbs and give me shelter and strength.  Robin