A Commentary on Death
I read an
interesting commentary on death. A woman
whose husband had recently died was told by a friend “I’m sorry you lost your
husband.” The woman replied to the
friend, “When you are confident in the fact that your loved ones are in God’s
hands, they are never lost.”
I’ve
always liked that story. Yes, it does
take a shallow view of a sincere sentiment first offered up by the friend. But there is an important aspect of the story
as well. God gave us the ability to cry
and the ability to mourn. Both of those
things are signs of our love for a deceased person. But as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “Do
not mourn as those who have no hope.” We
are to mourn in confidence that God is in control and will not only console us
who mourn but also restore to eternal life in Him those who are in Christ.
Abraham’s Mourning
I see that
very confidence in Abraham here. Abraham
mourns Sarah’s death. But he does not
give us the impression of losing control here.
Rather, Abraham gives us the impression of a person who mourns with genuine
faith. There is sorrow in his life, but
he does not allow his sorrow to drive him into inconsolable grief that
interrupts his life.
Testimony of the Hittites
Through
this, I think we should also look to Abraham’s testimony among the
neighbors. They look to Abraham and call
him a “prince of God among them.”
Although God had told Abraham that the land was his, Abraham certainly
lived in the company of others. He could
have claimed divine right to the land and made himself an adversary to his
neighbors. Instead, Abraham treats them
with respect and honor. In doing so,
Abraham fully lives in faith with God while also being sure to demonstrate his
faith to his neighbors. They see the
testimony of God living through him.
This is
how it should be with us. We are nothing
more than sojourners in this world, really.
We might like to think we own material possessions and land while belonging
to various human organizations. For a
while, that is most certainly true. But
eventually we will die. Our possessions
will become someone else’s possessions.
Our homes will become someone else’s home. Our church will become someone else’s
church. It is not truly ours. Possession is only an illusion that we tell
ourselves.
However,
if we think of ourselves truly as sojourners in a world that is not truly our
home, we can see ourselves in the same shoes as Abraham. We can go through this world and think of
ourselves as relating to the people as Abraham did here. If we treat them with respect and honor, denying
the physical possessions and instead claiming the eternal home, we can show
them what God has called us to show them.
Although we may not be of this world, we can still interact meaningfully
with the people of this world and demonstrate God’s ways and God’s love to
them.
I think
this is especially amazing about Abraham considering that all of this takes
place in a time of mourning. Abraham
could have been distraught. Abraham
could have acted strangely and out-of-character. But no, in the midst of his sorrow Abraham is
still able to interact with his neighbors in a way that demonstrates his faith
in God. Every stage in life – joy,
sorrow, or any other stage – can be a time where our relationship and our faith
in God can shine through. When we are
sojourners in a foreign land and awaiting our time to come home, what is a
little sorrow along the road?
Tombs
Let’s talk
a little bit about the tomb before I end.
Abraham’s testimony is that he deals more than fairly in the purchase of
the tomb. But since I’ve already spoken
about Abraham’s testimony to his neighbors in this blog, I’ll spend this space
on something else.
Isn’t it
neat that this is technically the first piece of land that Abraham has
purchased? Abraham’s first purchase is a
tomb. Yesterday we saw how Abraham finds
his identity in God when God provides a sacrifice in place of Isaac. We were reminded of God providing the
sacrifice for us in Christ. Today we
hear of Abraham’s first need for land being a tomb and again we are reminded of
Christ’s. This time, we are reminded of
Christ’s burial in a tomb that he did not own at the time of His death.
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