Lucy Brooks went to be with Christ (which is “far better” than life here — Philippians 1.23) on Sunday, May 11.  It was Mother’s Day, and she was surrounded by her family as this world slipped away and the veil that conceals the next world was drawn back. 

Lucy died well.  She died trusting in Christ. 

Only in Christ can we weep but also hope in the face of death — as Christ himself, in the eleventh chapter of John, wept but also hoped in the face of death.

Only in Christ can we look at death realistically and with clear eyes — letting go of our silly pretenses with which we deceive ourselves into thinking that this won’t ever happen to us.

Only in Christ can we put away the smiley–faced sunny cliches that people often use to plaster over the face of death.  Christians are not called to swoop in with a bumper sticker when death strikes.  Christians are called to name death for what it is.  It is an enemy.  But it is a defeated enemy.  1 Corinthians 15.16: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Only in Christ can we sing in the face of death — as we did at Lucy’s memorial service yesterday.  We sang about how Christ is one day going to make all things new and beautiful again.  Including Lucy.  We sang, knowing that even as we said farewell to Lucy yesterday, we who are in Christ will one day see her again — when this world has at last been renewed, according to Christ’s promise.

“I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”
—the words of Jesus the Christ, recorded in John 11.25

“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”
—the apostle John’s vision of the world renewed, Revelation 21.5

“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”
—the most beautiful words in the Bible (in my humble opinion), Revelation 22.3

The Bible teaches us that Adam and Eve’s fall into sin was not just an isolated act of disobedience.  Rather, it was an event of catastrophic significance for the whole of creation.

Romans 8 describes all of creation as “groaning” under the corrosive effects of the Fall.  Not just human beings, but all of God’s good handiwork has now been drawn into the sphere of our mutiny against a good God. 

Look around you and consider the scope of the Fall…

Marriage… marriage is a good creation of God, designed for our benefit.  But can you think of even one marriage that is not distorted and violated in some way by sin? 

Family… families fall apart all the time.  And even the best of families are often severely strained by our fallen tendencies — like the materialistic bent which encourages parents to neglect the children for the sake of other things.

The State… the state is a good ordinance of God, but one that is now often twisted and distorted by outright tyranny in many places in the world.  And even the most democratic of countries cultivate political systems that form government policies as a response to pressure from special interest groups, rather than as a response to the demands of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

We could go on.  Art, technology, work, sexuality, eating, drinking… everywhere you look in the wide scope of creation you’ll see the same sort of distortions.  The good possibilities of God’s creation are being misused, warped, and exploited for sinful ends.  Everything has now been caught up in the train of Adam’s failure to obey God.

But perhaps the distortion is most obviously found in the mirror.

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At one point when Job is defending his righteousness (Job 29.13), he says, “I caused the widow‘s heart to sing for joy.” It‘s just one of several times when God calls our attention to his concern for widows. 

Since Cornerstone began (nearly five years ago), we‘ve had a weekly Bible study with a group of (mostly) widows at a nearby retirement center, The Villas.  It‘s been a real blessing for all who have been involved in this ministry.

Read this wonderful article that one of our pastoral interns, Christopher Bechtel, recently wrote about the Villas Bible Study for our church newsletter: 

The English poet John Donne opens one of his many sonnets with the line, “What if this present night were the world’s last?” The answer? Picture in your mind’s eye the loving face of Christ crucified; you have nothing to fear. Each of the ten or so ladies and one man who attend the weekly Bible study at the Garden Villas South Retirement Community faces the daily reality that today could be their last.  And each one knows that because Jesus the Christ died for their sins and rose with power to defeat death, death holds no power over them.  They do not fear life’s end because, truly, it is only the end of the earthly chapter that sets the stage for heavenly bliss.  With 80+ years of Christian living behind them, each of these elderly saints, Meredith, Juanita, Elizabeth, and Violet, to name a few, knows the challenge and the joy of trusting the Lord for their daily needs, and as the winter of life grows longer, so does the list of innumerable ways in which they have experienced the sweetness of life with Jesus.

To be sure, none is immune to the pains of life. Ruth P. daily cares for Walter, her husband with advanced Alzheimer’s.  Ruth S’s nearly total deafness often leaves her feeling isolated.  Ruth K., too, struggles to hear well, and arthritis has practically confined her to a wheelchair.  Paul, the lone fellow of the group, lost his wife of 60+ years only a year ago, and each week, without fail, he comments that this or that reminds him of her.  His pain is still fresh, yet with faith in Jesus he perseveres in his frequently lonely life, waiting for the day when again he will see his beloved wife.  But his is a waiting that actively blesses others; as a baker by trade, he brings sweetness to many lives with his tasty treats.  Similarly, Janelle brightens the hearts of many with her ready smile, and with her new husband Charlie (whom she met and married at the Villas!) she is a walking testimony to God’s goodness.

For two years James Q. and I have had the privilege of studying the Scriptures with these fine ladies and man.  We’ve covered large and varied swaths of the Word—Luke, Ezra–Nehemiah, Proverbs, and Philippians, as well as forays into the Prophets for seasonal studies at Advent and Easter.  Today (1/16) we’re diving into Judges, eager to explore and learn of God’s grace from the often ugly history of Israel.  No doubt, as the weeks tick by, we’ll glean much of value and interest for Christian living, but, above all, we’ll find, even from Judges, that the one who trusts Jesus has nothing to fear.  The aches and anxieties of aged life, even death itself, have no power over the man or woman who knows that Christ Jesus died and rose again for him or her.  No matter the season of life, there is joy and hope to be found in Jesus.  My mothers and father in the faith who come to Villas Bible study have repeatedly confirmed this to me, by their lives and their words, by their prayers and their songs.  No doubt James would agree, as would Pastor Lee, Kent & Marj H., Bill & Letha S., Rick & Rebekah M., and others who have enjoyed the company of the Villas saints. If you’re ever free from 3:00–4:00 on Wednesdays come by the Villas and see what’s going on.

As we’ve seen in the last two entries for “The Story,” the coming of Christianity into the Viking world was, of course, a good thing.  It was sometimes inexcusably intermingled with the violence of the Viking world, but in the end it was good.

It was no longer a commonly accepted part of life for people to sacrifice their children to idols, or to leave their unwanted babies exposed to the elements until dead, or for women to fear venturing out of their homes to go to the market, etc.

There is much more that could be said about the dramatic conversion of an entire culture than what we have said here, but as one last word let us consider briefly the image of Christ the Conqueror. 

Those earliest Vikings who heard of Jesus would sometimes scorn him as the “white” Christ.  By white they meant cowardly and effeminate, when compared to the bloody red valor of Thor.  In one legend, a pagan poet once confronted a Christian missionary with these words:  “Have you heard that Thor challenged Christ to a duel, and that Christ did not dare go into combat with him?”

The missionary’s response:  “I have heard that Thor were nothing more than dust and ashes if God did not will that he lived.”

But as Christian evangelistic efforts spread increasingly throughout the Viking world, more and more attention was focused on a militant, conquering, victorious Christ who could ensure your success in this world and your salvation in the next.  It took a couple of hundred years for the concept of a suffering Christ to really take root in the Viking world.  Before that he was consistently depicted as a triumphant prince — even while on the cross!

It was Christ who had conquered all the rich and fertile parts of Europe.  When Christians won victories or when Christians destroyed pagan idols with impunity, it was proof that Christ was supreme.  When pagans destroyed Christian churches, it was explained as divine punishment for Christians’ sins.  Over and over the missionaries were seeking to demonstrate that Christ was not only the most powerful God, but was in fact the only God.  All others were demons.

What are we to say about this part of our story — of the church’s story?  While this view of Christ the Conqueror definitely needs to be balanced with Christ the Sufferer, there is also great truth here.  What’s the very first thing we read about Jesus in the Bible?

Is it that he’ll be a gentle friend?… a good shepherd?… a sacrificial lamb?… a wise teacher?… a holy priest?…

Nope.

The first thing we read about Jesus in the Bible is that he’ll be a mighty conqueror.  Genesis 3.15… Christ will crush the serpent’s head.  He will be the victor, the champion, the hero who will vanquish all evil with a smashing defeat.  And yes — he conquered from the cross.

“Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’”

“He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

“‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’… No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”

—Ephesians 4.8; 1 Corinthians 15.25,26; Revelation 21.4,5; 22.3

The Bible teaches us that human sin and guilt have certain inevitable consequences:  pain, misery, distress, etc.  The presence of pain, misery, and distress in this world offers us ample opportunity to demonstrate the beauty of mercy.

But that’s not our natural inclination in the face of pain, misery, and distress.

Our tendency is rather to insulate ourselves against all of the trials and tribulations of other people (see Luke 10.30–32).  Our tendency is to find revenge delicious when we feel that someone has wronged us (see 1 Samuel 25).  We kind of cheer when someone says to the bad guy, “May God have mercy on your soul, because I sure as *#$@ won’t.”

But consider the mercy of King Jesus.  How often do we see him healing, helping, extending relief to the miserable, the sick, and the outcast?  And do you remember what he prayed about those men who were hammering him to the tree?  (See Luke 23.34.) The angels themselves must have looked at one another in utter astonishment… “Did you hear what he just said?”

King Jesus shows mercy.  And the faithful citizens of his kingdom must follow him here too, for the king has decreed:  “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5.7).

That is the king’s command.  Those who show mercy find it.

Those who pretend to live under the banner of the king but aren’t showing mercy may one day find that they’ve been climbing a ladder that’s been leaning against the wrong wall (see Matthew 18.21–35).

Rest in the mercy of Jesus.  It’ll grow on you.

The picture used above is of the USNS Mercy anchored off the coast of Jolo City, Philippines, in June 2006. The Mercy’s staff assisted thousands of local citizens with medical and dental care. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Edward G. Martens.