Why life matters!
Welcome to “Word from The Center” MONDAY, a devotional word from the Center of our faith, Jesus Christ, with reflections on His Word. I’m Gregory Seltz. Today’s verse is Matthew 10:28-33, where Jesus says,
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[c] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[d] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Life, body and soul…it matters. Yes, there is a physical and spiritual dimension to life. Life can’t be reduced just to the day to day physical aspects of things. Your life can’t be merely reduced to the notion that you are just “matter in motion for a moment (unless you let it).” That’s the “death and taxes” level of things and if that’s all there is, human life is at best purposeless or at worst, absurd. But, there’s more to life than “death and taxes.” There’s more to life than just having the most toys, or having the best of things this world can offer. There is a spiritual, eternal dimension to life that makes life worth living no matter what one’s circumstances are at the moment. There is a reason to do the “right” thing because there is a reckoning and an eternality to the actions and decisions that one makes and does right now.
That’s why it’s always shocking to read quotes like this. Harvard professor of psychology Steven Pinker tweeted during the COVID shut-downs, a tweet disparaging Christians who wanted their churches open for worship, prayer, and service, making fun of the very core teachings that comfort, console, and motivate us, by saying:
Belief in an afterlife is a malignant delusion, since it devalues actual lives and discourages action that would make them longer, safer, and happier. Exhibit A: What’s really behind Republicans wanting a swift reopening? Evangelicals. [1]
Respectfully, he misses the whole point. Those of us who believe in the afterlife realize that Jesus words to “fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” compel us to value life even more here and now. Why? Because the fact that life matters eternally means that life matters now. So much of the evil that is happening in our country is because we, as a culture, devalue life as having any enduring meaning. We tell our children that humanity is a biological accident (and then tell them to act humanely, why? How?), we reduce family to time-limited relationships that have no enduring meaning, children are no longer progeny or part of a family’s history, they are distractions to our individual goals. We’ve “given in” to our base instincts in virtually every aspect of life (which is exactly what the “one who can kill the body and soul” desires). There must be something “larger than life” that makes our temporal lives matter now….and Jesus speaks to what that is. Because there is a God in heaven who created you, and a God in action, Jesus Christ, who saved you….Your life as an individual, matters. Your life is important. Even more, your life, my life, all of life matters to God. Your life matters as you seek to be faithful to God and to love your neighbor in His Name. Your life matters to Jesus and he yearns to be your “acknowledger” before the eternal throne of the Father in heaven! That makes a difference today, tomorrow, forever!
Chuck Colson, a man who went to prison for the Watergate scandal of the Nixon administration shared later how the realization of the “eternality” of his life and the faith transformation of his life, changed how he valued each day of his life. He went from being a “hatchet man” who saw politics as the end all of life with little else of value, to one who saw the fullness of life and its eternal purpose NOW even in suffering, that changed the way he lived each day. It changed how he saw others. It changed how he gave of himself to what mattered. It changed how he risked loving and caring for people just because they were brought into his life, rather than caring for them for what he could get out of them. To trust in Christ by faith and to trust in His word about the eternality of life, it is not some “malignant delusion,” it is the power of God for salvation and the power of God to live purposely in this life for others. It’s the source of all that is good for you and me, even in the midst of the uncertainties of the day. Live boldly in faith towards God, and live courageously in love towards your neighbor. That’s way of living can face the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow, forever.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, give us courage to live boldly by faith and courageously in love towards others so that we can be useful in your hands to caring for those in need, especially now, AMEN.
