Thursday, October 8, 2015

The Shroud of Death

“Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.  You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.  On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.  The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.  This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’” (Isaiah 25:1-9 NIV)

As I read this the other day, it resonated with me, particularly the prophet’s mention of the shroud of death that enfolds all of us.  Not a day goes by where we cannot read of cruel deaths from war, famine, disease, and murder.  The shroud of death envelops this world, and even if we can somehow insulate ourselves from these tragic events, death still eventually intrudes on each of our lives as family members and friends pass from this world.  And, one day, it will envelop each of us as well.  

As the old saying goes, we can run, but we cannot hide.  Even if we do all we can to ignore it, attempt to stave it off with healthy eating and exercise, or create an illusion of youth by artificial means, we cannot shake the inevitability of death which hangs over each of us and over the whole world.  

That is why the words of Isaiah bring such hope.  One day, one day death and grief will be no more.  No more dying; no more tears.  And his soothing words are echoed by Jesus and Paul centuries later.  “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25)  “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (I Corinthians 15:54)

As we read the headlines, as we witness the suffering, and as we experience the tragic effects of death in our own lives, we are not left without hope.  Through Jesus we see the promise of Isaiah begin to be fulfilled.  Death has yet to be eliminated, but its sting has been lessened and its shroud lifted.  All that is left is for it to be completely destroyed. And so, as with our brothers and sisters down through the centuries, we cry out, “Come Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)  In the meantime, we hold on to the promise that for those trusting in Jesus, the shroud of death has been lifted and will eventually be removed.

© Jim Musser 2015

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