The End is Near

This weekend, I’m officiating my uncle's funeral. It is a privilege to serve family and friends in this way. Culturally, we look to clergy for hope and encouragement through life's stages. The pastor’s role is described as “ministry from the cradle to the grave,” meaning the pastor accompanies people through life's major stages. Even those without a spiritual tradition find comfort in the reminder that life has meaning beyond the repetitive cycle of daily life.

As we face death, our minds can be filled with regret and fear. Regret for the things left undone or unsaid, and fear of the unknown. While both are understandable, neither need be our final song.

Each of us knows that death is part of life and that, in light of this, it is good to live fully in every moment of every day, yet none of us do. Looking back on all our yesterdays, we can choose to focus on our failures or to celebrate the ways God has shown his love for us. Did you catch the difference? We can choose to view life through different lenses.

In the first instance, we have put ourselves on center stage. Our minds are consumed by regret and failure over what we have done or said. However, as valid as these failures may be, they need not immobilize us. They may have defined our past, but they need not determine our future. While we cannot fix every wrong, we are not helpless; with God in view, hope remains for all.

With God in view, we can remember and celebrate life even amid trials. It is not living in denial of past wrongs but living in full recognition of how great the Father’s love for us is despite our failures.

Jesus addresses this in the parable of the prodigal son. The story is about a son who tells his father he wishes he were dead so he could receive his inheritance now. Out of love for his son, the father gives him his inheritance and:

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So, he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses…”(Luke 15:13–17a)

Pride puts us at the center, but when we “come to our senses,” we can recognize the Father’s goodness and unconditional love. If we approach the Father as the prodigal did, we will find arms open wide upon our return, rather than the scorn we believe we deserve. Remember, the prodigal's father was waiting and looking for his son’s return.

During my final visit with my uncle, he asked me whether he should be afraid. As I considered his question, I realized the answer is “It depends.” At first, we may think it depends on how righteous we are, but that is not the answer. As we learn from the story of the prodigal son, the elder brother who stayed home and did everything right was equally guilty. He, too, failed to recognize and accept the father's unconditional love.

The “It depends” depends on what we are trusting in, not on some contrived measurement of personal worthiness. As James warns, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10) We all stand equally guilty.

Only trusting in Christ and his righteousness gives us eternal hope: “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God makes us right with himself through faith.” (Philippians 3:8–9)

My “It depends” is answered by what I’m trusting in. Not self-righteousness but Christ’s righteousness: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14)