December 27th

Caught up in the Clouds

               But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

             The end is not really the end.  We grieve at death.  We grieve at funerals because our loved ones are gone and they leave behind a hole that cannot be filled.  We grieve for our peers who have passed too soon and leave behind spouses and children.  We grieve for our elders whose wisdom and support cannot be replaced.  We grieve for young ones and the unfulfilled promise of a life snuffed out far too early.  We grieve, and yet…

            There is a promise that the end is not really the end.  Death, the great wall that we cannot see beyond, is not really the end of the story.  It is the end of the prologue and the real story is about to begin.  It is absurd.  It is fantastical.  It is too good to be true.  And it is what we pin our hopes to if we are followers of Jesus.

            Those that we have lost will be reunited with us at the sound of God’s trumpet.  The relationships that were left broken and unresolved will have time to be mended.  The pieces of our hearts that died will be put back together.  We who are alive will be caught up in the clouds to reunite with those we have lost and to finally come face to face with the One who loves us perfectly as He brings us all Home with Him forever.

            It is impossible, right?  The non-believer would say that this is simply a story built to prey on our fears and insecurities.  They will say that there is no proof, no reason to believe.  Can I change their minds?  Probably not.  But I will say this: if there was ever a promise that was worth betting everything on, this is it.  If I am wrong and there is nothing after death, I have not lost anything.  If the promise is real and God is true, I have gained everything that my heart has ever wanted.  That is not a hard cost/benefit analysis for me to do.

            The reality is that death is hard.  Loss is hard.  There is great sadness in broken relationships and lost loved ones.  We hold that reality in one hand while in the other hand we cling to the promise that the end is not really the end.  We will see those that we love again.  We will be reunited and made whole once again, not here on earth, but up in the clouds.

           

A moment to reflect:

Who do you long to be reunited with?