“Would you want to know the day and manner of your death? That’s a classic would-you-rather question. Or the classic, “If you knew you were going to die next week, what would you do this week?”
You and I may not know when and how we’re going to die but let’s be honest: We know we are going to die. I’m guessing Jesus hasn’t appeared to anyone here to tell them the day of their death, but if the Lord tarries and does not come in next year, the next 10 years, the next generation, well then many of us are going to die. How then should we live? Peter says to live in the truth. To grow to the very end. To stand and to stay awake and abound in grace and peace.
Think about the peace Peter had. Look at how he talks about his impending death: “I’m going to pack up my tent soon.” That’s how he spoke of facing the cross. You know, they invented a word to describe the horror and torment and suffering of the cross: excruciating.
But Peter knew the truth about death: For a Christian, it is simply a departure. That’s what he calls it in verse 15. A door we step through into perfect glory with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean that the suffering of death isn’t real or isn’t, in some cases, very difficult to endure.
But this is why we need the hope the Gospel. This is how the Gospel’s truth gives us strength to stand and endure. When our bodies die, it is like the folding up the tent, the tabernacle and we then move into the eternal Temple.
Meanwhile, we know we have a date with death if the Lord doesn’t return first. And so we should live accordingly by remembering what it means to live the Christian life.“
