I have a new hero on this Good Friday. Her name is Rita. She is the mother of some dear friends and, facing a diagnosis of an inoperable terminal illness, she determined just this week that she would not seek further treatment for it.
Our television screens are non-stop with images of other heroes as well. Patients who are filled with uncertainty are looking up from their sick beds at heroes risking their own lives to stem a tide of unknown strength. We are all too acquainted with Rita’s illness, and the strength and certainty of her diagnosis is sure.
She is a Christian. Christ has long since determined her identity. Like those of us who are also Christians, she trusted Christ for her life. Because we are Christians, we have also trusted Christ for our death. But this week, she has decided to trust Christ for her dying. Will I be as courageous when my time has come?
The current pandemic is seeing the medical and fiscal strength of the world’s people and governments mustered to minimize the unseen unknowns of this COVID-19 uncertainty. Rita is not about to let medical or fiscal dominance overtake the span of her time between today and the end. There are too many memories to be made, and dreams to share. In some cases, she may even live longer with more effective pain management by foregoing treatment that only promises postponement.
What is your identity? So many people are redefining for themselves who they are. If your identity is not in Jesus Christ today, that means you are burdened to define your own identity. I wouldn’t want that on anyone.
Jesus Christ defines who I am, informs my decisions, and is the source of my contentment in this world. He is the reason for the hope that I have. There is dignity in knowing that, in Christ, Rita has a future. She is content—something everyone wants and few find—knowing that Heaven awaits and Jesus is near.
That hope was born on Good Friday. Sure, we celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas, but today is the day that God bent down over my sick bed of sinfulness and gave me, Rita—and any who would believe—hope. Like Rita’s decision this week, Christ called out to God on the Cross and trusted His Father for the manner of His death and His dying. Should the times come to this, would I be able to ascend the cross and die alongside Christ? Would I have Rita’s courage to trust God with my dying?
Rita has. Jesus did. Hope was born this day. That’s why it’s called Good Friday. It is a hope that leads to God’s wider reality that is already all around us. I can trust God with my life, and I can trust Him with my death. And, Rita has helped teach me that I can also trust Him with my dying.
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” – 1 Peter 4:12 – 13