"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."

George Orwell

Death defeated

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 It has been part of the daily routine of Covid19 that each day’s national death toll is announced. The original prediction of 20,000 death in the UK seemed beyond belief - until we saw figures rise by, at times, nearly 1000 per day. It is therefore timely to remind ourselves of Paul is teaching about death. The context is that the Thessalonians seem to have been confused about whether Christians who died might be at a disadvantage over those who were alive when Jesus returned. (The answer is in chapter 4!) Paul makes two points about death from a Christian perspective. 1 We grieve It is OK to grieve. No need for a super-spiritual approach. We are human and we grieve. Loss of a loved-one is hard. 2 But we do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. Because Jesus has died and risen again, death has been defeated. We no longer need to see death as the end. Death for the Christian is a painful parting but is also a glorious new start. Christians in China used to part from each other with the words: “People who know God, never meet for the last time”.

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