[0:00] So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. Words from this morning's holy gospel in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
[0:13] We are all familiar with the adage, there are only two sure things in life, death and taxes. Well, the second part of that adage is mostly true, not everyone pays taxes.
[0:28] The first is absolutely true. Every life surely ends in death. As sure as each of us is sitting here today, each of us will one day die.
[0:46] What does the thought of death invoke in our thoughts and in our spirits? Fear or peace? Or maybe we just don't want to think about death at all.
[1:00] Well, this morning we are going to think about death. In fact, not doing so can have eternal consequences as the gospel parable teaches us.
[1:13] It's important for us to do so. The first thing we need to remember as Christians is to take fear off the table when it comes to death.
[1:26] As Christians, we should not fear death. In the epistle, St. John tells us why. Perfect love casts out fear.
[1:38] As those who have been baptized into and are fed with the life of Jesus Christ, we have God's perfect love dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit.
[1:49] That perfect love has the power to cast out all fear of death, which as Christians we know is not the end, but a passing on into a new and everlasting life.
[2:03] Christ is in us, and we are in Christ. Therefore, we know that when our spirit leaves our body, like the poor beggar Lazarus, our soul will be taken by the angels to Abraham's bosom.
[2:18] And that day we will be at rest in paradise. The assurance of this perfect love should not come from any perceived ability we have to love, or from any innate virtue we may think we have.
[2:35] St. John is clear about this. 1 John 4, 10 states, In this is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
[2:52] The propitatory sacrifice of Jesus is the source of love that casts out fear. It is God's love. It is John 3, 16 love.
[3:06] When that love is received and lived out faithfully, it will cast out all fear. Even the greatest of man's fear. Death.
[3:17] Often when death is talked about, people will say, It's not death I'm afraid of. It's dying. It's the process of death.
[3:29] This is understandable. Whether what causes death is the natural aging process, a prolonged illness, a sudden painful illness or an injury, or a combination of them.
[3:43] The process of death is rarely comfortable, often frustrating, and at times frightening. Yet, and not to make light of it, here again, the solution is, perfect love casts out fear.
[4:01] If we take hold of, and firmly embrace the perfect love of God shed abroad in our hearts, any and all fear will be cast out.
[4:14] The pains and the uncertainties will not be cast out, but fear will be. We will gain the strength to endure the uncertainties and the pains that arise.
[4:25] Once the fear is gone, replaced by perfect love, it is almost certainly joy, not to be confused with happiness, but joy will well up within us too.
[4:43] As St. Paul wrote in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, It was for the joy that lay before him that our Lord Jesus endured the cross. Even in the midst of the difficulties, pains, and uncertainties of the process of death, we can face it as Jesus did for the joy of eternal life that lays before us.
[5:09] The perfect love of God will cast out fear and replace it with joy. Let me share a true account of God's perfect love casting out fear.
[5:23] It was a faithful Christian man I knew, not for very long, but long enough and closely enough to learn about his preparation for death. When he was 38, so he was a young man, he was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.
[5:40] At first, when he went to sleep at night, he had to leave the overhead light on in his bedroom. Because when he woke up for brief moments, if he did not see that light, he would fear that he had died.
[5:52] And that thought terrified him. This went on for a few months. But as his prayer life strengthened and his faith deepened, he united his sufferings, which were great, with those of Jesus.
[6:08] As he did, the fear he had felt dissipated. And in the final months of his life, he did not need that light on when he slept.
[6:21] Perfect love cast out his fear and he died with joy and in peace. Yes, death is inevitable for each of us, much more so than taxes.
[6:37] For some, it is closer than others and not necessarily because of our age. For some, there will be pain involved in the process more so than for others.
[6:47] But no matter the length of time or the pain we are to endure, we can take hold of the perfect love of Christ and say with St. Paul, death is swallowed up in victory.
[7:02] O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? There is nothing we need to do to obtain this love.
[7:15] We can only embrace it by faith and live in it by prayer. It is already ours in Christ by baptism. When we receive his body and blood this morning, that love will be strengthened within us.
[7:33] As we abandon ourselves to him, we will become more conscious of that love as it gets worked ever deeper into our spirits by the Holy Spirit, casting out all fear and replacing it with joy and peace.
[7:53] But we need to take hold of it. We need to place our trust in it, to place our trust in him, in Christ. Live by it. Pray, always pray until the day life passes from our body and the angels take our soul gently and reverently to be with Jesus in paradise.
[8:18] Brethren, in both life and death, the antidote for fear is perfect love. The perfect love of God in Christ casts out all fear.
[8:34] May we take hold of that perfect love this day so we may live in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ all the days of our life, and especially at the time of our death.
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