Death is not a popular subject, whether it is the death of the body or the death of a desire or want. The definition of death is this: The act of dying; termination of life or something else.
Termination of life. Ouch! That's so final. So harsh. So....
Completely out of our control.
So what do we, as humans, do when something is out of our control? We try to ignore it, or dismiss it, or just plain pretend it doesn't exist.
But it does. We all know that. Without even broaching the subject of the death of loved ones, it is all around us. We see death every day: Beautiful flowers plucked and placed in a vase only to wilt, colorful insects with a 24 hour life span that flutter and then turn to dust. And then there are the leaves on the trees that go from green to glory to brown...and then back to green.
Ah, as Hamlet put it, there's the rub.
Is it possible death is not the termination of life? Can it instead be life itself?
This, of course, is the Christian belief, and it is yet another paradox. Christians believe you have to be born again, and to do that, you have to die. Okay, the words are all used figuratively, but the death is real because being born again means the death of what mankind holds most dear - self. This death, and rebirth, the Bible says, comes with Baptism.
Romans 6:2-4 (English Standard Version)
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Most of us are familiar with this scripture, spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus.
John 3:6-8 (English Standard Version)
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
C.S. Lewis once said that he had believed Christianity to be real just because it was so odd - because of the paradoxes. Anything pat, he went on, would be suspicious. Well, being baptized into Christ's death - dying to sin and your old life - and then being reborn as one of God's new creations certainly fills the bill. To we mortals dead is dead.
With God, anything is possible.
The photo accompanying this post is this writers' baptism into that death, and proclamation of her faith in the risen Christ. You gotta love the Midwest, as a friend of mine put it - no river so we used a hog trough. (No hog jokes please.) But as Pastor Johnathan said, baptism water is not holy water. It holds no miracle in itself. It is simply water that holds a precious child waiting to be born, this time in the spirit and not the flesh. Our God is mysterious and awesome, is he not?
Oh, and by the way, if you wonder about that expression - I forgot to hold my nose.
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