First United Methodist Church - Fort Collins, CO

“What if we knew we would die tomorrow?”

Issues of death and dying are the most important that we try to resolve. They push us beyond the shallowness of our logic and the confusion of our self-deception to look at the important things and to put the important things first.

Thinking we will die soon brings forth a level of intentionality and intensity that can become rich and full.

It is no accident that the bulk of the Gospel accounts have to do with Jesus preparation for death and his death and resurrection. The Good News is born from the gloom of an impending tragedy.

I think three things happen to us when we contemplate our death:

1. We begin to see the forest for the trees. We can see the bigger picture when we are looking at the end of our life. We can view, in perspective, the whole of our past and the whole of life itself.

2. We begin to notice the trees in the forest. We take the time for the little things. We spend moments reflecting on things we would, otherwise, pass on by.

3. We review our relationship with the God who made the trees and the forest. Our understand of God takes on a deepening meaning when we are aware of our death.

Have you ever come close to death? What did it do to you? What did it do for you?

Facing near death can be a great gift.

Do you have thoughts about death and dying? I’d like to hear from you. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the congregation click on the “comments” box below.

Charles Schuster

Sermon for Sunday, June 10th

“What If I Die Tomorrow?”

Dick Connor began one of his sports articles in the Denver Post by writing, “Well, at least I don’t have to join millions of Americans and spend time worrying about someday getting cancer. I’ve got it. The suspense is ended.”

Dick Connor was a great man and a gifted writer. The tone of his articles changed once he realized he was on a path that would take him to his death and it could be soon. There was a richness to his writing in those later days. There was a vitality and strength he gained as he faced his finitude.

What do we learn from the experience we all will go through? What will we learn from the reality of death and if it were to come to us suddenly and if we had time to think through our lives what would that say to us?

One of the two most important words in the Bible is the Old Testament word for God. The word is “Yahweh”. It means “I am that I am”. Another word that is equally important is the NewTestament word Jesus used for God. The word is “Abba”. It means “Father” or “Loving Parent”.

Those two words speak to us as we live our days and as we face our death.

What would you do if you learned you will die soon?

What changes would you make in your life?

What moments of appreciation would you claim immediately?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your response click on the “comments” box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles Schuster

“What If We Live Forever?”

It seems to me we are living in a tension between two pieces of eternity. There is the prelude to our lives and all that came before we existed. We are the accumulation of the gifts of the people who have gone before us. Proverbs tells us “before the mountains were, we were.” There is a prelude to our being and when we ponder the longevity of our lives it is important to take that into account.

It produces a sense of gratitude to know there were lessons learned by the people who came before us that are instructive to our lives. We don’t have to make the mistakes they made. Also, there are accomplishments they made that benefit our lives. We live in their glory. We walk in their footsteps and we count ourselves as fortunate.

In the Gospel of John there is the idea that Jesus was before the world was. That was the prelude of his life, and as he came into his own he realized the debt he owed to the people whose lives formed his.

There is a prelude to our life.

There is a postlude as well. There is that which follows after us that is as much a part of us as anything that we know. We have a following; a hereafter. It is in the wisdom of our words that others will realize more after our death than they knew while we were living. There is a contribution to life we will have made that keeps on giving. Our lives do not end when we die; there is a legacy that continues.

Dag Hammarskjold once wrote:

“For all that has been, ‘thank you’. For all that will be, ‘yes’.” To live in the inheritance of the prelude of the past and the gifts and blessings of those who came before us is to discover the ultimate gratitude. To live in the future of the perpetuation of the good things that we have begun is to live in the eternity of forever.

What if we lived forever?

In a way we do.

What do we do with our inheritance?

How do we guide our legacy?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have the congregation read your thoughts and respond to them click on the “comments” box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Charles