Are You Prepared To Depart This Life?

Friday a week ago, Lois Sandberg, one of our winter Texans, was the lead actress in a play out at Sea Wind RV resort. The next day she had a massive stroke and the day after she passed away. We saw her at church the Sunday before. She came to Bible class. And the next Sunday she went to be with the Lord. She was a faithful Christian lady who was prepared to enter into eternity and stand before the Lord.

What about us? Are we prepared to depart this earthly life? We need to be! Oftentimes, we think that death is far in the future—that we will have plenty of time to prepare—that we will have some kind of “advance warning” so that we can get our spiritual house in order before we die. But that’s not always how life works. That is why we need to be prepared to depart this earthly life whenever the Lord calls us home.

How is it possible to always be prepared to stand before the Lord? What do we need to know and believe to face the end of our life with confidence no matter when it comes? The answers to these eternally important questions are found in our epistle lesson today as Peter considers his own departure and writes to his congregation to make sure they are ready to die as well. In the verses immediately before our text he writes:

I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

These were the last words that Peter wrote before he was executed. From one Lord’s Day to the next, friends that he had worshiped with the week before were no longer alive. One by one the Christians in Rome were being carried away in persecution and put to death. That day of departure was drawing near for him too—and he knew it.

It is a fascinating thing to me, that as Peter witnesses the death of his fellow Christians-- and as he considers his own passing from this life--the event from our Lord’s life that he remembers- and draws comfort from- and reminds his fellow Christians of as they approach martyrdom—is the transfiguration of our Lord.

I think that is so interesting—that of all the things that he could have remembered: his great confession of faith—his walking on the stormy sea of Galilee—his post-resurrection meeting with the Lord—all the miracles he witnessed--the thing that comes to mind in that moment when he considers his own passing and the thing he wants to comfort members of his flock with who are also approaching death is the transfiguration.

But as I thought about that this week, I realized that the facts of the transfiguration are exactly the things we need to be prepared to depart this earthly life.

The transfiguration tells us the truth about Jesus: that he was not just a good man, but God. The transfiguration reveals the good news about our where we will go when we die and what that new life will be like: that we will be with Jesus and those who departed in faith before us and that’s a good thing. And the transfiguration reminds us of the perfect guide we have in the Word of God until that day we go to be with the Lord.

Believing these things that are revealed in the transfiguration of our Lord, we are prepared to depart this earthly life whenever the Lord calls us home. Peter writes:

We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”

This week I got my Consumer Reports 2011 Best and Worst Cars issue. It gives reviews and advice on buying a car. If I am going to pay tens of thousands of dollars for some item I want to make sure I have the best information possible at hand. How much more do we need the best possible information when it comes to life and death!

Now you know that there are all kinds of idea and theories and philosophies when it comes to the religious questions that deal with eternal things such as our relationship with God and how we are to live and what happens to us when we die.

Some believe that we are reincarnated when we die. Others believe that we can obtain enlightenment in this life. Still others believe that we simply do the best we can and we die—and that’s that. Thousands of different ideas and beliefs—what Peter calls: cleverly devised myths.

Christianity is different than this. The foundation of Christianity is the testimony of real people regarding what they have seen and heard. Moses and Aaron and the elders of Israel beheld the glory of God and ate in his presence and saw the tablets of stone with the Law of God. Peter, James, and John went up with Jesus on the mountain and saw God’s glory in Christ. Peter says that they were eyewitnesses of his majesty and they heard God’s voice concerning his Son Jesus.

And so what did they see and hear and why did it matter so much to Peter that this was the thing that came to mind as he faced death? They saw in the blinding light and they heard from the voice of God that Jesus was not just a wise teacher—not just a courageous leader—not just a man—but that he was God. The majestic glory of God shone through his ordinary human flesh. The voice of God claimed him as his Son.

It was not just a man who had been with the disciples those three years—not just a wonder-worker—not just a wise teacher—it was God. It was God who taught them. It was God who went to the cross and died. And it was God who rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. God came to the rescue of his people and God forgave their sins and God promised life- like his own- that death could not end.

That was Peter’s comfort as he faced the end of his life and that is our comfort as we prepare to depart this earthly life. Our salvation and our resurrection is assured- not because it is a pious wish of some good man-- but because it is the promise of God!

That’s why the transfiguration is such a comfort for us we contemplate our mortality—because it reveals Jesus as the God who has the power to raise the dead even as he was raised from the dead! (Transition) But the transfiguration is also a comfort because it gives us a window into what eternal life will be like for us. Peter writes:

We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Every Transfiguration Sunday poor old Peter gets grief from preachers all over Christendom for his response to being in the presence of Jesus and Elijah and Moses. He says: Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. And preachers will say about him, “There he goes again—Peter letting his mouth run ahead of his brain! How ridiculous it was to think that Moses and Elijah and Jesus would dwell there on that mountain in tents!”

But I’ll tell you the truth—Peter got a lot more right than wrong! It was good to be there! Basking in the glory of God—seated at Jesus’ feet—in the presence of the saints! Isn’t that what we hope for ourselves after our earthly life is over! Isn’t that the very thing that God promises to those who remain steadfast unto the end!

As Peter faced his own death—it is not something unfamiliar or unknown that he faced because he was with Jesus on the holy mountain. Heaven and earth came together in the presence of Jesus. The painful division between the living and the departed that we experience here on earth fell away as Moses and Elijah stood there with Jesus—alive!

Peter knew just exactly what would happen to him when he closed his eyes in this life—he would open them to the unveiled glory of his savior—he would be surrounded by the faithful saints who had come before him—fear and suffering would be banished--and he would never again have to leave that place to return to hardship and temptation.

So it is for us. We see in the Transfiguration of our Lord that for those who believe in Jesus—death is not something to be feared but simply the beginning of a new life in Jesus’ presence—reunited with the saints who have come before. And having prepared to depart this life in this way—by believing the promises of God—only then are we ready to live the rest of our life the way God wants—serving him here on earth, guided by his Word—but ready at any time to go and be with the Lord. Peter writes:

We have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

In the “Band of Brothers”—a miniseries about a company of paratroopers in WWII—one of the episodes is about the fear of dying that they all faced and how some overcame it and how some gave in to cowardice. And this episode follows one young soldier who is paralyzed by fear—who can’t do the tasks that are set before him as a soldier. Eventually he ends up in the same foxhole as one of the most courageous officers in the company—a man who fights heroically with little concern for his own life. The young soldier asks him how he does it. And the officer responded that early in the battle he stopped believing that he would get out of it alive—and this set him free to do his job without worrying about when death would come.

There are billions of people on this planet who live in the same dark place as that young soldier who was so afraid to die that it paralyzed his life. But the difference between them and us is that the bright, shining light of the resurrected Christ has shone into our hearts. Jesus is the Captain of our souls who has shown us the way to courageous, meaningful life by setting his face towards Jerusalem and death on the cross-- and knowing awaited him there—continued on—because he also knew that life, real life would come after death.

His death and resurrection—his identity as God in human flesh—his forgiveness and salvation—were all foretold in the pages of Holy Scripture. With accuracy and faithfulness Moses and Elijah and the prophets foretold all that Jesus would do because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

That same faithful Word which has taught us about the person and work of Jesus is a faithful guide for our lives right here and now until we go to be with Jesus—it is a lamp shining in a dark world that we are to pay attention to-- for it not only shows us the way to eternal life and prepares to pass from this life—but it guides our lives until that day the Lord calls us home.

It is only when we are prepared to depart this earthly life (through faith in Jesus and a yearning for our heavenly home) that we are truly ready to live out the rest of our days as God’s faithful people for as many days as he gives us-- trusting his faithful Word to guide us safely to everlasting life. Amen.