A lot of people are afraid of flying in airplanes. I guess the fear is that it will stop working, fall out of the sky, crash on sea or land, and everyone will die. I’d say that logic holds true if the initial action occurs, and given that most people know nothing of the inner workings of planes, I find it a perfectly rational thought that the plane you are sitting in could be your death-bed. I am sorry to frighten anyone who has obsessive thoughts along these lines, but it is simply reasonable.
In fact, every time I get on a plane I think about dying. And I have ridden on a lot of planes lately.
I think this started as I was traveling to England last summer. It was a long flight, and of all the flights I have ever been on, had the greatest chance of crashing given the sheer amount of time I was on it.
But I have found this potential plane-crashing introspection to be ironically very empowering and uplifting. I think that is because it has shown me that I am not afraid to die.
Maybe I am too young to say that with complete certainty, but I do anyway. I am not afraid to die. There are moments when that is not true, I guess, like when I was coming back from England that same trip and felt I had a lot of important things to say or put in practice that I had learned, but I got over that pretty quickly. I realize that the world will go on just as well with or without me; God doesn’t need me for what He does (which makes it all the more amazing that He is willing to put up with me as I try to help). And those few fearful moments gave me even greater insight into how important it is to live with no fear of death.
In fact, I would go so far as to say I fear nothing…except God.
Fear (which I would subtly distinguish from ‘being afraid’) is a state created out of awe and reverence toward something. It involves honoring something and treating it as holy. It comes when we give exclusive importance to something that takes precedence over all else. For instance, the fear of death puts complete importance on life – it is an expression of the reverence we develop toward our own being. And when something threatens our life (i.e. death) we act in any way we can to preserve life, even if that means running into our darkened bedrooms and jumping 3 feet away from the bed so that no monster will reach out, grab us, and gobble us up for its midnight snack.
So, I fear God alone – maybe not perfectly, but I am trying my hardest.
I have found that I have no reason to fear death (or fear for life). Paul has recently helped me understand why this happens and how it is important. He says throughout Romans that through Christ we are dead to ourselves – our fleshy, sinful selves who put anything and everything (especially our own lives) before God.
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:3-11
We are united to Christ in His crucifixion – we die with Him in faith. So, if I have already died to myself, what have I to fear in death? And I have only to gain in life with Christ – a life in the Spirit that is found in resurrection only after death to self. And this is a resurrection that has happened in Christ, and that is happening now! I do not not fear death purely on the promise of eternal life in the future (although that is quite a bonus). I do not fear death because of the present promise, the present covenant of Spirit-filled life that is offered only through death.
Paul talks a lot about death – in almost every letter of his in the Bible. It is usually in the context of dying to our sinful nature so that we can truly be a new creation. On my birthday, I thought it was important to reflect on such death, because only through it can I fully realize new life – true life.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace….But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness…for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:5-13
I am already dead! How now can I fear death? At least I am in a constant process of dying, for my fleshy nature found early on a way to ensure longevity (what it thought to be immortality) through a dark use of horcruxes. (N.B. For non-Harry Potter fans, shame on you - at least watch the movies so that you can understand the reference)
But the good news is that Christ died in order to break the evil spell of the horcrux we have all submitted our lives to. We can now truly die to ourselves and in doing so live in God’s Spirit!
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