Embrace Eternity

I am so glad you are here on this Easter Sunday for the final week of our “Live Like You Were Dying” experience. It has been a wonderful journey for us as a church. I am hearing some great stories of what God has been doing.

Well, as you can see from the video there are a lot of different thoughts about death and heaven, and who is going and how we get there. As you listen to the answers by people on the street you are left wondering, “How do I know heaven is real? And if it is, can I really know that I am going there?” These are exactly the questions we are going to take an honest look at today.

It’s a topic we don’t like to talk about. Maybe you can relate to the words of Woody Allen when he said “Its not that I’m afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

Our denial doesn’t change death’s existence. And our refusal to talk about it doesn’t delay its coming. Actually, I think it is healthy for us to have some honest conversation about death. We're all terminal… some of us are just blessed enough to know it.

This weekend, I would like us to linger over a two-word question. It is simple but important. Your future is not only riding on this question, but your forever is at stake. Here is the question. Then what?

When I have lived my last day and I have taken my last breath and my heart has beat for the last time, then what? When my death certificate has a specific time and date on it, then what?

To help us wrestle with this question, I want us to engage in a story that Jesus told.

Luke 12:13-21 (NLT) Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” [14] Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that? “ [15] Then he said, “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.” [16] And he gave an illustration: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. [17] In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. [18] So he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store everything. [19] And I’ll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’” [20] “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?’ [21] “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Wow! The world would call this guy a very successful businessman. I’m sure he would have been on the cover of Forbes magazine. Notice in the story that God doesn’t call him wicked or dishonest or evil. Yet, God does call him a fool. Nowhere in the story do we read that this man had mistreated people or cut ethical corners. He was certainly driven, ambitious, and shrewd. Yet, God calls him a moron. That is the literal word that is translated here as “fool.” For all his business genius, he made a supreme miscalculation. In his frantic pursuit of the good life he forgot to pursue eternal life and abundant life. He gave his life for that which ultimately didn’t matter.

His priorities were work hard, grow the business, expand the business, sell the business, and retire on easy street. In fact, in v. 19 he says to himself “You have plenty of things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.” He is building a great big nest egg and an inflation proof retirement portfolio. By most everyone’s standards, this guy is living the American dream. Yet, God calls him a fool.

When we look closer at the story, we will discover 3 mistakes.

He lived like this life is all there is — This is a fatal miscalculation
This rich man in the story of Jesus had a philosophy of life. His view of life was all about the here and now. It was about today. It was about this world. It was all about the dash. Let me explain. When you look at a grave marker, there is a set of dates. The date that person checked into this planet and the date they checked out. And, in between those dates is a “dash” and that dash represents this life.
People with this philosophy don’t have time for the “then what” question. They are too busy with life to worry about death. They are too focused on today to think about forever. But, this is a fatal miscalculation.

“We think that we are in the land of the living going to the land of the dying when in reality we are in the land of the dying going to the land of the living.”
In Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT) Solomon writes, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.” Did you get that? He planted eternity in the human heart.

In his most recent book, John Ortberg talks about nighttime prayers his grandmother would pray with him.
“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

That’s a cheery way to send kids off to bed, isn’t it?
There actually was another verse to this prayer that children would recite. Picture the scene.
“Our days begin with trouble here,
Our life is but a span,
And cruel death is always near,
So frail a thing is man.”
Good Night honey. Pleasant dreams.

Ortberg makes this observation. “There was a day, much different than ours, when children said this prayer by the millions. Somebody wanted children to know: Earth is fallen and broken and not home. Life is not permanent. Death is inevitable, and human life hangs by a slender thread. We have a soul and not just a body. God is the kind of person who can be trusted with our eternal destiny. To be clear about who keeps our souls is infinitely important.”

Now, before we move on, I want you to notice something else in this story. When you disconnect this life from the life to come, it has a very practical result. When you believe that this life is all there is, you begin to mistakenly act as though the point of life is acquisition and accumulation. The word “more” becomes the driving force in your life.

This was certainly true of the guy in Jesus’ story. More grain. More goods. More and bigger barns. More stuff. He thought making a living was the same as making a life. He was wrong.

Just think how much stuff we have and how much “life” it takes to shop for it, clean it, repair it, manage it, maintain it, insure it, store it, and ultimately dispose of it. You spend all this time and energy stockpiling stuff. Then, you die and leave it all behind.

He lived like there would always be more time — This is a costly procrastination
This is all about the illusion of control. This rich businessman was used to being in charge and controlling all the aspects of his world. In fact, I’m sure he prided himself in being on top of things. He didn’t like surprises and he made it his business to have as few as possible.

I want to be very clear here. There is nothing wrong with planning. Where this becomes a problem is when our plans cross over to presumption. We become presumptuous when we stop recognizing God’s ultimate control in the universe and his ultimate control in my life. It is presumption when I start living as though I control the universe.

Notice the smug words of this rich man. “I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” Do you hear the arrogance? “I’ve got all the bases covered. I have planned for all the possible contingencies. I am set for life.”

There’s just one problem. We aren’t ultimately in control. The song Live Like You Were Dying is about a guy who sits down with the doctor and gets the bad news about his health. His world is rocked as he realizes that he isn’t in control. All it takes is to see that little spot on the x-ray or have a drunk driver pull over in your lane.

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night.”’ You and I don’t get to choose the day or the way in which we leave this world. This guy acted like he had all the time in the world.

When you think about it, there is so little in this life that we really control. You didn’t control when you were born or who your parents were. You didn’t control the place of your birth or your ethnicity. You didn’t control your looks or the color of your hair.

Your life is in God’s hands. God rightfully claims ownership over every soul. He can give and take life as he pleases according to his wise plan.
The older I get the more intimately aware I am that life is fragile and life is short. None of us sitting here has the guarantee of another year or even another day.

So, make your plans. But remember that you don’t control the universe. You don’t know how many days you have left. That has been the point of this whole 30 days. It is helping us learn not to take our days for granted. We are learning how to live today to its fullest because we don’t know how many we have left. We are learning to savor the precious moments of today because we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.

He didn’t live this life in light of the life to come — This is a missed preparation
Many people I know believe heaven is real, but live as though it is irrelevant. It never crosses their mind and it has no bearing on their daily life.

In fact, the Bible says that heaven is the true home of those who are Christ followers. We are pilgrims just passing through this world. If we really believe that, it should and will change what matters to us and how we live.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17-5:1 (NLT) Paul said, “For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down — when we die and leave these bodies — we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”
In generations past, the favorite topic for Christian songs was heaven. For so many Christians down through the centuries, this life has been incredibly hard. They were often destitute and persecuted. What gave them hope was knowing that someday they would be with their heavenly Father.

The truth is, life can sometimes be hard and unbearable. When you are in that health crisis or you are going through that divorce or you are still fighting that addiction, the Lord’s encouragement to us is to remember that we are not home yet.
There is a lot about eternity and heaven that we don’t know. But, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT) are enough to know for now. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Did you get that? What lies beyond death is so breathtakingly wonderful; we can’t wrap our minds around it. It is beyond anything we could dream up. And it’s real and it’s forever.

And, I don’t want one person here to miss it. I can tell you without hesitation that being prepared to die is the most important issue of life. Settling this and being clear about your eternal future is the most important decision you will ever make.

I want to go back to the parable that Jesus told in Luke 12 about this rich man. The implication in the story is that this man was unprepared for his sudden death. He had thoroughly prepared for his retirement, but had ignored to prepare for his eternity. Eternity is real and you are one day closer to it than you were yesterday. This life is not all there is. The Bible speaks with sobering clarity about this. Though your body will die, your soul will live on eternally. You are immortal. Even if you get 80, 90, or 100 years on this planet, that is nothing compared to forever. Nothing could be more tragic than to prosper in this world and fail to prepare for the world to come.

The Bible says that you and I came into this world with a nature to sin and that from birth we are separated from God. The bad news is that there isn’t anything you can do to fix the problem.

But, that’s why Jesus came. He came to earth as our rescuer and savior. His death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead paved the way for us to be reconciled to God. It is a free gift of grace and there is nothing you can do to earn it. But, it is your choice to either receive it or reject it. I am asking you today, will you accept his gift of salvation and become a Christ follower? Your eternity is riding on your answer to that question.

Jesus' resurrection that we celebrate this morning is so amazing, isn't it?? There is no way that I can adequately express in words all that the Risen Christ means to me. My life overflows with gratitude that he would allow me to know him and that he would adopt me into his family. He doesn’t owe me anything. I don’t deserve his grace. I am fully aware how unlovable I can be and how much darkness resides in my own heart. And yet, this great creator who holds the stars in his hand and who rules the universe unconditionally accepts me. This same Jesus, who guides the history of humanity and has need of nothing, pays attention to me.

Your one shot to get it right is this life. There are no make-up exams on the other side of death. Don’t make the tragic mistake of thinking this life is all there is or that there will always be more time. Let today be the day you step over the line of faith and settle your eternal destiny. Let today be the day you begin living without any fear of dying.