No graves, no museums

We walked through part of Arlington Cemetery yesterday and watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I wondered if he had a wife who mourned? Or left children without a dad? Were his parents told? Or did they wonder until they died what happened to their son?

We also walked along the Vietnam Memorial with more than 53,000 names engraved in marble, I also thought about the spouses left behind and the tears of sorrow for families as they realized their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers were gone from them. Hundreds, even thousands died in war. These were sobering scenes.

This morning, I read these verses about my beloved Jesus, to whom I have been betrothed, and think about the realities of this union and how He will never leave me or forsake me. This is wonderful, yet does not dull the pain of those who mourn the deaths of their earthly spouse.

My beloved is mine, and I am his…. I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me. (Song of Solomon 2:16, 7:10)

I feel humbled to be part of the Bride of Christ. He has blessed me with a deep sense of His love, of belonging to Him. He offers me all that He has that I might live in peace and joy. There will be no gravestones that separate us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35–39)

Today we go back to that area of DC and have a look at part of the Smithsonian. A couple of days will give us only a small glimpse of what mankind has collected and marked as historically valuable. As I walk through the immense buildings, I will remember what is important to God. He created people to be in intimate relationship with Him, to know and enjoy Him forever. He sent His Son to die so we could be forgiven our sin and become pure and holy, a bride fit for this heavenly Bridegroom.

The stuff we collect, the lives that we live, are important, but not nearly so valuable as our eternal souls because all that stuff and all those lives eventually wind up in museums or graveyards, or even in places marked “unknown” -- whereas the souls that are united to Him can look forward to becoming imperishable and spending an eternal honeymoon with Jesus. 

The Power of an Endless Life

Quoting another speaker on Sunday, our pastor said, “Preaching is not about performance or passion, but God using the Holy Spirit and His Word to transform lives.”

I’m preparing a two-hour presentation to be given to a group of women at the end of this month. It is not preaching, but it is instruction and encouragement from the Word of God. I’ve worried about the style, what the visuals and handouts should look like, and of course the content. I want to say things that bless and build up their faith. When I heard the pastor say that, I instantly agreed that some of my concerns are superficial.

The more important issue is that I am “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). If God doesn’t use what I offer, it doesn’t matter how polished or pretty the presentation. What counts is His involvement in it.

My devotional talks about these things again today. I’m to be concerned about what God is doing, not about what I look like. Today’s devotional is about the last phrases of this passage:

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death... (Philippians 3:8-10)

I know Jesus. Do I know the power of His resurrection? What does it mean? The obvious answer is that this power raised Him from the dead. He had eternal life; death could not hold Him. No matter what happened to Him, He could not help but walk out of that tomb.

This is the kind of life that Jesus also gives to me. It is a powerful life, not the ordinary human life that is born, vital for a time, then dies. In fact, Hebrews 7:16 says of Him that He “has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.”

The fact of human death casts a shadow on everything we do. People spend time, energy and money trying to preserve life, to keep looking and feeling young, to protect themselves from aging and death. All plans we make consider the passing of time. For me, I think Will I live long enough to finish this project? Or Will I have enough life (or energy) to start this one?

Endless life isn’t worried about those things. Certainly, when I leave this world, I must also leave the things of this world and the Bible gives no indication that I can ride a bike, or quilt, or draw pictures in heaven. Maybe or maybe not, but that is not the point. The point is that I will live by the power of His resurrection life then and will live forever, but not only that, I can also live by that same power now!

The resurrection life is fearless, not concerned with temporal things. It depends on God for guidance, strength and endurance. It is the life that draws everything from the vine, abiding in its Source for all it needs. It is the promise of renewal for those who wait on the Lord, the reward of obedience, the joy and contentment of trust. This life is the life of Christ, the life He gave me!

In my anxiety, I’ve suffered. My heart skips beats. My body needs more sleep. I want to snack all the time. The enemy attacks me with doubts and accusations. Yet God says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

This too is resurrection life; not the worry part, but the part about being able to take everything to the Lord with thanksgiving, and the part about peace. Because of His resurrection life, I can experience those things. Whether or not my requests are granted, the endless life of Christ gives me incomprehensible peace, peace that stills my heart and quiets my mind. Because of His life, Jesus assures me that He is my fortress and my shield; He has the power to take care of all worries and concerns.