Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd…
I want to invite you into a question. That is, enter into this question and simply ruminate in the implications. Here it is…
“What did you ever lose by dying?” *
… what have you ever lost by dying? On one level the question just begs an obvious answer doesn’t it? When someone or something dies you lose the one that died. There is loss with all its concomitant attributes. A loved one, a pet, a job, health, etc., etc.; when someone or something important to us dies, we have loss. No argument. But that’s not the question. The question is, “What did you ever lose by dying?”
Lent, in the life of a Christian, is a time for self-examination, a time for the asking of difficult questions. It is an intentional season for the renewal of the human spirit. The whole notion of “giving up” something (i.e., fasting) is far less about embracing a debasement in sympathy with Jesus’ suffering (wow, no ice cream for 40 days), as it is about being open to the experiencing of Christ. So, it is in the context of how might we encounter the living Christ that the question is asked, “What did you ever lose by dying?”
I have come to believe this is a (the?) fundamental question in the soul’s journey to God. The question assumes that there is no ascending to God without descending into death. The theme is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching…
“Unless the single grain of wheat falls into the ground, it remains just a single grain. But if it dies, it will bear much fruit.” John 12:24.
Daily suffering and death is at the heart of Christian life and growth. We not only do not lose by entering into the dying, we become blessed by it. As hard as it is to accept, it is true. What the Gospel has offered us as followers of Jesus is not death avoidance but death transformation. It’s part of what Jesus beckons us to when we are exhorted to pick up our cross and follow. Each time though, it’s a test, isn’t it? Will it work this time? Will the Good News really show up this time? What do you say, Jesus, could we just skip Good Friday this time and go straight to Easter? But that’s where Jesus meets us, that’s where our soul opens and the Kingdom comes close.
I have come to believe that one of the most difficult things in life to die to is bad teaching, wrong-headed theology. This little treatise names one of the most dangerous teachings that many of us grew up with, the heresy of “If!” But the Good News of Jesus declares this is not the question. It is not “if” but “when.” The root of salvation means “health,” or “wholeness.” Salvation is not if it will happen but when. Because God has chosen to reach out to creation through the universal experience of death, Christ’s presence will ultimately be revealed to all of life. It is not if, but when. Whether we live blessed by the experience of “practice dying” throughout a long life, or only in our last breath, it will happen. It is not if God will come for us but when.
As much as this comforts me, it also makes me slightly angry and resentful. On one hand, I am grateful beyond adjectives for God’s grace that saves. On the other hand, I am more than slightly miffed I have to die to some of my self-righteousness. I mean, there are some real pond slime people out there that I feel really justified in assuming a “holier than thou” position over. Okay, it’s Lent and I’ve got some more dying to do. My hope? What did I ever lose by dying?
God’s peace be upon you, Tom
*With heartfelt gratitude to Fr Richard Rohr, “The Universal Christ.”
