TLDR: Death, like life itself, is a mystery. Please read below for a few thoughts on death inspired by those we have lost in our church these last few years.

I love a good mystery. In my favorite books, as the plot develops, we learn about the central characters, and we are given clues about how the story will unfold. With every piece of information comes new questions, new suspicions as to where the book is heading, new understandings about why the characters do what they do, and new hopes for our heroes and heroines. Every page brings new worlds filled with possibilities, dangers, and joys.

Death to me is one of these mysteries. As I grow older, and I learn more about death, I discover new images, symbols, and questions. As people we know and love die, we are forced to think about death. There is no way to escape confronting death when we stand face to face with a casquet or an urn, now occupied by the body or the remains of someone we knew and loved. Or, perhaps, someone we knew but didn’t love. Or, worse yet, someone we loved but didn’t really know.  The person is there in front of us, and whether we want to acknowledge it or not, their death makes us wonder when our turn will come up, how exactly it will happen, and how it will affect those we leave behind.

I used to be deeply concerned about issues of fairness. The “Why?” question was extremely important to me as a young man. “Why are human beings temporal and finite? Why is our life like a trickle of water sifting through our fingers?” These are great questions philosophers and theologians have asked for Millenia. And for religious people, these questions always lead to thoughts of sin, fall from grace, loss of paradise, enmity with God, etc. With the benefit of some experience, I now ask a better question. “How does the death of a child of God fit within the life of God’s creation?” In other words, is there a life for God’s people beyond the experience of human existence in this world? What happens after we die? Do we go anywhere? Do we just cease to exist?  

In chapter 14 of John, The disciples are heart-broken and filled with anxiety. Jesus tells them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” How can they not be troubled? They know death separates us from those we love. Jesus will exit the great stage of life and leave a void in their hearts. How can they not be grieved, troubled, heart-broken? Death always causes great sadness. It is natural to mourn and to grieve. Jesus knows this, for he himself grieved at the death of his friend Lazarus. So, why is he asking them not to be troubled?

Jesus is not talking about grief here. Rather, he is dealing with questions Peter asked him just before, namely, “Where are you going, and can we follow you there?” Jesus responds to Peter’s questions by saying “You cannot go where I am going.” Please place a “yet” at the end of that statement.  Peter is not yet ready to go where Jesus is going, but also, the place is not yet ready because Jesus has not died, risen, and ascended to the Father. It is Christ’s death and resurrection that opens the place up for us. Jesus quickly adds, “Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places.” There is no reason for them to be anxious. The believer who trusts in God knows that this world (as we experience it now) is not all there is. There is a reality that will take place in a renewed and recreated world, where those who trust in God through Christ will go.

This new heaven and new earth are both a physical reality as well as a relationship with God in Christ Jesus. When we die, we will be in Christ as he himself, “will come again and will take us to himself, so that where he is, there we may be also.” Jesus does not answer the why question, but he answers the “Then what?” question. We will die someday, but then what? What will happen to us then? Jesus tells his friends, “Trust in me, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” It is for this reason that we must have hope. We are not left to our own devices on this earth. God is with us. Through Christ’s death we are offered a future after death.

We will be one with Christ, locked in a perfect relationship, in a new Jerusalem where there is no longer any pain, any aging, any suffering, and any death. Through Christ Jesus we too will have a future. There is no reason to be consumed by fear. Christ, our Redeemer, has died for us and through this resurrection we will have life abundant. Death will never have the last word. Christ waits for us with loving arms on the other side of the river Jordan. This is what we believe! This is the reason for our hope.  

There is no need for anxiety because we know what happens next. We may not know the day and the hour, or the how, but we know that we win in the end. Christ is victorious, and we who are his disciples are also victorious in him, through him, and with him. Death will be defeated; we will be one with Christ. It is normal to grieve the absence of those we love, but Christ invites us to trust. Our life fits mysteriously within his plan of salvation. There is eternity coursing through our spiritual veins. And one day, we will be with him in our forever home in the New Jerusalem.

Blessings to all,

Fr. Roman+