Seeing the Forest… from the trees

Seeing the hype around the death of Michael Jackson I am reminded again that death is not natural.

Death is something that we all fear, sometimes subconsciously. We would do well that death was not part of God’s creation in Genesis 1 and 2. Death comes in Genesis 3:19 after humanity rebels against God.

While we do not like to reflect on death, it is an undeniable future for us all.

Death is always a sad parting, we feel the scandal of death, it always feels like an unnatural end. We feel the discomfort of the judgment of God. Luke 13:1-5 reminds us that death is supposed to remind us to turn to God, our only hope.

We rightly grieve when we lose people we know and death’s can bring back memories and emotions for other people we have lost.

If only we could use these events to reflect on their mortality and find true hope in Jesus Christ.

According to this British poll amongst two surprising songs have showed their popularity at funerals:

1. On the Highway to hell.
2. Another one bites the dust. 

I think for many this is a bit morbid but it reflects significant changes in how society thinks about death. Frank Sinatra’s ‘I did it my way’ remains the most popular. What we are seeing is that many are ignoring God even in their death.