Sun Sep 7th 2025
Hi folks,
Trust all is good with you! Once again, for anyone who
didn’t hear it, this is not a church post, there is no mission, no fund raiser,
nor anything like that; just a journey into the Kingdom in the here and now,
for all who are interested.
This week we look at that strange incident when David, now
married to Bathsheba, has to face the death of their child. I say strange,
because it is most unlike the kind of responses to death that we are all
familiar with. We grieve, we mourn, we cry and weep, and do this individually
and collectively. For some time after, we may be revisited by memories that
range from warm and loving to sad and bittersweet. Death is relational to most
of us. The more we care for someone, the closer the relationship, the more
likely it is that we will feel their loss. Our sorrow is because we cannot
recover that which has been lost. This is particularly acute when death comes
unexpectedly, as it can and sometimes does, in all instances of cause and
effect.
David does nothing like that in this instance. He has, up to
the moment of death, done all that he can; he has fasted, prayed, beseeched God,
all to no avail. The child has not recovered and has died. David gets up,
washes, eats, changes his clothes, and gets on with life.
What are we to say to this? We have no idea how he felt on
the inside, so we cannot know or assume to know. All we can see is that his
functionality is in no way compromised by death. It does not mean that he does
not care or grieve over his loss. But the standard expressions of grief are not
there. David continues to be a different man in many ways, and this is one of those
ways that make him unique. Should we agree? Or disagree? Or count it as an
exception? Do we even need to have a response at all, other than to be
ourselves? AT minimum, it is a good reminder not to be incapacitated by loss.
How so? Because both the Testaments speak of returning to God, and Jesus says
so. This is critical. If we believe Jesus said so, well and good. We may be
true blue biblical Christians. But that is not enough. Only knowing this
will make the difference, and that is only possible in the space between your
spirit and the Holy Spirit.
Suppose we take it from there then, and ask - what does it mean to be ourselves in the face
of death?
Are we euphemistic about death? Death and dying are not
popular words. It is common to say that someone has passed. We understand that
to mean that they have passed away from this life, are gone and are no more. Do
they exist in some different shape or form? Are they still themselves, but in a
different place? Who gets to go to ‘heaven’ and who must face ‘hell’? These actualities
have been hugely oversimplified. They are not and have nev er been black and
white issues. We must ask ourselves, not just what we think in facing the death
of others, but how we intend to face death ourselves.
Let me cut to the chase. We are mostly preoccupied/concerned/focused
…I am not sure which word fits best, but
we are far more conscious of our bodily existence than we are of our spiritual
existence! Yet, as Sting once sang, we are Spirits in a material world! Is our bodily preoccupation why many balk at
the thought or possibility of death?Perhaps it is a question of identity
consciousness that we must work on?
In my view, personal testimony serves best here, not
academic theology or logical persuasion. The operative words in scripture for
me have been ‘I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be…’
and ‘this day you will be with me in paradise (not sure if the Aramaic transl.
really says ‘paradise’. Does not matter.) These NT verses echo the OT ones that
say in Ecclesiastes that at death, the spirit returns to God who gave it. And
my journey beyond faith and belief began at those points and moved forward. You
must choose that which speaks to you. I can only point to what I find and
experience.
It has grown to become more than belief or a matter of
faith. It is an experience that only you can discover for yourself. And it
begins here and now. Enough for me to say for now that the dominant Christian traditions
have had little to share about death and the life beyond. No one comes back to share
anything, do they? Ah well, so much for epistemology.
We still do R.I.P’s all the time. What does that mean? Rest
in peace, Latin form? But it’s a cold dark end – for the body that is. And for
the spirit? That is what the Holy Spirit can and will teach to those who seek
it.
This is why, as we age, and the body begins to wind down,
the spiritual life that we live is of the utmost importance. We will deal with
all of this incrementally and slowly. I have no desire to lead anyone or
mislead anyone! You must find out for yourself. And only God can show you. Only
if your will of your spiritual experience is aimed at transcending your bodily limits,
will this kind of experience become reality that transcends faith, belief, and
religious teaching. As I said, the mind controls the body. But the spirit
controls the mind. That is the upward journey. It is meeting God in the space
between.
It seems weird but only because it is so very different from
the ways of the world. When we are done with David we will look at Elijah and
Elisha, for they precede Jesus in many ways. Only then will we get to the first
section on the mind of Christ. God’s strange differentness is real and is out
there. Abraham was old but God asked many things of him. And enabled him. Same
with Moses, when he led Israel out. Jesus completed all of the actions and
teachings that went before him. His words were critical of the establishment then
and its claim to power, and his actions turned all expectations upside down. Jesus
has not changed. We have become too used to the ways of the world. So we say to
ourselves that it’s nice to hope, but we don’t really know. But seek the
knowing. Ask, and ye shall receive.
The proof of the life beyond death is in your God given ability
to make your spirit, not your body, make a difference in how you live and
function in this world. The body is a vehicle, and it is controllable. At death
it is discarded. If some of us think - well,
the teaching is that at death we fall asleep, and will remain asleep until the
Lord comes again, we are most welcome to think that. But I ask you to think of
the resurrected Christ, whose being moved through walls. No, that is not a physical
bodily thing anymore. Something totally different. And some of us may feel,
yes, at that final day we will all be resurrected just like that. Just as some of us may think of Revelation and
look for signs and wonders that tell when and how. But the way of the Spirit
and the ability that the Spirit gives is here and now. The Kingdom of God is
not a wait until you die experience.
We must learn the real things of the Spirit from the bottom
up, and it can be a slow journey. Has
been for me anyhow! We must learn how we can will a positive difference and then
go out and make that difference happen. We must challenge ourselves. And the
Holy Spirit will teach each of us. This is God’s desire for one and all. As is truly
said, seek, you will find.
As we proceed, those of us who are determined, will find
ourselves growing at a different speed, strength, and awareness, from those
around us. This is why Jacob’s Ladder is a good lead. He dreamed, and saw a
ladder, and there were angels on it. Start there. Dream your way into reality.
The lines are never as clear and fixed as we have been told that they are. God
waits. Jesus calls.
David learned something of this. And it rubbed off on him,
causing him to behave differently from the norm in so many ways. Here, in this
instance, he rises above physical death. It is as if he has achieved some
insight into the seeming finality of death, I will go to him, but he will not
return to me. Can’t go backwards, only forwards. Death is not the end. Just a
new beginning of something else – a life in the Kingdom.
And to make it there, we do not have to wait until our time
of death for God to decide our fate! We can decide now. It is much more than
some ‘I take Jesus as my Savior thing.’ That’s just the entre! It is a commitment to walk and practice God’s
ways, ways that we all almost know by God given instinct, and to watch and
listen for God’s leading. For it is there for all of us, but few listen. Hence,
many are called, few are chosen.
The true spiritual life is a life that uses mental and
physical capabilities to their limits and then exceeds them as needed. It is
Psalm 8 becoming real here and now. And it is doable. Walk this way. May the
Lord of light himself lead and guide you every day. May you exceed your assumed
capabilities in thought, mind, deed and ability in every possible way. Blessings, G.
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