The Clocks

Have you ever read the poem Funeral Blues (Stop all the clocks)
by W. H. Auden? It is about the passing of someone deeply loved.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

When my stepfather died many years ago, I was truly amazed that the world did not stop. On the way to the funeral I saw people driving their cars and laughing about some passing joke. And I felt this tinge of pain deep in my chest. I just thought, Why doesn’t the world just stop for one blessed moment and mourn Brad’s death! I wanted all the clocks to stop.

Death is a cruel captor. He chases his quarry all their lives long, setting snares from the moment of conception to the last blink of an eye. Ever ready to get his bony fingers wrapped around our necks, he stands just an arm's reach away.

And though he has not fully taken a hold of those of us that are reading this right now, most of know of ones that he has cruelly taken already. I have friends that have lost their dad, wives that have lost their husbands, parents that have lost their child… And it always hurts.

But strangely enough, though death causes much hurt in our lives, he is not all powerful. In fact, even if death is just off to the side waiting for us all, death is just part of the whole cycle of living. There are four things about death that you can count on.

Death is Sure

I love bumper stickers. While I drive down the road I am always ready to do a little bumper reading. Here are a couple that have stood out to me- “Eat right, exercise well, die anyway” Another
said, ”He who dies with the most toys, still dies.” So true. A recent study on the death rate in North America showed that the death rate is still one to one.

The Bible puts the surety of our death very bluntly in Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed for men to die once,

but after this the judgment.

We are not on some cyclical process of going and coming like in reincarnation. We, each one of us, will eventually take this final step.

Death is Cruel

Death is not a respect of persons. Good or bad, young or old, sick or healthy, death can strike at any time. There is no guarantee of the long life, nor a set date that we can put in a datebook. You can be as rich as Apple Computers, and still be taken away.

Death also shows no mercy. Once he has his cold grip on someone, he will relent for no mortal’s voice. You can scream at the lost friend to wake up, or whisper in the ear of you lovely child, and softly stroke the hair of your husband hoping your touch will revive him. But death cares not for the screams, nor tender coxing, nor desperate cries. His hold is firm

That is why death is our enemy. God says as much in I Corinthians 15:26

The last enemy that will be destroyed is
death.

Isn’t it interesting that God calls death an enemy. Death was never intended to be a part of man’s life. It was the result of man’s sin. God warned Adam, saying that “in the day that you eat(of the tree of good and evil) you shall surely die.” And such has been the case from that time on. The enemy of man has hunted and captured each person since.

But… Death is DefeatedDeath is sure, and it is cruel, but it is not undefeated. This last enemy has met its match in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Check out these great and precious promises that are found in God’s Word.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. I Cor. 15:3+4

All of death’s bravado and tenacity was soundly knocked out when he came up against Jesus. Jesus took death on and won!

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“ O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:54-57

I am reminded of a story of a little girl that was out playing in the yard when she started to get buzzed by a bee. She fell to the ground in tears and fear. Her father came running to her rescue and captured the annoying bee in his hand. After a moment he opened his hand, and the bee flew free. Immediately the young daughter cried out in fear, but the father calmed her saying that that old bee couldn't sting her now.

"Why not?" inquired the girl.

The kind father opened his had to show her the still pulsating stinger stuck to the palm of his had. "That bee has lost its sting," he said.

Jesus Christ has already defeated this last enemy. Jesus holds the sting of that old bee in the palm of his hand. It is through Him that we can find a sure way to find our own victory from death. Jesus is the great liberator and sting taker for all of us. And, because of what Jesus did, we now know the best thing about death:

Death is Not the End

Auden may have captured the sentiment of a heart in mourning when he started his poem, Stop all the clocks, but the truth is that that clock will start again.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Jesus doesn’t give a better life, He gives eternal life. Eternal means, it aint gonna never stop! When someone we dearly love goes to the Lord, that person’s life will keep on ticking. She will never cease to exist. He will always be.

Though they can’t come back this way, they will be someplace.
Death is not the end. The clock ticks on.

A Few Q’s for You

Has someone you loved died?

What is one of the best memories you had with this person?

How has God comforted you through the hurt?

Do you have hope for the other side of death?

Write your answers in a comment. If it is too personal,
then be anonymous. I will pray for you.

One last thing: If this has been helpful for you and you think someone you know would be helped also, please suggest this article to them.

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