There are vital signs in spiritual life
Scripture reading: Luke 15:11-32. Text: “After he had said this, he went on to tell them (the disciples), ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.'” John 11:11-14. The first message that dealt with our spiritual life was this; what really matters is not what we gain but what we do not lose. In the business world, we must gain profit; in the physical world, something tangible or visible counts; in sport, there must be a champion; but in the spiritual life, we should not lose God’s blessings.
The notable statements our Lord made in our Scripture reading and in our text.
What the prodigal son did and how his father had received him back is well-known. But have you ever noticed how does the story end? The father corrected and comforted his older son with these words: “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'” Do you find these two observations mentioned below, important and interesting?
– The prodigal son was not even sick, yet the father said; he was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found, and
– while it is just the opposite concerning Lazarus; Lazarus was deadly ill and even died, yet Christ said: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” that is as he were still alive.
Now we may ask, is it only a coincidence that this remark was made about the prodigal son: he “was dead and is alive again;” although he was not even ill, however, on the other hand Jesus had spoken of the dead Lazarus as one who “has fallen asleep?”
Let us try to perceive first and then remember well this basic issue of spiritual life.
From biological viewpoint, death means when somebody stops breathing, his/her heart does not beat any more, and the body becomes cold and stiff. But the Bible knows two kinds of death; nekros and thanatos. (Necrology and thanatology).
W.E. Vine’s expository dictionary says: “Death is opposite of life; it never denotes non-existence. As spiritual life is ‘conscious existence in communion with God,’ so spiritual death is ‘conscious existence in separation from God.'” This means, one can die physically only, or physically and spiritually as well.
We have the tendency to narrow down the scope and intensity of our lives until the sphere of existence becomes so small that there is room only for one person, namely: I (please place your name here). The psychiatrists are speaking of two basic instincts or motivating forces that deeply influence us: self-preservation and race-preservation. (Egoism and physical love are their manifestations.) While the physical (carnal) intends to narrow down, concentrate only on “I;” in contrast to this the spiritual prefers to expand, be inclusive, sharing and reaching out. From a spiritual viewpoint, the issue is not the longevity of life here on earth (Psalm 90:4) but the purity and intensity of our “relationship” with God.
You are strong spiritually if you can live with, accept the reality, as well as dissolve the bitterness of these three great enigmas of our human life: suffering, injustice and death. They are definitely interwoven. I do not know any other help but what Christ offers; do not pity yourself, rather see your whole life from the viewpoint of eternity: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
The spiritual life begins not only after we die biologically but here on earth while we live: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24. Apostle Paul bears witness to this fact in this way: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me . . .” Galatians 2:20.
The Rev. Alexander Jalso is a retired United Presbyterian minister living in Brownsville.