Six Feet Under

A few years ago I wrote some thoughts on cremation and burial for my pastor. I was reminded of that by a recent podcast from Russell Moore and Stephen Prothero, which I would recommend. My own views have changed over time. I once would have preferred cremation, largely because of the lower cost involved. However, now I would press for burial so long as it can be done simply and as inexpensively as possible.

I have read arguments both for and against cremation. In some cultures, cremation is tied to pagan religions. But how a body is handled after death is less important than how the person lived. This is not an essential point of doctrine. Faithful Christians can come to different conclusions. I agree with Russell Moore’s comments in this article:

“We are put away in sleep in order to be awakened, in order to see the resurrection of the entire body one day. And so, it’s not so much about what happens to the person as it is what we are communicating. And we care what we communicate about death because of the very high view that the Bible has of the body. The body isn’t just a disposable container of the person.”

The physical body when we are alive is important. We (collectively) are in fact “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19) and should treat our bodies accordingly. Joseph made provision for his bones when he died (Ex. 13:19, Josh. 24:8). This may say more about his faith in God’s promise of a new land than it does his theology of the body or eternal life. The Bible speaks often of burial; however, the bodies of Saul and Jonathan were burned and their bones were buried (1 Sam. 31:12-13). When Jesus was put in the tomb, the women intended to honor Him by anointing the body with spices (Mark 16:1). The bodies of the dead were treated with the honor or dishonor due to them from the way the people had lived (2 Chron. 28:27, Jer. 16:5-6, et al).

The early church had to refute the claims of the Gnostics who said in part that our goal is to get rid of our physical bodies. Gnosticism has gained ground in recent years. Prothero makes the comment that the increasing frequency of cremation even among Christians may be an indicator that we are adopting our culture’s view that the body is not essential to who we are. If the body is merely a temporary container for the soul, then it doesn’t really matter what we do to it either in life or in death. But that is counter to Scripture. The fact that Jesus became incarnate reflects the high value God places on our human bodies. If the body is irrelevant to who we are, then the idea of a bodily resurrection is absurd.

First Corinthians 15 reminds us that the perishable must put on the imperishable. Our final bodies are not dependent on the continuing existence of our earthly bodies. Those believers whose bodies are lost in fire or ocean are still eternally secure. The atoms that make up our bodies today have dwelt in other humans, animals, and plants before us. God can make new creations by His Word. He needs no existing entity.

Some of our modern “traditions” may reflect a fear or denial of death and an idolatry of life, though there are legitimate concerns for health and the time needed to gather family together. Draining the fluids and pumping in unnatural chemicals (that are bad for the environment) is an attempt to delay God’s natural process of decay. It’s ironic that Scripture states “the life of flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11ff), and yet we try to preserve an imitation of life by removing the blood. Sealed caskets are another invention to slow natural decomposition, perhaps trying to avoid seeing the “great equalizer” that death really is. “They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them” (Job 21:26, cf. Eccl. 3:19-20).

Burial expenses often seem excessive, which leads many families to choose cremation. A sealed casket and vault may not be essential, though some cemeteries require a vault. Embalming may not be necessary depending on timing of services and whether or not there will be a public viewing. Churches might consider ways to help people with limited finances, whether through financial assistance or directing them to lower cost alternatives like natural caskets.

While the word cemetery comes from the Greek for dormitory, cemeteries tend to exist more for the living than for the dead. It is a place to visit and remember their loved ones. For Christians, the cemetery should also be a reminder that this life is temporary but eternal life is coming. Churches should consider carefully what message is communicated by providing a columbarium or, conversely, by refusing burial of ashes. How can we best promote a scriptural view of the value of the human body and of the coming resurrection?

The day will eventually come for each of us unless Christ returns in the near future. Funeral planning is important, but it’s even more important to be prepared for eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Are you ready?

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Doubtless

I’ve always felt sorry for Thomas. Scripture never calls him “Doubting Thomas,” but sometime in history he got labeled as a skeptic. Here’s the story from John’s gospel:

“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:24-29).

The main thing that made Thomas different from the other disciples is that he did not happen to be with them the other times Jesus appeared. In Luke’s account of Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we’re told,

“He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!’” (Luke 24:25).

And then when Jesus appeared to the others,

“As they were talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate before them” (Luke 24:36-42).

Thomas was really no different from the other disciples in his desire for visible proof of the resurrected Jesus. None of Jesus’ followers really understood that He was going to rise again in three days, even though Jesus had told them so. In fact, when Jesus tried to tell them (Mark 8:31-33), Peter rebuked Jesus and yet Peter wasn’t labeled a skeptic. If they had predicted the resurrection, would they have run away on the night of His arrest (Mark 14:50)? Would they have been hiding behind locked doors (John 20:19)?

The point is not that Thomas or any of the others doubted. We all have doubts at times. But Jesus understands our doubts and confusion and He comes to us in our place of need. I find it interesting that some Muslims come to faith in Christ because they see a vision. That seems to be a method that they are able to accept, whereas other people might just think of it as a weird dream. Some people are more convinced by historical proofs of the reliability of the biblical texts and authors (for example Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ). Whatever the case may be, if someone is genuinely interested in knowing the resurrected Jesus, they will not be turned away. God desires people to come to faith in Him even more than we do (2 Pet. 3:9). Thomas’s doubts were answered and he remained faithful to Jesus. It is believed that he carried the gospel message into India.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:29-31).

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© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

How Long?

Most days I go online and skim through the headlines on my preferred international and local news sites. I may read a few articles, but often the headlines are enough to discourage me from reading further. Murders, wrongful deaths, pandemic deaths, accusations, abuses of power, political maneuvering, etc. The list is endless and nauseating. I repeatedly wonder with the psalmist, “How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile Your name forever? Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand?” (Psalm 74:10-11).

Jesus encountered similarly disturbing scenes in His day.

“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

“‘O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?’ …And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly” (Matthew 17:17-18).

“‘And when He drew near [Jerusalem] and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41-42).

“When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled… Jesus wept” (John 11:33, 36).

“And a leper came to Him, imploring Him, and kneeling said to Him, ‘If You will, You can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, He stretched out His hand and touched Him and said to Him, ‘I will; be clean’” (Mark 1:40-41).

“As He drew near to the fate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow… And when the Lord say her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then He came up and touched the bier… And the dead man sat up… and Jesus gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:11-15).

“In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables… ‘Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade’” (John 2:14-16). [This was an act He apparently repeated at the end of His ministry—see Matt. 21:12-13.]

Jesus healed many people and restored a few to life and He had the power to do much more, but His immediate purpose was not to fix every perceived wrong then and there. Instead, He provided the means by which eternal perfection would be made possible. He wasn’t the revolutionary reformer that the Jews expected of their Messiah. He knew that the only cure for the sin and brokenness of the world was for Him to carry it to the grave.

Because of His death on the cross and His resurrection, we now live in the time of “already but not yet.” The door to perfection has been opened, but we cannot enter in until we are resurrected to eternal life. In the meantime, we continue to groan and weep over this fallen world where there are so many things we can’t fix. “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23).

We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus knows how we feel because He’s been through it Himself, and we cling to the hope that the day is coming when all things will be made new and perfect.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

All You Need Is Love

Borrowing an idea from a sermon by Sam Allberry, the world readily agrees that “all you need is love.” What they don’t agree on is what exactly love is. Society might even agree that “love is patient and kind… it is not arrogant or rude” (1 Cor. 10:4-5). But those words mean different things. For the unbeliever, love means:

• I can do whatever I want and you can’t judge me.
• I can pursue whatever and whoever I think will give me pleasure and fulfillment.
• You must benignly accept whatever I believe.
• You must allow me to become whoever and whatever I want to be.

Some non-Christians might be familiar with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” And if they heard 3:17 they might applaud the first half of it: “ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world—” but the passage does not stop there:

“but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:17-20).

God didn’t send Jesus into the world simply to say “I love you, so you can do whatever you want and we’ll all celebrate for eternity.” God sent His Son because we all have been walking in the darkness of sin and unbelief. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God never said “Anything goes.” He set up standards of behavior, and every one of us have failed to meet those standards. Jesus even expanded those standards to include our thought life (Matt. 5:22, 28).

Jesus didn’t come to remove all the measures of morality and holiness. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:19). He also didn’t come to say, “Can’t we all just get along?” Rather, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).

Because of God’s love, Jesus proclaimed, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). The answer to our depravity is not tolerance and acceptance, but repentance. True love is found in turning to the One who bore our sins on the cross so that we might be reconciled with God.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).

He didn’t say, “There’s no such thing as sin or evil, so you’re all good.” Sin is so significant to God that the only way it could be dealt with was to offer His own perfect Son on the cross in our place. For us to accept the world’s view that “love means anything goes” is to cheapen Jesus’ sacrifice and the glory of the God who is love.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10:12).

As we celebrate Easter, may we not make the mistake of embracing love as a kind of mushy sentimentality or an innocuous tolerance. Let us remember the true cost that Love paid to make us part of God’s eternal family, and may that spur us to share the good news of true love with the world.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are… By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:1, 16).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Not Done Yet

I’ve been listening to Christmas music recently. (Doesn’t everyone do that at Easter?) I was reminded again the “Joy to the World” was not written as a Christmas song. It really refers much more to the Second Coming of Christ when He comes in victory than of His incarnation in humility. It’s curious how we have one set of songs for Christmas, another set for Easter, and others for the Second Coming, and very few that span the gap. (“In Christ Alone” does that better than most.) We spend weeks or months preparing for Christmas celebrations complete with pageants, carols, and presents. Preparations for Easter are usually a little shorter. And many Christians have given no thought at all to His Second Coming despite the fact that it could happen today.

Jesus came in relative obscurity. A few shepherds and wise men were the only witnesses to His early life. His death was public—in the midst of the Passover crowd in Jerusalem. His resurrection, though initially revealed to just a few, was eventually witnessed by more than 500 (1 Cor. 15:6). However, the Second Coming of Jesus will be seen by all. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16 ESV).

Most of the modern world references (if unknowingly) the birth of Christ every day when we write today’s date. But the birth of Christ has very little meaning apart from His death and resurrection. “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). That would more appropriately be the turning point in history. However, even the resurrection has limited meaning apart from the Second Coming. Jesus didn’t rise from the dead in order to take us out of this world, but so that when He comes again we can be part of His new heavens and new earth. “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24).

As we celebrate this Easter, let us not forget the bigger picture of all God has done and will do through the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ.

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing…” 

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Four Views

Pilate:Truth? What is truth? He says he is a king, bearing witness to the truth. Someone said he claimed he was “the way, the truth and the life.” The way to what? What truth? What life? None of it makes any sense. The truth as I see it is that these Pharisees have been a pain in my back since I got here. If I don’t do what they want, it could mean my job or even my life. If I release him, I’ll have a full scale riot on my hands, and I can’t afford that. This Jesus is right about one thing—I don’t have any real authority. If it isn’t the Jews telling me what to do, it’s Caesar and his lackeys. Even my wife thinks she controls me. The truth is that this whole thing is a mess. This is no way to live—fighting for control and living in fear. There ought to be some other way. No matter what I choose, I lose... I’ll hand him over. And if there is a God, I hope he has mercy on my soul!

Barabbas:Well, this isn’t what I expected. I was supposed to die today, but here I am out on the streets while my two buddies are hanging up there on crosses. I was ready to die. At least, as ready as anyone could be. I knew with all the trouble I’d caused that it would catch up with me one day. I saw my own father die on a cross, and I knew I’d follow in his footsteps. But now I’m free... Well, not really free. I’ll never forget the faces of all those people I hurt and robbed, and that girl who died. I deserve to be up there on that cross. Those other two guys were nothing compared to me. What did he say to Marcus? “You’ll be with me in paradise”? Really? Is it possible? It can’t be that easy, can it? I’m not sure who this man is, but there’s something different about him. He shouldn’t be up there in my place. I should be the one dying. Jesus, forgive me!

Peter: Why did I do it? Why did I deny knowing Him? I’m such a coward. I really thought I would defend Him to the death. I tried in the garden, but when He told me to stop I just lost my nerve. What would have happened if I’d stuck by Him? Would I have been arrested and beaten too? John wasn’t hurt. He stayed. He didn’t run and hide. When that rooster crowed and Jesus looked at me... I thought He would hate me. But there was no condemnation in His eyes... only love. He knew. He even told me what I was going to do, but I didn’t believe Him. Well, my pride has tripped me up before. Me and my big mouth. It seems like every time I got something right I immediately fell flat on my face. I walked on water, and nearly drowned. I figured out He was the Christ, then He told me to get my priorities straight. He invited me up on the mountain, then I babbled something about setting up tents. But no matter what I said, He still loved me. And now He’s in the grave, and I’ll never hear that voice again, telling me that it will be okay, reminding me that His love doesn’t change. Forgive me, Lord! Have mercy on me, a sinner!

Thomas: They’re saying they’ve seen Jesus alive. I’m not sure what to believe. Could they have been hallucinating? None of us ate much those first few days, so maybe it affected them somehow. Maybe they saw a ghost. But they said He ate some fish. I’m afraid to hope it’s true and just get disappointed again. I’m not sure hope is worth the pain. But these guys seem so sure of what they saw. It’s not just the women saying it. If it is true, will I get to see Him too? Or is it just for those who never doubt? Is it wrong to want some proof? I want to believe, but I’m scared too. It just seems too good to be true... My Lord and my God!

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29 ESV).

© Dawn Rutan 2016