Advent 2015 - Day 21

(From the Gospel Coalition blog post by Trevin Wax "We Lepers"

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers.

He moved to Kalawao – a village on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony.

For 16 years, he lived in their midst. He learned to speak their language. He bandaged their wounds, embraced the bodies no one else would touch, preached to hearts that would otherwise have been left alone. He organized schools, bands, and choirs. He built homes so that the lepers could have shelter. He built 2,000 coffins by hand so that, when they died, they could be buried with dignity.

Slowly, it was said, Kalawao became a place to live rather than a place to die, for Father Damien offered hope.

Father Damien was not careful about keeping his distance. He did nothing to separate himself from his people. He dipped his fingers in the poi bowl along with the patients. He shared his pipe. He did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores. He got close. For this, the people loved him.

Then one day he stood up and began his sermon with two words: “We lepers….”

Now he wasn’t just helping them. Now he was one of them. From this day forward, he wasn’t just on their island; he was in their skin. First he had chosen to live as they lived; now he would die as they died. Now they were in it together.

One day God came to Earth and began his message: “We lepers….” Now he wasn’t just helping us. Now he was one of us. Now he was in our skin. Now we were in it together.

– From John Ortberg’s God Is Closer Than You Think (HT - Darryl Dash)

Prior posts:

Day 20 | Day 19 | Day 18 | Day 17 | Day 16 | Day 15 | Day 14

Day 13 | Day 12 | Day 11 | Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1

Living and Dying for Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Phil 1:18b-21

Note: I drafted the first part of this blog post last Tuesday, but was unable to finish due to time constraints. By the time I was able to return to it on Wednesday evening, a co-worker of mine had died. So, on Wednesday I was unable to find the right words or balance to finish this blog.  But perhaps today, by God's grace I can do so.  SDG.

Sometimes there is a danger of speaking of more than we know. I have a sense that I am on the verge of that now. Sure most could probably talk about living for Christ although most would use examples of others who would portray these truths better than we do. But dying for Christ; that's a different story. I would dare say most us, while on the slow march toward the grave, are not dying in the immediate sense of the word. So, I will proceed Biblically, but with the acknowledgement that my reach may exceed my grasp.

I think at the outset it would be important to note that at one level Paul did not see any distinction between living and dying in Christ. His prayer was the Christ would be honored, whether by life or by death. Next week, Lord willing, we can see the tremendous differences and blessings of dying in Christ. It should also be noted that Paul is receptive to either course of events. Life or death didn't appear to matter to him. He seemed content in whatever God granted to him.

One question that is raised in my heart and in my mind as I read this passage is: How is Christ honored in my life? Paul could certainly be our example. He was sold out, dependent on the Spirit, willing to speak the truth in love, committed to the spread of the gospel, insisting (at least in Corinth) that he speak of nothing expect Christ and Him crucified, and the list goes on. The problem with Paul (or any Bible character) is that we tend to super-spiritualize them. we think things like: he had a direct line to Jesus, she was able to pray 23 hours a day, etc.The reality is that the folks in the Bible were ordinary people with an extra ordinary God. And their commitment to live for Christ and that Christ would be honored in their lives did not come from themselves. Rather it was (and is) a gift from God via the Holy Spirit. But, this tendancy to place the men and women of the Bible on a pedestal is why I try to follow Piper's admonition to read Christian biographies. To see "real" men and women how they struggled in the faith and yet kept going is a refreshment and an encouragement to my soul.  In one sense, at least for me, it is an extend edition of Heb 11.

Here, of course, is the tricky part, the risky part. We can all offer an opinion about what it means to have Christ honored in our bodies through our lives. Not too many of us are qualified to pontificate on what it means to have Christ honored in our bodies through our death. With that being said however, I think we can make some safe, albeit challenging observations from Scripture.

The first observation is that this life is not ultimate; eternity with Christ is ultimate. To have Christ honored through our death must involve this reality. It is so easy to get caught up in the "here-and-now-ness" of this life and we forget that not only is this life a mist, it is also a shadow. We must remember and be reminders of the shortness of our lives and the incompleteness of our lives. If we are not yearning for something more, how will Christ be honored in our death?

Another observation is that everything in this life should lead to, point to and drive us to the next. The author of Hebrews states we do not have a city here, but we seek the city that is to come. Seeking, pursuing, actively going after what is eternal, all of this demonstrates that this life leads us to eternity with Christ. Our deaths then will honor Christ as a culmination of a life spent on a journey toward the Celestial City.

My one final observation of the many that could listed is this: death is not an end nor is it a tragedy for those who are in Christ. This is often a hard truth, especially for those who have lost a loved one and  for those who are faced with death. In all honesty, I think it connects with our poor memories regarding the temporariness and incompleteness of this life. But Christ will be most honored in our deaths when we can proclaim we are eager to die because only through death (or Christ's return) can we actually receive the prize we've been longing for.

If our heart's desire is to honor Christ whether we live or die, the Spirit needs to continually reform our hearts. By God's grace our lives will become more and more a picture of Christ's love and our deaths will not be a tragic event to be avoided at all costs, but rather a long awaited reunion with the One who created us, redeemed us and loves us with a love that exceeds knowledge.

To God Alone be the Glory