O Death, where is your sting?
Death will not have the final word, we will not be stuck on Friday afraid of dying, but we will be victoriously, triumphantly coming out on Sunday behind a king who is alive. He sent the darkness running out of an empty grave.
O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING??
To imagine that before Jesus’ resurrection, death had a sting and “the sting of death is sin.” It very much felt heavy and final. No one could escape it, no one could run. But now, the ultimate fear that stopped people in their tracks, that froze dreams and postponed action has been defeated!! HALLELUJAH AMEN. If the disciples could passionately pursue kingdom with the sting of death knocking at their door, then surely I can pursue the kingdom with nothing knocking at my door but grace.
o death, where is your sting?
“We try to personify death as something that steals us away. I know death isn’t a spooky skeleton, or a sulky disgruntled son, it’s a shaded window, peacefully opening as you near it, shining brightly on the accolades and memories of your life stockpiled around you.” -1924us
I believe death is the driving force for many throughout their lives. I see it in the “before I die _____” wall in Austin, I see it in the constant pressure to go to college right after high school because “your running out of time,” I see it in the “YOLO” trend of 2012. It’s as if everyone is taking a test and constantly looking at the draining clock while realizing there are more questions left than they have time for. When we take our eyes off of death as our motivator and instead look to the father for our purpose – we can suddenly live without a timer constantly running low. Suddenly, the ‘test’ goes away and we don’t have to strive to finish anything or meet any expectations. But instead we get to respond in obedience with the purpose God sets on our lives. We can start living from a place of abundant life instead of living from a place of trying to beat death. Death is not a scary abrupt end to everything we know and love, but a transition into the next phase of ETERNAL LIFE. Emily Dickinson had it right when she wrote,
“ – and then
There interposed a fly,
With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,
Between the light and me;
And then the windows failed, and then
I could not see to see.”
She depicted death as simple as a fly coming between her and the light and then she could not “see to see.” Death was as welcoming as the subtle buzz of a fly. When Jesus resurrected, he took away the harshness and the power of death and gave us LIFE. Let’s not live in the ways of old where death was something to fear, something that steals us in the night, but now we get to live from a motivation of LIFE AFTER DEATH. What greater news is that?
O Death, where is your sting?
Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated.
Hallelujah, Amen.
Running out of the empty grave victoriously,
El
