ALIVE

“As for you were dead in your transgressions and sins…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead…”

Ephesians 2:1, 4-5

The first time you encounter a dead body it changes you. Well I suppose I can only speak out of personal experience but it changed me. The details are hazy. I think I was relatively young, though I admit that really only narrows it down to somewhere between 5 and 12. It all runs together. It was a funeral for an elderly lady at church, which seemed unfortunately common. There were a lot of elderly ladies at church, given that I grew up in St. Petersburg, Fl, known for its beaches, lawn bowling and shuffleboard venues. For those of you over 40 think “Cocoon,” a Ron Howard movie set in St. Petersburg, Florida involving retirees, an alien and a swimming pool turned into the fountain of youth.

Funerals were not uncommon. But it was either the first funeral I had been to with an open casket, or the first one I had noticed. Either way this time I definitely noticed. I couldn’t stop staring. I ‘m sure this was not particularly comforting to the grieving family, if they were at all aware of the naïve and impolite antics of this small child. I was mesmerized, fascinated and profoundly disturbed all at the same time. It was the moment when death became a reality for me, as much as my growing mind could process the thought. The body looked both real and altogether fake, as if the person was there but not there at all. No movement. Not a twitch. I know. I stared. And I knew enough to know that she wasn’t just sleeping. Maybe it was the makeup that gave it away, I mean who takes a nap in their Sunday clothes and make-up? I don’t know at what point they closed the casket, whether before the service began or sometime during, but whenever it happened I am confident I didn’t miss a moment of the process.   And even after the latches were clamped down I was undistracted in my careful observation, now knowing what was inside that box.

Even in the mind of a young child there is a stark difference between death and life. The two are not easily confused. In the aftermath of a tragic event you might find yourself wondering if you are dead or alive, or if someone else is, but it doesn’t take long before you know the truth. The difference is immediate enough that a surgeon in an ER can pronounce a time of death down to the minute. At least that is what I’ve noticed on more than one television sitcom portrayal.

So when someone says something like, “You wee dead…but not you are alive…” you find yourself taking notice because those are not light or loose terms. We know what they mean? The idea is as clear as it can be, as is the starkness of the contrast. The difference between death and life is profound. It’s hard to confuse the two.

“You were dead in your transgressions…but…God…made us alive…

What a miracle! What grace! What radical transformation

It would seem strange to say….” you are less dead than used to be in your transgressions.”

We would be confused by the analogy if the writer had said…”you now have much greater intentions of not being dead anymore.”

The truth is there is not a lot of wiggle room between death and life. You either are or you’re not…dead or alive. I mean.

But lest we turn this into some sort of half-veiled attempt at a guilt-trip, it is worth pressing a little further into Paul’s idea. For instance when Paul says we were dead in your transgressions is he talking about our guilt or our current behavior? Does he mean we were dead because we were mortally guilty for what we had done or is he saying were dead because there was simply no life in the way we were living? Is it possible that it is both?

We were dead without Jesus because…

• compared to the holiness of God we were utterly ruined (Isaiah was absolutely right).
• the life we were living looked more like walking dead than the full life that Jesus says he came to make possible

When we were guilty we were dead because we didn’t stand a chance until God saved us, resurrected us, made us alive. Salvation is about being justified (forgiven).

When were dead in our transgressions we were more like zombies… hungry, never satisfied, mindless, empty. It’s also nearly impossible to mistake a zombie for a living person. I’ve watched an episode or two of “Walking Dead” after all. Salvation is about being sanctified (transformed).

When someone goes from being alive to being dead, it’s hard not to notice. I found this out at an open casket funeral. And though I have yet to see this happen physically, my assumption is that the same is true when someone goes from being dead to being alive. The difference is unmistakable.

The thing about resurrection though is that it is impossible in general and certainly even more difficult, if you are trying to make it happen to yourself. But in both cases Jesus does what we can’t do for ourselves. Whether we are talking about our guilt or our behavior, God does what we could never do…made us alive even when were dead in our transgressions.

Open the casket back up. God is up to something. He’s not done.