Hope for Life Blog

“Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath.” Maybe you recognize this line from “Hymn to Proserpine” by Algernon Charles Swinburne; I remember reading the poem in a high school English course.

Swinburne, living in Victorian England, felt that Christian piety had sucked the joy out of life, forbidding the very things that bring pleasure to life. He longed for the days of unbridled paganism.

Sadly, Swinburne wasn’t the first person to feel that way about Christianity, nor was he the last. Many look at Christians and see a somber lot, living a life filled with prohibitions. As the old line says, “Everything enjoyable is either illegal, immoral or fattening.”

When you look at Jesus Christ himself, you see something very different. People looked at him and complained that he didn’t follow enough rules. He went to parties with the wrong kind of people. Where other religious men lived ascetic lives, Jesus lived in a way that people accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard. The first recorded miracle that he performed involved providing wine for a marriage feast! Does that sound like a “pale Galilean”?

No! It’s we Christians who have misunderstood what we’re supposed to be. It’s easy to think that saying no to everything is the best way to be holy. Even back in Bible times, this was a problem. The apostle Paul wrote to one church: “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?” (Colossians 2:20-21) Even then, some thought that Christians were following a pale Galilean.

In his book A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanuaken wrote:

“The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians—when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.”

If you think that Christianity is about living like a pale Galilean, you haven’t been exposed to real Christianity. The Christian life is a life of joy, not sadness. It is a life of victory, not defeat. It is a life full of passion, not boredom.

Like Swinburne, I have no interest in following a pale Galilean. Unlike Swinburne, I know that Jesus Christ offers abundant life, colorful life, zestful life. Isn’t that what we’d all like to have?

There was an old country doctor who would take his dog along with him when visiting patients. The dog would remain outside while the doctor went in for the house call.

On one occasion, the physician went to the home of a man with a terminal disease who didn’t seem to have much time to live. The man confessed to the doctor his fears about death and said, “What’s it like when you die?”

The doctor thought for a moment, then got up and opened the front door. His loyal canine friend, who had been waiting patiently on the porch, gleefully bounded in to join his master.

The doctor turned to the dying man and said, “Do you see this dog? He didn’t have any idea what was on this side of that door. All he knew was that his master was there, and he wanted to be with him.”

“That’s how I feel about death,” the physician continued. “I don’t really know all the whats and hows about dying. I’m not totally sure what’s on the other side of that door. But I know who is there, and that’s enough for me. I’m looking forward to being with my Master.”

Death can be a frightening thing. There is so much uncertainty. There are a lot of things I just don’t know.

Some claim to be able to explain everything that will happen when we die. I’m not one of those people. I don’t know a lot of things about death.

Some debate what life after death will be like. I don’t join those discussions. I don’t know all the details about what will happen when I die.

I do know who is waiting for me. I do know that I will leave this world to be with Jesus. That’s enough knowledge for me.

The apostle John wrote: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) We don’t know what we will be, but we will be like him. And we will be with him.

You don’t have to be afraid of what’s on the other side of the door. You can focus on who is on the other side of the door. Isn’t that a better way to approach the end of our life here on earth?

The question is always blunt, direct, personal, and demanding. Once asked, it must be answered. The challenge, once made, requires a response validating your position. The question is not politically correct and the answer offers no public relations subtleties.

“How do you know?” How do you know God is real? How do you know there is a heaven or hell? And maybe the most important question of all, how do you know you’re going to heaven?

To answer those How do you know? questions, scripture says: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” I Peter 3:15-16

This is one of those interesting human dilemmas that we feel trapped by. When we try to explain how we know, there is a fear that others will interrogate us as to why we made such a dreadfully poor decision. Yet look at the words. It says we are to give a reason for our faith. It’s not a debate to prove whose reasons are best; it’s not a dictate that everyone believes exactly the same on every subject; and it’s not collective wisdom. It’s why you, personally and individually, believe. How did you come to those conclusions?

When we stand before God Almighty at the final judgment, it will only be you and Jesus who have to answer for you. The opinions, beliefs and choices of others will not be admissible.

So, how DO YOU know? Tell me what you know and more importantly, how you know it……..