Both Death and Faith Are Nearer Than You Think

Up until recent times, people were constantly thinking about death. Before modern medical practices, safety regulations, and the elevation of the common man, death was a daily possibility. In a family of five it was likely that at least one would die of a contagious disease, killed in a war, or die on the job.  Life expectancy in the Middle Ages was around 35, and if you were lucky enough to live that long it was probable that many of the people you knew growing up would already be dead, including your spouse, parents, and children. For most people, this life was a difficult struggle to survive, and it still  is for most people in the world today.

Within those circumstances, imagine what it would be like to hear that your family, friends, ancestors, and descendants would someday once again be united with you. Released from a life of constant hardship and suffering, death was a transition to another, better life. In Heaven, death would become irrelevant, and you would be reunited with all your loved ones who had gone before you, including people who had lived hundreds or even thousands of years before you.

 Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 11:2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation. 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead. 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith  11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.  11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." 

Perhaps the reason most people in our culture are losing faith is because it seems like the need for it is diminishing. After all, we live in the most privileged society in the world. Most of us have been inoculated against the major life-threatening diseases. If we break an arm or leg we can get it fixed instead of having to be held down while someone saws it off with a dirty and rusty knife. We stand a pretty good chance of not being murdered while going to market or killed defending our master’s property. Indeed, the main complaint young people in our culture make is (take a guess) “I’m bored.” Bored people don’t worry about death and the afterlife much.

The pressing issue is, though, that death is still a distinct possibility for all of us at any given time. Our material security as a nation is slowly but observably eroding, as evidenced by 9/11. Our society is steadily becoming more barbaric, where only the rich and strong survive. While information is becoming more accessible, and the amount of information doubles roughly every 18 months, the actual education level of most people is rapidly lowering down toward what it was during the Middle Ages. Our culture and government is becoming perceptibly more and more hostile toward the Christian faith. Soon, young people may not complain about being bored anymore, they’ll be too busy trying to survive. And at that point, death and those who have gone before us into Heaven will become subjects of much contemplation once again.