“You’re not going to believe what just happened.”
How are you supposed to respond? How much pressure does that create? Did someone set the house on fire? Did you witness someone robbing a bank? Did you learn parkour from an iPhone app?
There are not many phrases that are more loaded than that. But, usually, it is true.
I was away (as I inevitably am during the summer). However, I was away but close by. I was speaking at a camp that was close enough for Hope and the kids to come visit. When she got home, she called, let me know how unbelievable this event was, and left me on the other line to feel flabbergasted.
As they pulled into the driveway, Hope and Shepherd noticed a rabbit. This is not so unbelievable. This is very believable. There are rabbits at our house on a regular basis. In the backyard. In our front yard. In the line of woods behind our house. It is like they are known for the rate at which they reproduce.
However, this rabbit was different.
He was still.
Motionless.
Dead.
Yosemite Sam or Elmer Fudd (or possibly the neighbor’s cat) finally got to him.
Hope, being the strong, independent woman that she is, knew exactly what had to be done:
- Take small child into the house
- Instruct older child as to what he could do (look)
- Instruct older child as to what not to do (touch)
- Come back outside and remove roadkill from our driveway
- Go to bed
Step one was easy. Hope took Charlie into the house. When she came back outside, she notice that Shepherd had the look on his face (please raise your hand if you know the look). She asked the question that every mother dreads (if they have ever considered asking, that is).
“Shep, did you touch the rabbit?”
She waits.
“Yes.”
(Pause)
“And I picked him up.”
(Longer pause)
“And I hugged him.”
(Longer pause with realization that this was not in ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’)
“And I kissed him on the mouth.”
(Where is my disinfectant chapstick?)
Death is a big deal. If you’ll watch the news, you will notice that it is full of death. Rarely do we have a ‘birth’ mentioned on the evening news (unless it is an outrageous number of multiples, royalty, or someone complaining about what Obamacare will and will not pay for…)
In the Bible, death is mentioned over 370 times. It is overwhelmingly tied to sin.
- The wages of sin are death.
- Jesus died for our sins.
Even after what we evangelicals call ‘conversion’, death is still part of our ‘there’ (forgiven by God) but not ‘there’ (still living on this earth and not telling jokes with St. Peter on the Streets of Gold) existence.
Paul says, “Put to death what is earthly in you.”
The word for ‘put to death’ has a few different translations-none of them ‘good’ for the direct object.
- Abolish
- Terminate
- Exterminate
We are supposed to kill sin.
“Kill it? What is it?”
I was always told that sin was ‘missing the mark’. This is true and a biblical concept. However, I am not an archer and have only watched the Drew Brees ‘Sport Science’ episode twice (he throws a football 40 yards multiple times and hits a bullseye...Google it). Here is a far from exhaustive list of where sin is in our lives and how it works...
- Sin is how the enemies of God like Satan, Tom Brady, and the guy who changed the iPhone charger work to get us to diminish the value of life in Jesus
- Sin is doing something we should not do
- Sin is not doing what we should do
- Sin is death reminding us that we are still part of a broken world
- Sin is us telling Jesus that ‘his Life...in this life...is not enough
You may ask if you are one of the many people who really examine this oh-so-important aspect of orthodox Christianity, “I thought that Jesus did that on the cross...right?”
Yes. Emphatically. In Jesus, death is done. Life is available in and through Him.
What Paul is telling us to do is to ‘put to death what is dead.’
In a world where zombies are trendier than their body temperature, this should make sense. Sin is dead for those who are in Christ Jesus. Yet, in this world, death is still dangerous. It is everywhere. It comes from every direction. If we take this and examine it from the perspective of a certain AMC show (Spoiler Alert), there are still remnants of this death that are present in each of us.
(Your inner conversation may be saying ‘you lost me.’)
Sin, in this life, is present. Sin has lingering implications on our behavior in this life. Sin is death and death is sin and when we attempt to find our joy and direction in anything other than Jesus, albeit good and moral and ethical and allowed, we embrace death when Jesus has said ‘since I have given you life, never stop pursuing life.’
Where does the Bible say that?
Scriptures paint the picture of life in Jesus on every page (except those maps-which are non-canonical…), but we find it thoroughly examined in the Gospel of John as Jesus takes everyday temporal ideas to explain eternal life in Him.
- I am the Bread of Life
- I am the Light of Life
- I am the good Shepherd who lays down His life so you can live
- I am the Resurrection and the life
- I am the way, the truth, and the life
- I am the Vine, you are the branches...apart from me, you have no life (can do nothing)
These are just the I Am statements-this does not even include the most famous verse in the Bible.
- Life is in Jesus. Jesus is life.
- Put sin to death. Be a Reflection of life.
In the biblical narrative, Jesus is adamant about the idea that life is not found in ethical, moral, religious dogma. Life is found in Him and is a result of Him. In Him is Life.
By not putting our sin to death, we are allowing barriers to stand that keep us from following Christ in this life...and we leave a trail of apathetic death everywhere we go.
“Shepherd, why would you kiss a dead rabbit?”
(Whoever expects to ask that question...ever?)
“Momma, just because he is dead does not mean he is not a cute friend.”
Sounds sweet.
- What if momma never finds out about him touching the dead rabbit?
- What if he touches baby brother with ‘dead rabbit’ hands?
- What if he eats a peanut butter sandwich with those little dead rabbit fingers?
- What if he kisses his momma with those dead bunny lips?
Death that is still dangerous has affected and infected everything in our home.
Put to death what is dead...
- Personally
- Corporately
- To remind yourself that life is in Jesus
- To display to others that life is in Him
- If it is easy
- When it is hard
- If it means making a sacrifice
Why? Because death is still dangerous and Life is worth living.
