Death is a part of life. In fact, we wouldn’t be alive without it.
I was a biology major in college, so I know that in each of our bodies, cells are dying all the time. And these are not random deaths — they are programmed for our own good.
Look at your hand. It has five fingers because the cells that used to live between them died way back when you were an embryo. According to the British magazine New Scientist (April 9, 2005), embryos as small as 8 to 16 cells in size depend on cell death — if it did not occur, our human development would go off course. You might say that if it were not for death, we would not even be born.
Cell death is what keeps us from being overrun with cancer. Natural systems detect almost all cancerous mutations and direct the affected cells to commit suicide.
These cancer cells die so that we might live.
In addition, whenever an infection in our body occurs, our white blood cells race toward the scene of the crime. When our immune system has finished wiping out an infection, the now-unnecessary white blood cells commit suicide in a very orderly fashion. This allows the inflammation caused by the infection to go down.
The human body is an amazing organism, isn’t it? It stays alive, in large part, because of death. Certain cells die because of the benefits this brings to the greater whole.
Jesus knows that there is an upside to death, which is why he says to his disciples that “the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed” (Mark 8:31). He says this quite openly, like a biology teacher giving a lecture on cell death. But Peter has never heard such outrageous talk, so he takes Jesus aside tries to silence him. Then Jesus turns the tables on Peter and rebukes him, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (v. 33).
In the divine things of God, the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be killed. He must die because of the benefits this brings to the greater whole. Jesus dies to pay the price for our sins. Jesus dies to reconcile us to God. Jesus dies to show us how much God loves us. Jesus dies to call us to follow him in suffering service. Jesus dies to achieve victory over death. Jesus dies so that he can rise in the resurrection, and lead us all to eternal life.
Like cell death in our bodies, the death of Jesus brings benefits to the greater whole. It may look like foolishness to the world, “but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The challenge for us is to see how we can find the upside of death in the lives we live each day.
I’m not saying that we have to live in a world of loss and grief. But it is important for us to find a way to respond to the call of Jesus when he says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (v. 34). To become a follower of Jesus means to be willing to sacrifice ourselves for the good of all. It means to be willing to deny ourselves for the benefit of the larger human organism.
A man named Thomas Cannon did this in a truly remarkable way. He was a postal worker in Richmond who lived much of his life on the edge of poverty so that he could give to those in need. Describing himself as “a poor man’s philanthropist,” he gave away more than $150,000 to people who were experiencing hard times, or who had been unusually kind or brave. He gave these gifts over the last 33 years of his life, mostly in thousand-dollar checks.
He traced his inspiration to his time in the Navy. While he was away at signal school, there was a shipboard explosion at the Port of Chicago, and many of his shipmates were killed. He concluded that he was spared for a reason — to help others, to be a role model, to inspire people to see what he called “the oneness of it all.”
Cannon gave to people of all ages, races, and nationalities. He gave checks to a low-income woman who started a youth center in her apartment complex … to a retired postal worker who was a regular volunteer at an elementary school … to a woman and man who wanted to return to Vietnam to visit their hometown … to an advocate for the victims of crime … and to a teenager who had been abandoned as an infant, but grew up to be named Virginia’s Youth of the Year.
This generosity did not come without sacrifice. Cannon supported his wife, his two sons, himself, and his charitable efforts on a salary that never exceeded $20,000 a year. When he retired from the postal service in 1983, he and his wife lived near the poverty line on his pension. “We lived simply,” he said, “so we could give money away.”
How would you feel if Thomas Cannon became the role model for our stewardship campaign this fall? Members of the Stewardship and Finance Ministry, I hope you are taking notes!
What amazes me is that Cannon found great joy in these sacrifices. He had a terrific sense of humor, one that stayed with him even after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As his health was failing, he told the Richmond newspaper, “A Baptist deacon who owed me $200 died recently. First thing I’m going to do when I get to the other side is run him down.”
Thomas Cannon did not want a foundation to be set up to continue his work after his death. He feared that a foundation would require a bureaucracy, and tons of paperwork. He didn’t even want his name attached to anything. He left just one simple request before he died last year:
“Help somebody.”
To become a follower of Jesus means to be willing to sacrifice ourselves for the good of all. It means to be willing to deny ourselves for the benefit of the larger human organism. It means, in the words of Thomas Cannon, to “help somebody.”
So how do we do this?
If you look at the cells in your body, you notice that the upside of death involves seeing the big picture, fighting the good fight, and knowing when to get out of the way. Put these activities together, and you discover what it means to deny yourself and follow Jesus. You also see how those who lose their lives for the right reasons will actually save their lives for all eternity.
First, see the big picture. Back when you were an embryo, the cells that held your fingers together did not have the luxury of being obsessed with their own survival. They had to die, so that the five-fingered human hand could emerge. This pattern was repeated by Thomas Cannon, when he saw that his own individual comfort was not as important as “the oneness of it all.” And most significantly, Jesus discovered that his own death on the cross was at the very heart of God’s plan of salvation.
Now it’s true that this plan didn’t make sense to everyone around Jesus. Peter thought it was insane, because his mind was set on human things. But the cross was something that Jesus was prepared to face, because he saw it as part of the divine plan, God’s big picture.
Where is it that you need to expand your vision of God’s plan for you?
Second, fight the good fight. Natural systems in the human body are always at work to detect cancerous mutations and keep the body healthy. Thomas Cannon sent thousand-dollar checks to people who were kind or courageous, so that they could continue to do good work in the world. And Jesus challenges us to take a stand for him, even when pressure is put on us to deny him at work or in school or in politics or in our personal relationships.
This can be a struggle, as many of you know. But Jesus calls us to this fight, and warns us that if we are ashamed of him and his words, then he will be ashamed of us as well (v. 38).
Where is it that you need to step up and fight the good fight?
Third, know when to get out of the way. White blood cells have an important job to do in wiping out infections in our bodies, but when they are done with their work they self-destruct in a very orderly fashion. Before Thomas Cannon’s death, he asked that no foundation be set up to keep his name alive. He knew that when his work on earth was over, it was over. And Jesus tells us that those who save their life will lose it, but “those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (v. 35).
In the life of the church, people have a hard time getting out of the way. Older pastors want their distinctive approaches to be remembered and repeated. Retired church members want the hymns of their childhood to be sung every week in worship. Baby Boomers want their children to follow their examples, and Generation Xers are perplexed by the approaches of the younger adults that follow them. At some point, each of has to remember that the church of Jesus Christ has been handed to us, and our job is to hand it to the people who follow us.
I know that I’m an ambitious person, and I want to be well known for my ministry here at FPC. I want to do important things, be well-regarded, make a name for myself. But when I step back and look at these ambitions, I realize that I am setting my mind on human things, not on divine things. In the grand scheme of God’s plan, the only thing that matters is that I serve as a faithful pastor, and leave this church a little healthier than I found it.
It is an act of faith to let go of ambition, get out of the way, and let God do his work. But when I do this, I am reminding myself that the church belongs to Christ, and not to me.
Where is it that you need to let go … and let God? I hope that you’ll reflect on this question as we move together through this season of Lent, as we journey ever closer to the cross of Jesus Christ.
Death is a part of the Christian faith. In fact, there would be no faith without it. We need a cross before an empty tomb. We need a Good Friday before an Easter morning. We need the execution of the Son of Man before the resurrection of the Son of God.
That’s the upside of death. Amen.
Sources:
Holmes, Bob. “Life's top 10 greatest inventions.” New Scientist, April 9, 2005, NewScientist.com.
Joe Holley, “Thomas Cannon Dies; Postal Clerk Lived Like a Pauper to Help Others,” The Washington Post, July 4, 2005, B5.