"Proclaim His Death"

1st Corinthians 11.26

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Death is the single, inevitable fact of life. Life will end. All good things stop, sometimes suddenly. People die and so will I. My mortality and weakening body hovers as a dark reminder of my sentence of death. I will soon no longer exist as I now do. I was born to die. 

Jesus commands me to “proclaim... death,” shifting my focus on life’s end from mine to His. I am called to herald Christ’s death until His return, which may take a while. I could, and probably will, die before His 2nd coming. I have a job to do until He comes again or until I die, whichever comes first...

“Proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

My father died almost exactly seventeen years ago on July 23rd, 2005.  I still miss him. Our last years together were the best ones. I was there when he took his last breath. I loved him and he loved me. My mother died November 10th, 2010, nearly twelve years ago. I love and miss her too. 

“Proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

It has fallen to me to suffer another death, the death of my dear wife of twenty years. Adonica lost her ten month battle with Leukemia six years and eleven months ago on August 30th, 2015. It still hurts, though not quite as badly. The kids and I are doing well, but I wish she was here by my side. I shall always love my dear Adonica. 

“Proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

I am not comfortable with my own departure. I am afraid of growing old and will likely do so un-gracefully, with less than the appropriate amount of dignity. I don’t want to leave my children without a dad. Paradoxically, my most common and fervent (and selfish) prayer is that all my kids will outlive me. The pain of their early demise would probably kill me.

“Proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

I hope to meet another woman and fall in love again. I hope to marry again someday. Because we will not have as much time together as most young couples who meet in their twenties, I will treasure every moment I get to spend with her if I am blessed with another wife. Yet, I am forced to consider the fact of limited time with the second woman of my dreams as we march together inevitably and, each day, incrementally toward our final days on this planet.  

“Proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

As foreign as the concept is, I am compelled to obey the cause and advance message of Christ’s death until He comes again. This is one death that contains an element of hope. Jesus died and rose from the dead. The message of death and resurrection is worth proclaiming.

“Proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

Because of the hope of eternal life, I will proclaim the Lord’s death until I meet Jesus at my death, or at His return, whichever comes first. What a glorious day that will be!