Monday, May 18, 2009

Death Is Not Dying


"Is death better than life? Is departing to be with Christ better than staying here? ....If I didn't believe that, how could I dare to aspire to the role of pastor...? "Death makes visible where our treasure is. The way we die reveals the worth of Christ in our hearts. Christ is magnified in my death when I am satisfied with Him in my dying--when I experience death as gain because I gain Him.... Christ will be praised in my death, if in my death He is prized above life."
-John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life

Reading that quote, I'm reminded of Clayton McDonald and his radically eternal perspective just before his death at eighteen years old. Is death truly death, when in dying we get to be with Christ? I have to wonder too--do I value my life on earth so highly (and value Christ so little) to think of death as a dreaded thing?

John Piper's book is also among the Book List offered by Rachel Barkey, a woman who has given a profound testimony in the face of terminal cancer. Speaking for the women from her church, Rachel said,
"I have known the searing pain of loss with the death of a loved one. I have been diagnosed with cancer twice now and this second time, barring a miracle, will end my life before I reach my 38th birthday.

"I have learned that being a Christian is not just hope for the future, though it is most definitely that, but that it is the joy of trusting a God who is loving and faithful not matter what the circumstances. So when I say that 'death is not dying' --[I'm saying] death will not kill my soul."
The full video and audio of Rachel's message is available here.