Judica

These words from this ancient Latin hymn, Media vita in morte sumus, remind us of the reality of the human condition. We are surrounded by death. We are born into sin and sinners must die. No one can cheat death. It comes for every one of the children of Adam. We can’t avoid death, but that doesn’t stop us from trying, or at least trying to find a way to cope with it. Most often, we cope with death by ignoring it. This is easier to do when you’re young and healthy. I remember waiting for my tenth birthday. At the time a decade was a lifetime. Fifty years was an eternity. But how things change.

Today in the midst of a global plague, it has become much harder to ignore death. It surrounds us. Every day we are greeted with new charts and statistics in which the numbers of the sick and dying continue to climb. If it hasn’t happened already, it’s likely that very soon someone you know or love will be affected. The fear of what cannot be known or controlled, which often slumbers in the corners of the mind, now threatens to fill our hearts with terror. Truly, in the midst of life we are in death. What Helper do we seek but you, oh Lord?

Another pastor writes these words, “At this time, in the present danger of the plague, we are in a state of fear. It is as though we did not have the command to live and to call upon God. But we do. We have a most dependable Word uttered by the mouth of the Son of God: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die’ (John 11:25–26).” These words were not written by any pastor living today. They were written 500 years ago, during the Black Plague. The pastor was Martin Luther.

You see, we are not facing anything new. You and I have not lived through a plague before, this is true, but the Church has weathered many calamites far worse than what we face today. The hymn In the midst of life we are in death was penned some 1200 years ago. As a more recent poet said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” We live in the midst of death, and our only Helper is the Lord. So it has ever been, and so it will be, until he comes to make all things new.

Abraham is often called the father of faith. He was not the first Christian, the first believer in Christ, but the Bible does clearly tell us that Abraham was saved by faith: “His faith was counted to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). God had promised Abraham a son. What’s more, God told him that his son would be the ancestor of Christ. The salvation of the world would come through Abraham’s Seed. Abraham believed this promise. He believed in the Messiah who was to come. His faith made him a Christian.

And then God told Abraham to kill his son as a sacrifice for sin. What was Abraham to do? How could his child, Isaac, be a sacrifice and the ancestor of Jesus? Abraham was faced with two realities that seemed to be in conflict. God had promised him his son. But God had also said, “Only death can pay for sin. Blood must be shed. Without it there is no forgiveness.” Truly, in the midst of life, Abraham was in death. He said to his servants, “Wait here. The boy and I will go and sacrifice and then we will return” (Gen 22:5). Abraham, the father of faith, said to God, “My job is to trust your promises. Your job is to keep them. You have power over death. We both came up the mountain to sacrifice. We both will go down when it’s done. I leave the details in your hands.”

None of us has been faced with a choice as difficult as Abraham’s, but we have all been in situations that seem to conflict with the promises of God. He has promised to protect and defend us, yet we are surrounded today by very real danger from a virus. Our heavenly Father has promised to provide our daily bread, yet we’re having trouble finding basic necessities. Our Lord promises us eternal life, but in the midst of this life we are confronted with the reality of death. Where can we turn for help?

We follow the example of our father in the faith, and turn to Jesus, the spotless Sacrifice for sin. After God stayed Abraham’s hand and showed him a ram caught in the thicket, Abraham named the mountain, “The Lord will provide.” Wait, didn’t he mean, “The Lord has provided”? No. Abraham looked past his son Isaac. He looked past the ram that God had provided and saw the Son of God, the eternal sacrifice for the sins of the world, the Lamb of God, whom the Lord would provide. By faith, even in the midst of death, Abraham looked forward to see Jesus. By faith, Abraham saw his day and rejoiced. By faith, Abraham was saved from sin and death.

So it is for us today. We are sinners surrounded by the reality of death, but we do not need to fear. Our Lord Jesus walks with us. He is our Helper who drank the cup of the Father’s wrath against sin to the bottom. He is our Savior who tasted death in our place. He tasted it, and he swallowed it up in victory. And now Jesus makes this promise to every believer, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever keeps my Word will never see death” (Jn 8:51).

In the midst of life we are in death, but death has no power over those who trust the words of Christ. He says to you, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2). As all these trials come and go, you may say in your heart, “Yes, these troubles are great. Yes, these problems are out of my control. I can’t fix them, but I don’t need to. That’s not my job. My job is to trust the promises of Jesus. His job is to keep those promises. So even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; my Savior is with me!” (Psalm 23:4).

You may be surrounded by trouble on every side. You may be in the very midst of death. You may even die. In fact, unless Jesus returns first, you will die. But you will not see death. You will not taste death. Your trust is in the one who tasted it in your place, whose promises never fail, whose word cannot be broken. He is our Helper in time of need, our refuge in every storm, and in him your heart can safely trust. Whoever believes in me,” Jesus says, “even though he die, yet shall he live. Whoever keeps my Word will never see death.” (Jn 11:25; 8:51).

In the midst of life we are in death.

What Helper do we seek but you, oh Lord? Amen.

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