Date: April 1st 2010

GRACE@WORK MAIL 13/10
April 2, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)


Commentary: But Have You Died Before?
By Soo-Inn Tan

It's funny the things you remember. The first time I went up close and personal to a dead body was in 1968, when I was in Form (Secondary) Two. My grandma (dad's mum) had died and all her children and grandchildren had to help put on her funeral clothes. I was given the privilege of buttoning the uppermost button, the one highest on her collar. She looked as though she was sleeping. I cried when they were about to close the coffin over her for the last time, not because I was grieving for her but because it was the first time I saw my father weeping openly.

When my father's body came home from the mortuary, I noted that he didn't have his dentures on. That meant his face looked more shrunken than it should. I thought that my dental training should count for something. And he was a handsome devil in his younger days. He should look as good as possible in death. But rigour had set in and it was hard to manoeuvre the dentures in his mouth. I only managed to get in the upper denture. Still, it was better than nothing. Up till today, I still look up whenever I drive by the Penang General Hospital where he had spent his last days, and remember again that he is no longer there.

The first night of Hee Ling's death (my first wife) it suddenly struck me that we had left her with her watch on but the coffin had been sealed for the evening. This disturbed me deeply because the watch had an alarm that was set to beep every three hours. That was when she had to wake up to take her morphine. I used to hate giving the morphine to her though I knew it made her struggle with end stage lung cancer more bearable. I thought, she doesn't have to take that poison any more. She no longer needed to have her sleep interrupted every three hours. She could have a proper rest now. But the watch didn't beep. Perhaps the intense cold of the ice had deactivated it. It's funny the things you remember.

To grow up is to learn about the reality of death, about its power to take away the people you love, about its finality, about the sorrow it brings, and about the fact that it is the one sure thing about being human. Death is the human universal. Therefore if anyone comes up to our door, candidating to be our Lord and Saviour, my first question will be: what do you know about death? How can you help me unless you know something about death?

[Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs broken and the bodies taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first the one and then the other. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately. (John 19:31-34 NET)]

Tomorrow (Good Friday) I will be preaching from this passage. I will share that Jesus' death cleansed away our sin, hence the blood, and that Jesus' death gives us life, hence the water. But today I want to focus on one thing -- the fact that Jesus died. Of course He did more than that. On the third day He rose again, unique testament that He had accomplished what he had set out to do. But the starting point of His journey to life was the same as ours. It has to be the same as ours. Jesus died. The path to Easter goes through Good Friday.

And so today, as I remember again the many dear ones in my life who have passed on (the list keeps getting longer), as I think of the millions who have lived and have died, and the millions more who will live and die, as I think of my own death, twenty five years more is it? I am comforted that I follow a Saviour who knows the pain of death, and who has walked through the darkest valley (Psalm 23:4) and who is now my sure guide through life and death and life.



========================================
The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.

This week's commentary is supported by Tan ChinKar, Publisher & Principal of JMatrix Consulting Pte Ltd {www.jmatrix.biz}, a publishing and communications consultancy committed to creating and communicating authentic ideas with truth.

If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

========================================

Announcements

1. Course on Sexual Ethics
(1st class this coming Thursday April 8.)

I have the privilege of teaching a short evening course of five evenings, at Singapore Bible College, on Biblical Sexual Ethics: CE01 The Sexual Ethics of the Bible. The irony is that the world talks about sex all the time but we hardly talk about it in church. We will try to tackle issues like singleness, marriage, widowhood, divorce, remarriage and homosexuality. (Yes I will need lots of prayer.) The approach will be more biblical and pastoral. Here are the details:

Time: 7.30 - 10.00pm
Dates: April 8, 15, 22, 29 and May 6.

For more details check out the SBC website at: http://www.sbc.edu.sg/en/ccte-eve-sch-othermenu-134


2. Forum and Singapore launch of Graceworks book --- Bribery and Corruption:Biblical Reflections and Case Studies for the Marketplace in Asia by Bishop Hwa Yung.

Christians in the marketplace in Asia are confronted daily by moral and ethical dilemmas in the course of carrying out our work and living out our lives. Few of us have sufficient inner spiritual strength and pastoral support to deal with the relentless power of sin as manifested in the corporate world. This forum is one attempt to address the need for a biblical response to the real pressures that Christians encounter in the marketplace.

The author, Bishop Hwa Yung, will present a short theological reflection on the topic. Then, together with a panel of speakers, including Ravi Zacharias International Ministry (Asia-Pacific) Director, Mr L T Jeyachandran and Center for Christian Entrepreneurship Director, Mr Yap Poh Kheng, he will field questions from the audience. It is our hope that by grappling with these issues in the light of Scripture we can all gain biblically sound “handles” for dealing with the challenges that face us.

Details:
Date: 6 April 2010 (This Tuesday)
Time: 7:30pm to 9.00pm
Venue: Fairfield Methodist Church, Fairfield Hall,
1 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088437

============================

Ministering this weekend
April 2
Bethesda Frankel Estate Church
Good Friday Service
“Jesus died, so what’s the big deal?”
9:00 am
11:00 am
4 La Salle Street
Singapore 456930
 
April 4
Evangel Christian Church
Easter Sunday Worship
“The Risen Christ Walks with Us” (Luke 24:1-34)
10:00 – 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552
Your say!
Want to respond to this ecommentary?

1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
2. Register.
3. Leave your comment on the "Forum" section.
4. Comments should abide by the Ephesians 4:15 principle: speak the
truth in love to edify.

Or

If you are on Facebook, join the Graceworks group and leave a comment
or start a discussion.

===========================================
Ecommentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
Newer ecommentaries are also posted at www.graceworks.com.sg

To sign up for this weekly e-reflection, go to the Grace@Work website, www.graceatwork.org



You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by
visiting the following URL:

<http://www.graceatwork.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/gaw/>;

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<http://www.graceatwork.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/gaw>;