Death and Mercy

A member of the church I serve is involved in a dog therapy ministry that is a local chapter of the Tampa based “Canines for Christ” whose mission is “to help the sick and lonely hear the gospel and find a reason to smile as God works through "man's best friend". I was surprised a number of years ago when she became the owner of not one but two German Shepherd dogs. This lady is not a large person though she is, as retired teacher, a formidable personality. Still, I consider German Shepherds a bit on the large side for dogs and to have two of them seemed like a challenge. The challenge was accentuated by the fact that one of the dogs was a rescue animal with a few behavior issues. My friend told me her desire was to have the dogs trained and certified as therapy dogs in order to give her opportunities to meet people, minster to them, and to share the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ. With that purpose in mind she named the one dog "Justice" and the other she named "Mercy." One can immediately see the opening for a conversation with names that describe those two attributes of God; one detailing what we deserve and the other what we need. It was an interesting prospect. Justice did well but unfortunately Mercy's behavior problems kept her from being fully certified to function as therapy dog alongside of Justice. My friend wasn't deterred and many conversations were started with the ministry of Justice. Recently Mercy became ill and died prematurely for the life expectancy of German Shepherds. We grieved the loss of Mercy as she was a peculiarly likeable personality. It seemed an odd end to an interesting ministry idea but then I began to see a bit of God's providence in it.

One of the recurring questions a minister friend of mine routinely asked candidates for the gospel ministry was from the Larger Catechism of the Westminster Standards, question # 85, "Death being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?"  Oftentimes he would put it more bluntly, “Why do Christians die? Is it due to some punishment by God?” Now this is a question that has stumped many a man. Many would answer that because sin and its effects still remain in the physical body the Christian must die. But then, it is a punishment? If so, that begs the question asked by the catechism query, “If death being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?”

The answer to the Larger Catechism question # 85 is, “The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out of God’s love (Isaiah 57:1,2; 2 Kings 22:20), to free them perfectly from sin and misery (Rev. 14:13; Eph. 5:27), and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon (Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:23).”

Did you catch that? Looking at scripture we are not only to be comforted in the death of believers that they enter into their eternal rest in Christ and cease from suffering here but that God expresses his love to believers by using death to free them from sin and misery in this life. Death for the believer isn’t punishment but an expression of God’s love for the sinner. It is all of grace and mercy! Christians die because God in love frees them from the ongoing battle of sin and misery in this life. Death is transformed from punishment to a means of grace and love (I Cor. 15:55). Physical death makes believers capable of further and deeper communion with the Lord Jesus in glory. This idea nearly makes your head spin.

Back to our dog friend Mercy. Perhaps her untimely death in our view is another lesson from God’s providence about God’s ways. God took her in love. It is merciful love for God take the believer home. Justice awaits the final day when it shall be fulfilled but now, in the “day” of the gospel, it is mercy that God shows to those who love him because they are loved by Him through the Lord Jesus. I find this mysteriously poetic on God’s part. Mercy is displayed by a dog with issues like us. She just didn’t quite measure up although Justice does. Mercy’s life is brought to end to show us God’s love for sinners. Its all pure mercy and grace! O Christian, take heart. Revel in God’s love for you in all things!