Scripture: John 5:19-29
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voiceand come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
Consider:
One time, I visited a church member’s mother in the hospital. She’d been on a ventilator for many hours and had been in poor health before then, so the outcome for her recovery was bleak. I didn’t know her as she didn’t attend the church, but I knew her children, who were very kind, salt of the earth people who worked blue-collar jobs, one at a preschool, one at the local cardboard factory. (If you ordered pizza lately, he probably made your box).
Everything about a hospital at 3am is surreal. It’s dark and hushed, everybody instinctively speaks in whispers but no one is sleeping. (No one sleeps in the hospital).
The doctor had been in to talk with the family about next steps for her, including how much longer they wanted to support her on the ventilator. This was very distinctly not my decision to make - and it turns out it wasn’t any one in the room’s decsion to make either. In fact, the decision rested with the oldest brother, who was in Buffalo.
Which is how I found myself on the phone at 3:30am in North Carolina talking to a stranger about his mother, who was also a stranger. He wanted to know - Could I promise she would go to heaven when she died?
The real answer is no. I don’t have any control over who lives and who dies or what happens after death. I can’t give you a roadmap or any kind of concrete promises, because the Bible only says two concrete things about what happens after we die: 1. There will be a resurrection of the dead on the last day. 2. It’s all up to Jesus anyway.
So the short, real answer is, no. I don’t know if you are going to heaven or not - that’s up to God. God is completely in charge of the transition from this life into life eternal, so I can’t honestly tell you yes or no to that existential question of “Am I going to heaven?”
But I didn’t say any of that to the son. To the son I said, “Yes. God is with her now and into the life everlasting.” Because you know what else the Bible says? “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
So whatever happens after that transition from this life to the next, I know we aren’t alone and that the God who has walked with his every day of our life so far isn’t going to abandon us at the last to journey into the next stage all on our own.
Respond:
In the "surreal" environment of a hospital at 3:00 AM, the author chose to offer a promise of God’s presence rather than a theological explanation. When you are supporting someone in crisis, how do you discern when to offer "answers" and when to simply offer "presence"?
Pray:
Gracious God, when I stand in the "surreal" 3:00 AM moments of others' lives, grant me the wisdom to silence my own explanations. Help me carry the weight of presence with grace, offering comfort over complexity. May my words reflect your steady hand, assuring the brokenhearted that they never walk alone. Amen.
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