One of my favorite prayers is found in the United Methodist Hymnal, #871.
It reads:
O God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
It is a beautiful prayer written to be included within a funeral service, but I find that it speaks more about life than just something that is read when one has passed away.
“Help us to live as those prepared to die.” That phrase does not mean we want to die or that we welcome death into our life. It means that if we were somehow to know that we had only 24 hours to live, the things we would be doing in those last hours are the very same things that we are doing now. The book, How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half by Donald W. Sweeting and George Sweeting tells of a time when someone asked the founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, how he would spend his last day on earth if he somehow knew that he was going to die. Wesley responded,
“I would spend it exactly as I expect to spend it now. I would preach tonight in Gloucester. I would get up early tomorrow and proceed to Tewkesbury, where I would preach in the afternoon. Then I would go to the Martin’s house in the evening, since they are expecting me. I would talk with Mr. Martin and pray with the family. Upon retiring to my room at ten o’clock, I would put myself in the Father’s care, go to sleep, and wake up in glory.”
For Wesley, he lived in such a way that at any moment he would be able to die without regret. Being able to live life that way also gave him the assurance to face death as one who went “forth to live.”
Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Abundant life is meant to begin here and now on earth and then continue into life eternal. The season of Lent is a time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter. It is a time to contemplate how Christ conquered sin and death on our behalf so nothing exists to prevent us from making the most of each moment of our lives. So that on Easter Sunday we might all be able to boldly proclaim, “…in living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen!
Dr. Bob Long, Senior Pastor
