Let us have death perspective.
“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2)
In this New Year 2008, I have already been to two funerals within a week. While attending two funerals, I once again meditated on Ecclesiastes 7:2 – “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.” As I was reminded of the fact that the destiny of every man is death and as I should take this to heart, I thought again and asked the question, ‘How should I really live?’ In particular, today, after I heard that Pastor Chang-hyuk Kim, my beloved third uncle, had 2-3 weeks left according to the doctor in charge, I meditated on the word of Ecclesiastes 7:2 again and took this to my heart. In the midst of this, the challenge I received is that I should live with the death perspective.
Why should we live with the death perspective? The reason is because it is beneficial to us. What are the benefits? There are many benefits, but I want to share only three.
First, when we live with the death perspective, we acknowledge human incapacity and helplessness, and thus become more and more totally dependent on God.
What I felt again while attending both funerals was the fact that humans have no choice but to come from dust and return to dust. As the Bible says, we are like a mist that appears for a moment and then disappears (Jam. 4:14). In the face of death, we humans cannot help but feel powerless and helpless. No matter how well-known or rich we are in our business, all human beings cannot help but feel their powerlessness and helplessness in the face of death. Especially young people should go to funerals more. This is because they can thoroughly understand the powerlessness and helplessness of humans. Why should we do this? For me, one of the reasons is so that I can lose some of my strength and power. In other words, I want to go to the funeral to lose my strength and power and rely on God's strength and power.
We people need to be a little shabby. We need to be thoroughly humble before God rather than in front of people. Considering that death is approaching before God, we should let go of our own strength and bow down before God and rely on His strength and power. We must learn that God is in control of life and death, even through funerals. We must learn to recognize God's sovereignty. We must admit that our lives depend on the Lord. In order to do that, we must see ourselves with the death perspective.
Personally, I like to sing the hymn “Simply Trusting Every Day” often. The lyrics and refrain of verse 1 of the hymn are as follows: “Simply trusting ev'ry day, Trusting through a stormy way; Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly, Trusting as the days go by; Trusting Him whate'er befall, Trusting Jesus, that is all.” God is making me realize how weak my own faith is even through the difficulties that my loved ones are going through these days. Therefore, the Lord is making me rely on Him more and more. I am learning human weakness and God's strength as I come into contact with the reality of human beings who are bound to get old and sick as the years go by. Therefore, I want to look back on life from a more death perspective.
Second, when we live with the death perspective, we seek the eternal rather than the momentary.
It is often said that we come empty-handed and leave this world empty-handed. Even though we know that, we are busy living to fill our hands with something. Then, when we attend the funeral of a loved one, we are stimulated again and think a little about what we should live for and how we should live. Even then, we forget the things we made up our minds on at the funeral and live a busy life without a break to fill our hands with something again. What are the results of hard work without enjoying rest? We will end up going to the grave empty-handed.
If we are true believers in Jesus, we need to look back on our own lives from the death perspective through the funeral and think about what and how we will live for the days God allows us to live on this earth in the future. When we do this, we think of things above rather than things of this world. And we think that we should pursue eternal things rather than momentary things. And we will realize that this world is not our home. And like the fathers of faith in Hebrews 11, we will long for a better home and go to that heaven. Why? The reason is because when we look at the world from the death perspective, we cannot but agree with Solomon's words that the worldly things pursued in this world are vain and meaningless (Eccle. 1:2; 12:8). We realize that after the world has passed, only the eternal remains forever. And we learn to let go of the momentary things we longed for and pursue in this world and no longer attach great importance to them. In the midst of this, we renew our determination to value what is truly eternal and live for it. For the sake of the eternal Lord, we are determined to live by preaching the gospel to eternal souls with eternal love according to the eternal Word.
I often think of my own death and funerals when I see the bodies or coffins of loved ones who came to dust and returned to dust. Indeed, as the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:1, I think about what is better for the day of death than the day of birth. Since King Solomon said that “A good name is better than fine perfume (v. 1), I wonder if the name “James Kim” will feel beautiful in the hearts of those whom God has given me through my own death. I can only imagine how many people would say, ‘James Kim pursued eternal things and went to the eternal place he longed for’ when they think of my name in their minds. Even though we live in this world, in order to live like those who live in the world to come, we must live from the death perspective. While we live in this world with an eternal perspective, we must live in pursuit of eternal things.
Third and last, when we live with the death perspective, we can save time.
A man who lives with the death perspective is a wise man. And the wise man seeks eternal things. In the midst of this, the wise man is very careful how his lives – not as unwise but as wise (Eph. 5:15). For example, the wise man doesn’t get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery (v. 18). Because he knows that such a life is a foolish life (v. 17). Since he knows that the days are evil, he makes the most of every opportunity (v. 16). And he tries to understand what the Lord’s will is and does His will (v. 17). Therefore, he is living a life filled with the Holy Spirit, praising and worshiping God with his heart (v. 19). And he always gives thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 20).
It seems the logic of life is to realize that the older we get, the more we feel that the time passes so quickly. Of course, there are many people who ignore this fact and waste their time even when they are older. How can we save the time that passes so quickly? Attending a funeral and contemplating one's own death is one way. Even if we live as busy as we would for the rest of our lives, when we attend the funeral of a loved one, we should at least once look back on our lives and think about the end of our lives. And we have to think about how we are going to live our lives and how we will end it. The reason is because our funerals aren't too far away. It's just an acorn height difference.
I am already 40 years old. If the average life expectancy is 70 to 80, then I'm already half-lived. Of course, I don't know when God will call me. Somehow, these days, I think about the importance of living day by day. Because no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Just because God has given us today, I think we can do our best to live for God's glory. And if God allows tomorrow, then we can live with the same attitude we have today. I don't want to cling to the past too much, nor do I feel the need to be so lively and fussy about the future. I just want to enjoy living with the Lord every day, rejoicing and giving thanks to Him. Then I think that even if I die tonight, I will be able to go to the Lord with thanksgiving. What about the years that have already passed? I don't know how many years God has left me on this earth (I don't need to know). But I just want to depend on the Lord day by day and to pursue eternal things. I want to live for the glory of the Lord while walking with Him and fulfilling His work that He has entrusted to me.
Beloved pastor Chang-hyuk Kim is in the midst of a very weak body right now. I remember him who had a hard time getting up from the sofa himself. In the midst of this, I remember how Pastor Kim praised the chorus of hymn “How Great Thou Art,” “Then sing my soul, My Savior God, to Thee/ How great Thou art, How great Thou art …” to God vigorously as he relied on God. Although his body is in great weakness, his soul is like an eagle flying toward the sky. The soul of the pastor who praises “How great Thou art” depends only on the eternal God. I am making this confession in front of God and you while participating in the earnest prayer for pastor Chang-hyuk Kim who wants only the glory of God to be manifested: ‘Even if I live, I want to live like the dead.’ I want to live from the death perspective. In order to do that, I want to accept King Solomon's counsel more and go to the funeral. And I want to go to the funeral and think about the death which is the destiny of every man. I want to feel it and write it on the tablet of my heart. And I want to live the rest of my life from the death perspective, day by day, pursuing eternal things, relying on the Lord more and more. Then, even if I die, I believe I will live forever. Amen.
After my soul praise the Lord, “How great Thou art”,
James Kim