Inscriptions

None of us is getting out of here alive!  Death is imminent, and it is considered by most morbid to discuss.  And I get it!  Life is precious and we cling tenaciously to every breath.  Who in their normal mind sits around talking about death?  Right?  If you do, we need to talk!

As a hospice chaplain, I often officiate graveside services.  Cemeteries are not my favorite hang-out place, but while there I like to read inscriptions on tombstones.  Most include only the name, along with birth and death dates.  However, some across the years have left their humorous side behind:

“She always said her feet were killing her but nobody believed her”

“Barry M. Deep”

“Another one bites the dust”

“Here lies an atheist.  All dressed up and no place to go”

“Na na na na

Na na na na

Hey hey -ey

Goodbye”

”Here lies Lester Moore.  Four slugs from a 44.  No Les  No more”

“Jesus called and Kim answered”

“Don’t laugh, you’re next”

MERV GRIFFIN:  “I will not be back after this message”

“I told you I was sick”

MEL BLANC:  “That’s All Folks!”

“Here lies John Yeast.  Pardon me for not rising”

BUTTERMILK HATFIELD:  “Tried milkin’ a cow that was really a bull.  Milk can’s empty, grave is full”

“Here lies SHAWN O’TOOLE.  Kicked in the head by an ornery bull”

“Ben Better” (1837-1862)

Of course, death is not funny, but followers of Jesus Christ view death from a positive perspective.  We believe what we preach!  “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).  Our “temple” is subject to age and decay, but the “eternal us” will live forever SOMEWHERE!  Those who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and who subsequently walk with Him will one day meet Him face to face.  How will you respond when you see him?  

In 2001, Christian band MercyMe released, “I Can Only Imagine,” the lyrics for which lead singer Bart Millard wrote in just ten minutes.  In part he wrote:

“Surrounded by Your glory

What will my heart feel?

Will I dance for You, Jesus, 

Or in awe of You be still?

Will I stand in Your presence, 

Or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing hallelujah,

Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine.”

I, of course, don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking that I personally will cry my eyes out when I see Jesus for the first time.  I met Him almost 50 years ago, and I still cry when His presence floods my heart!  He’s wonderful!    

I still marvel at the story of Enoch found in Genesis 5:24. It succinctly says, “For Enoch was not, for God took him.”  I used to teach high school English and if a student had turned in this sentence, I would have red marked it and said, “Incomplete thought. Enoch was not WHAT?”  

I then look to the New Testament to answer this question!   In John 17:15 Jesus says, “As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.”  There you go!

Enoch was not of this world, for God took him!  Like you and me, Enoch lived IN the world, but was never part OF it!  I like to think about it this way:  One evening Enoch was walking along the road when God said, “Enoch, you’re closer to my house, why don’t you just come on over?”  This world is not our final destination.  We are pilgrims just passing through, “looking for a city...whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). 

Years ago, I heard Johnny Cash kiddingly say, “All of us want to go to heaven some day, but nobody wants to get up a bus load today!”  How true!  But in the event we are called “home,” believers in Jesus Christ need not fear what’s coming.  Jesus is the hope of earth and the joy of heaven.

Oh, come to Him this very day!  Heaven is by appointment only, and awaits the moment when it’s your time to change locations!