2426AFC062824 – Winning a spot in the Final Four
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Wisdom 1:12-13 –
12 Do not invite death by the error of your life,
or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;
13 because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
Psalm 30:3 –
3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
2 Corinthians 8:15 – 15 As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Mark 5:41-43 – 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Blesséd be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Those of you who read these essays often will know that I have zero interest in sports as participant or observer. Our topic today mentions “The Final Four,” but has absolutely nothing to do with any sport, especially the “March Madness” variety. The Final Four described here is something heard most often at the beginning of a Tent Revival or a Parish Mission. It will be presented as part of God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan. We’ll also be bringing in some famous Guest Authors to contribute to this topic. Hopefully by now you’re dying of curiosity to find out what this crazy old man is going on about here (wow! 3 prepositions in a row!)
Our first guest is someone who was part of my inspiration for learning to play guitar – Hank Williams, Sr. who declared “I’ll never get out of this world alive.” (↔ Music Link) As the Cowardly Lion said, “Ain’t it the truth!” (←video link!) Of course, there’s also that old saw about “Only two things in life are certain : Death and Taxes. And I’m not that sure about death.” If you’ve looked through today’s Key Verses, you have probably figured out that the main theme is death. But, what does that have to do with The Final Four?
Years ago, when there used to be such things as revivals and Parish missions, the opening topic somehow boiled down to The Last Four Things (hence, “Final Four), and those four things are easy to remember: Death. Judgment. Heaven. Hell. Like the basketball final four, there’s only one spot left at the end for both teams. One team is the winner; the other team is the looser. Both of them have a spot in The Final Four. That’s a good example of how it turns out in life, too. Some of us will be winners in the end, and some will be losers. Either way, all of us have to go through the first two phases of Death and Judgment. Those are two things that happen in this life, in this World. The other two things – Heaven or Hell – are the result, the outcome, the choices made in the first two things. Every earthling, every flower, rock, tree, fish, goat, river, sea, puddle, tiger, swan – all of creation goes through the same thing at the end: The End. It’s true no matter how much we deny it. Big Daddy’s going to die and so are we.
Sort of.
Hopefully a special word/phrase just popped into mind: YOLO-F. Yes, we are all going to live forever in either Heaven or Hell, but the only way to get there is to die first in this life, in this World. “I’m too busy! I haven’t got time to die!” Surprise! Everyone has time to live as well as A time to die, (↔ Learning Link) a time for everything under the sun. There is at least one short passage that explains where death originated. Some of you might not have access to this, so I’ll put the whole thing here. It’s from Wisdom 2:21-24 –
21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,
22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls;
23 for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,
24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.
“But wait! We don’t belong to the Devil’s company!” Oh, yes we do! Remember, the Earth is Satan’s domain; even if we belong to Christ, we are still predisposed to sin and death. God can, and will, abandon us to what we want, what we choose. If we choose God, then all goes well. If we do not, well, none of us really want to go there even if we consistently choose it as our YOLO-F preferred choice. One of my favorite writers, and our first Guest Author, is Emily Dickinson. I’m going to insert her poem …
Because I could not stop for death: (↔ Learning Link)
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – ’tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –
And there is also Dylan Thomas’ Do not go gentle into that good night (↔ Learning Link)
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
We’re all going to get there, so do we go quietly as if we’d forgotten time altogether, or shall we go out ranting against being forced to go? The answer to that seemingly “deep question” is perpetually simple and one which we cover often in these pages:
CHOOSE.
Look at the first Key Verse. What happens if one’s lifestyle looks more like a death-style? God will always give us what we need, correct? Sometimes, though, he lets us have a taste of what we want – sours the milk so to speak – in the hope that we will repent and go back to him. There is a point in our lives where the opportunity to repent is G-O-N-E-gone! That is at the point of the first of the Final Four – Death. God does not need new angels, and he doesn’t turn our departed loved-ones into angels when they die. It doesn’t work that way. When we die, we instantly collect the wages we have chosen in our lives – eternal Joy or eternal Despair. Given the fear of death many people allege having, one wonders why they forget that God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. That would mean we have forgotten we are created in the likeness and image of God which is to say God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity. Why would we want anything less than sharing Eternal Life in the Presence of El Shaddai-Olam? If we would not choose that Eternal Life for our loved-ones, then why even pretend we love them?
If you love someone who is on the brink of losing everlasting life, hold them tight and tell them “DON’T DIE! REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL!” Remember the Big Blue Button? (← Memory Aid) Here’s another way to look at it, and why you don’t want your loved one to die. Tell them this:
“If that elevator will be going up, the instant you die, you will see an Angel coming up to you to take you by the hand and lead you to the Chariot that will be carrying you home. (↔ Music Link) If the elevator will be going down, in the instant your soul leaves your body, you will see the blackened hand of a demon reaching up from below the Earth to grab you by the heel and drag your soul straight into Hell.” Yes, ʻŌmea, the idea is to simply scare the Hell out of them. The Road we take ends at the front gate of Home. This World is part of the Road, not part of Home. (↔ Music Link)
The Psalmist told us O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. Quick review on Sheol and the Pit: Sheol – the place of the Dead, sometimes called Hell or Hades; it is the first step into the afterlife. The Pit – a trap, a place of destruction, a place of thanklessness, despair, and a place without hope or joy or peace or praise, or any good thing because it is a place without God, a place where only our wants are gathered but never fulfilled and nothing we need can be gotten. God will give us that if we choose it. Yes, he will! The other option is to choose him. There is always Death until the new Heaven and New Earth are presented – gifted – to us. With every Death, there is Judgment. With every Judgment, there is the Reward of our choosing. The final Spot in the Final Four is incontrovertible – it is Heaven or it is Hell.
Last week we mentioned manna and its relationship with “the bread come down from Heaven.” God gave the sinners who were wandering in the desert what they needed so that, when they were ready, they could enter into the Promise of their Fathers. What would happen if they didn’t eat the manna? They would die. What would happen if they took too much? It would rot, and they went hungry. What would happen if they obeyed God’s instructions about gathering and using manna? They were fed and lived. When God gives us Gifts, all his Gifts are Good and all of them are entirely-sufficient. Now, think about the Bestest Gift God ever gave you. Got it? If we accept that remarkable Gift, and use that Gift as he commands, then we show him our choice for the gift of YOLO-F. You may be tired of hearing this for the past 20 years, but WHY WOULD WE WANT ANYTHING LESS?!?!? Repent and Believe the Gospel!
We’re going to go just a bit farther and look at the Gospel because it is one of several places where we find words in Aramaic: He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” The word koum is similar to the Hebrew word qum: to arise, stand up, stand. Belovéd, close your eyes, take a slow deep breath, and hold out your hand so Jesus can take it as he tells you to stand. Stand in his presence, stand in his Love, stand in his Light, as a lamp stands on a lamp-stand in the center of your Life. (↔ Music Link) You will know the same happiness the little girl knew, the same incredulous joy her parents knew, and the same wonder and awe the Disciples in the room with him knew. You will have and intimate knowledge of God, knowledge which includes joyful obedience and leads to lasting happiness. TRUE happiness is not in having what we want. It is found only in wanting what we have. ʻŌmea, we have God – in Christ Jesus – through the Unity of the Holy Spirit. Do not invite death by the error of your life, or bring on destruction by the works of your hands. There is no need to want anything, or especially anyone, else. We’ve chosen our Spot in the Final Four. Look for me. I’ll be along shortly, because I am …
Going Home
I’ve been going Home
for a long time now,
remembering how good it was
to be with You there.
One good poet told us
we could never go back Home.
So be it, but
what about going Home?
Going isn’t being there;
it’s only getting there.
I’m on my way Home, now.
Don’t know if or when
I’ll ever get there,
but having You, and Home,
in the back of my mind
makes going Home more
important than getting Home, or,
even what I’ll do if
I finally make it. Home.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
