The Tribune

By Rev Canon S Sebastian Campbell

Whether we are alive or dead, we belong to God and nothing can separate us from God, not even death. Death is best seen as a door through which we go into a new and larger dimension of life with God.

In our modern world, some people seem to feel that science is at odds with spirituality, but nothing can be further from the truth. For instance, science tells us that nothing in nature can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All nature knows is transformation. Now, don’t you think we can apply this same fundamental principle to the masterpiece of God’s creation, human beings? Everything science teaches ought to strengthen our belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace.

We struggle for an answer when asked, “What is heaven like?” The answer must be quite simple: “I don’t know; I ain’t dead yet.” All we need to know is that God is there. God is on both sides of the grave and nothing can separate us from God. That is really all we need to know.

Scottish theologian and Church of Scotland Minister, the late John Baillie, underscores this truth in one of his books. He tells of an old country doctor who made his rounds in a horse-drawn carriage. The doctor’s dog would go along with him. One day the doctor went to visit a man who was critically ill. “How am I, doctor?” The man asked. The doctor replied: “It really doesn’t look good.” Both men were quiet for a while. Then the man said: “What’s it like to die, doctor?”

As the old doctor sat there struggling for an answer, he heard his dog coming up the stairs. Because the door was shut, the dog began to whimper and scratch at the door. The doctor said to the man: “You’ve never been in this house before and he doesn’t know what’s on this side of the door, but he knows that his master is there and because of that he knows that everything is all right. Now, death is like that. We’ve never been there and we don’t know what’s on the other side of the door, but we know our master is there and because of that we know that everything will be all right.”

Psalms 23 reinforces all this: “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…” Note the psalmist does not say, “I will meet no evil”. Instead, he says: “I will fear no evil.” This is the good news of our faith and the key message of the scriptures, that God is with us in every circumstance, that God cares, that God knows our prayers before we pray them, that God is love and God loves us as a father is expected to love.

Shortly before his death, noted theologian Keel Barth made a lecture tour through the US and one student asked him: “Dr Barth, I know you have written many volumes of books, but can you sum up your theology in a simple sentence?” Dr Barth answered simply: “Yes, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!”

In the midst of death as we travel with the bereaved, our message to them must be grounded in this simple yet profound summary of all authentic theology.

On the subject of death, to live we must let some things die, and one of those things is pride. Only in death can we experience new life. Too many are pompous, snobbish and prideful. Perfection is a goal after which we strive and will come to eventually in death.

We don’t have to be victims of death. Paul and the great Christians of history never feared death. They faced it squarely, confidently and courageously, for they knew Christ promised eternal life to all who believed in Him. Paul exclaims: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice…for to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” (Phillippians 4:4; 1:21).

As Christians, we don’t need “good luck” when death comes, because we have God. The God who is the Lord of the living and the dead, the God who is on both sides of the grave, is our best friend. That’s what Jesus came to show us. That’s what Paul believed and we can believe it, too. When we do, it sets us free; resurrects us, raises us above our circumstances and pride, and yes, above and beyond death. That is good news; it is the greatest news ever heard!