Can We Talk About Death?

Death. It’s our ultimate enemy. For many of us, it’s our ultimate fear. We know it’s coming, yet trying to escape it is futile. No matter what life looks like before we die, the mystery of what happens after we die is exactly that - a mystery.

We’ve become increasingly apprehensive when it comes to the topic of death and I think I understand why. We don’t want to talk about it because it’s hard. Especially when people close to us die, it’s too emotionally taxing to deal with. So instead, we either bottle it up or handle our thoughts and emotions on a personal level.

Whenever I’m involved in a funeral, I chat with the funeral directors about the ongoing changes in their work. It didn’t surprise me to learn that fewer and fewer people are actually doing services. They told me approximately 1/3 of families decide not to have any kind of service for their deceased loved ones. We need to learn to talk about death.

This past Sunday was Memorial Sunday, or, as others know it, Eternity or Christ the King Sunday. It’s the Sunday of the Christian Calendar that marks the coming of the Advent season. During this time, we remember that God has a lot to say to us about death, and we take time to wrestle with the deaths we have and will eventually experience. 

So what does God tell us about death?

For one, we were never supposed to experience it. Death was never part of God’s creation, but rather the result of humans choosing to live life without God. As God’s creation, we are meant to keep Him in at the centre of our lives; but when we rejected Him in Genesis 3, death entered the world.

God knows that death is horrible. He understands our emotions and fear when we witness and experience it. We even see Jesus’ own agony when He went to the cross, knowing how difficult it would be. 

We were created by God to live, not die. And as soon as we chose death, God enacted a plan to bring us life once again. Our rejection of God leads to death, and conversely, our trust in Him, brings us life. In Hebrews 11, the author lists a bunch of Old Testament characters who believed and trusted in God. Even though Jesus had not yet come to Earth, their faith was all God needed to bring them out of death.

In Jesus, who came on the scene 2000 years ago, we see the climax of God’s saving plan. Yes, Jesus taught us about God and His kingdom. Yes, He healed people and performed many signs that pointed to His divinity. Yes, He tried to clean up the religious system of the day to point people towards God’s justice. But most of all, Jesus showed us the power of love by going to His own death on our behalf, all while forgiving those who put Him on the cross. Jesus experienced the curse of sin even though He was perfect in every way. Since God is eternal, death wouldn’t be the end. Three days after His death, Jesus rose from the grave, conquering death and putting God’s power on full display.

“For the eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after He rose again, there was no question that Jesus’ power over the grave was the sign that death wouldn’t be the end for them as well.”

For the eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after He rose again, there was no question that Jesus’ power over the grave was the sign that death wouldn’t be the end for them as well. This was the proof that the hope of God’s life-saving work was true. God will provide eternal life to those who put their trust in Him. What will that look like? Well it certainly won’t look like spirits floating on clouds with harps. Life after death as displayed in Christ is resurrected life.

In order for us to enter into God’s imperishable kingdom, we will also be raised imperishable in Him. This is the great mystery of which Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’”

To be honest, without this hope in Jesus, I’d have a very hard time talking about death. Or at least, I don’t think I could talk about my own death with any sense of hope or joy. The end would simply be the end, and everything in this life would feel meaningless. If that were true, death would truly be the worst thing ever and probably become my greatest fear as well. But because of the story of Jesus and my trust in His resurrection (as unbelievable as it may sound to me at times), I can look ahead at my own death with confidence.

That may sound strange, but the more I’m confronted with my own mortality, the more I’m able to enjoy the grace of each moment. I’m able to take life for what it is and not get sucked into the common individualistic mindset. I’m able to name my own death with thanksgiving because of what God has given me thus far and what lies ahead of us on the other side.

I know my own death will be hard, not only for myself, but also for those I’ll leave behind. I assume it’ll be for you as well. But by naming death, we see our lives in the context of God’s story of salvation. By talking about it, we’re able to name the emotions that we feel because of such loss. Through prayer, we allow God to enter into these moments to walk alongside us. And as we’re reminded of God’s saving work, we’re invited to take God’s hope and peace to heart as we wrestle with the hard questions of death.

Funerals, Memorial Sundays, and other places where we talk about death are opportunities to remember. Remember that you will die. Don’t run away from it or try to ignore it. Understand that God is just as upset about death as you are and longs to hold you up in the difficult times. And please remember that God won’t let death have the last word. In Jesus we have eternal and resurrected life. A new world, a future hope, is on the horizon. Live in such a way now that reflects that future life in Jesus. Praise be to God.