This morning I
went to my grandma’s funeral.
I don’t go to
many funerals these days, and it’s been awhile since I've been to one at all. I’m
at a stage in life when I don’t often think of death. People my age are rarely confronted
with the reality of death (unless of course we happen to get really sick in
India: http://biolansinindia.blogspot.com/2011/08/living-to-die.html).
Not many of my
friends are dying as twenty-somethings, nor do young adults have as many
funerals to attend as my grandparents have. Our bodies are strong and healthy,
our futures are bright, our ambitions are huge. We are entering a stage of life
when we feel like we can take on the world. We can make lots of money. We feel
invincible.
But we’re not.
We are limited
and finite and mortal… only a breath upon this earth.
Today I
watched as my aunts wept loudly over the empty body of their mother, Jean Alice
Murray Mumme, lying peacefully in a casket. I observed seven daughters and a
son mourn deeply at the passing of the one who brought them into the earth and
loved them and nurtured them. One of her children is my own mother.
I was
uncomfortable.
Death is not
easy to grasp. It’s painful. strange. confusing. sometimes unbearable,
sometimes unbelievable. But death is real, and I want to live my life well in
light of it.
A Model of Faithfulness
I stood next
to my grandpa as my father and the other pallbearers brought the casket to the
hearse. “Sixty-five years,” he muttered in shock. “Sixty-five years… ,” he
repeated with words trailing off in disbelief. His wife is now gone.
Yes, my mom’s
parents were married 65 years, celebrating their anniversary on October 11. My
grandma celebrated her 84th birthday on November 2, 2012, the day before she
passed away.
My grandfather
lovingly cared for his bride through these last tough years of her being
afflicted with Alzheimer’s. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to watch
your wife and partner of so many years decline to such a state, but he
faithfully fed her by hand and was always by her side—to the very end. He
simply said, “I just kept thinking of 65 years ago when we said for better or
for worse, sickness or health; there was nothing else to do.”
I admire my
grandpa for his fulfilled marriage vow. Robert Mumme is an example to follow.
Peace for the Righteous
Death would be
much harder to accept without a belief of eternity.
This morning
at breakfast I opened up my Bible to read Isaiah 57. I only got through two
verses before one of my aunts sat down with me, but those verses were pointedly
relevant for the day:
The devout are taken away, and no
one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
Those who walk uprightly enter into
peace;
They find rest as they lie in
death.
Isaiah 57:1-2
The words
describe the righteous—those who follow God and obey His commands—are at peace when they die. The words of the
Bible resound with truth as they present me with comfort. I can be joyful for
my grandmother along with the rest of my family; for we believe she is in a
better place.
As I scooped a
shovel of dirt on top of my grandma’s casket, I had confidence that this is not
the final goodbye. My grandma is now free from a world in which her mind wasted
away and her body failed her. This world was not her eternal home, and she
looked forward to the day when she would go on to heaven.
How about you?
The chapter in
Isaiah ends: “‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’”
I don’t know
about you, but the idea of judgment scares me. I want to be among the
righteous, for whom death is rest from the weariness of this world. I do not
want to be counted among the wicked.
“For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” says Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23
continues the gloomy truth: “For the wages of sin is death…” Everyone has
sinned—all are wicked—and God must punish sin because He is righteous and
perfect. When we die, we will face judgment.
Yet Romans
6:23 continues on to say, “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.” Yes, the beautiful truth that we Christians deeply believe is,
despite our own rebellion against God’s law, God so loved the world that He sent
His one and only Son into the world that whoever believes in Him will not
perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
I am confident
my grandmother accepted redemption from her sin and is now with her beloved
Savior. I am confident I have received the gift of salvation from Jesus’ death
on a cross for me.
How about you?
Don’t let this be tacky. It’s not just pithy Christian language. This is the
truth for which millions of people throughout the scope of history have given
their lives. Think about it. I pray you believe and understand. Consider
deeply, for death is fast upon us.
