Death May Approach

Devotional

“Death may approach, I shall not flee…” Is this opening line simply bravado? How deeply does this courageous statement penetrate? Threatened with death, would I really calmly accept it like those great Christian martyrs? Like Bonhoeffer, or Tyndale, or Stephen? Or would I turn tail and flee, like the disciples when Jesus was taken in the garden? If I don’t know how I would respond, should I really have written these words, or should we really sing them? To answer that, we have to understand the role of hymn words in these instances. We are called to preach truth to ourselves, to use it to steady our knocking knees. This is because we lose perspective, we lose our sense of place, our new identity, our hope. We forget what Christ has done and His great presence with us. We lose sight of the evidence of God’s sovereignty which has marked our daily lives. We forget to ask the Spirit to attend our flesh – to give us our daily bread. But if I can see my own death in the context of the daily dying which I must do to sin, in the context of Jesus’ enlivening presence, the joys of His daily duties, His example in suffering, His loving chastening…If I can see my death in this context, I will find a firm foundation when it comes – it will not be such a surprise, I will have the measure of death, and he will not seem quite so fearsome without his sting. I will have words of truth to remember. And more than words, I will have the very presence of Christ. The inspiration of this hymn can be found in Romans 6: 1-11. Paul writes of Jesus’ death and resurrection and reminds us that through uniting with Christ in death and allowing him to deal with our sin, we are also subject to a new life in his resurrection. If I do have courage to face death calmly when it comes, I know at least where my courage will come from.