New Beacon Hospice, Birmingham
Recently a friend of mine told me about his family member who is a funeral home director. This funeral home director is also a successful speaker. The title of one of his speeches is “A View From the Hearse.” We are all going to have that view someday because we are all going to die. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.”
For the last three years, 40 hours a week, I have gone from one dying person’s home to the next. I have visited dying people in both the poorest and richest parts of the city. I have learned from this that we are all much more alike than we are different because we all will have that view from the hearse.
We are also a lot more alike than we are different because none of us can control when we die. I have seen it more times than I can count. A patient or family member who was once very powerful and controlled many things in life becomes angry because he or she cannot control when his or her loved one will die. None of us can prevent death from creeping into Thanksgiving or Christmas.
When we view all of the holiday advertisements, we wish that we were smarter, richer and better looking. From the view of the hearse, however, none of this matters. All that matters is whether we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
I have read John 11:25 to many patients: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.’” The verse says “even though,” indicating that death is not optional for anyone. Jesus does not pretend that we will not die; instead He attempts to alleviate everyone’s fear of death by saying that those who believe in Him can still live with Him after they die.
Yes, whether we smell like a whole lot of money or a whole lot of poverty, whether we have a Ph.D. or a GED, whether we are black or white, we all are much more alike than we are different because we will all have the view from the hearse. The good news is that if we accept Christ, then the view from the hearse will be a glorious one, not a terrifying one.
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