Death and Taxes

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. – Matthew 6:33

My grandfather pastored a small church in Tennessee when he felt the call to shepherd the migrant farm workers. He realized that with their constant moving, they never received the help of a minister in their times of need. There was no marriage counseling for a migrant couple. So he quit his job as a welder, gave notice to his church, helped them find a new pastor and became a migrant worker. He would toil in the fields and while on break, move among them, giving words of encouragement and prayer.

My father was also a pastor. I often worked with him in the churches that he started. We would go and visit people when they were sick or despairing. I watched and listened as he helped people through the hard times of life and celebrated their good fortune. Now that I am a pastor, I try to emulate my father and grandfather. There are times when the persons I visit are dying. Sometimes they are dealing with the death of a loved one. I never heard anyone at death’s door say they wished they had worked more, or spent more time on the job. Three generations of ministers could not give you an example of someone who knew they were dying who said they wished they had collected more things.

When people are facing death, they want to know three things. They want to know their life counted for something; that the world should be a bit smaller for their leaving. They also want to know they are loved; people always seek out their friends and family when they know they are preparing to leave this life. It’s a pitiful person who dies alone. Third, they want to die with a clean conscience. People will often confess things they have kept hidden their whole lives while on their deathbed. They may not believe in God, but something inside drives them to leave with a clean conscience.

Every one of us will die some day. The question is – how? Will we be scrambling to say the “I love you”s we will wish we had said every day? Will we look around and realize we spent so much time putting clothes on our back and a roof over our head that we neglected the people who would love to love us? Will we die with a clean conscience and a peaceful spirit or wondering if those sins we’ve kept hidden all these years will come out now that we will no longer be there to hide them?

Upon what are you building your life? What place do ministry, loved ones and God have in your life? These questions will come up, as sure as death and taxes.