A Christian Medium

I had a tough week / weekend. A good friend of mine who had been battling cancer for a few years finally was brought home. I had the privilege of doing his funeral Saturday. Why was it a privilege? Because I got to be what seems like a contradiction: a Christian medium.

What is a Christian medium? It is someone who speaks for the dead. Who goes between that dead person and those still alive and gives the message that they wanted you to hear. You see, my friend and I had some good conversations before he died, things he wanted you to know. He wanted you to know that chasing the world is a complete, 100% waste of time. I'm not talking about chasing the people of the world - that's what Christ came and did and empowered us to do. I'm talking about the THINGS of the world. Money. Prestige. Security. Comfort. When all is said and done, there is no "there" there. Your hands are empty.

My friend found this out over the past couple of years as God stripped away the facade and he realized what matters. But because of setbacks and treatments and testing he was unable to shout out to the world what he was learning. He wanted to, he was ready to - but his voice was taken from him.

So I will speak for him. I will tell my elementary chapel students that they need to start looking beyond what is right in front of them. The things that they can touch are not necessarily the things that matter. I will tell my Jr. High youth group that these feelings that seem so important right now, like they're the end of the world - are not. That bigger things await. I will tell my Sr. High students that God is not a concept - that He is real and they can trust their futures to Him. They can ask Him the tough questions, that He will answer, and they can sell all to Him now. I will tell the Young Adults group that meets at my house that as they are beginning their careers and families, now is the best time to put a stake in the ground and not get stuck in the entanglements of the world to the point that they think it can never be undone. That the decisions they are making now are tying up their futures in increasingly intricate webs that will cause them to feel that they can never undo them and follow God with a whole heart - so don't get caught up in them now. Stay simple and clean. I will tell the middle-aged, the age of my friend, that he found out the truth and was ready to live in it until God took him away. They can learn this truth and live in it while they are still here. I will tell the elderly of the church that it's never to late to learn this lesson. As long as they have breath they can let go of every fear and doubt and be a fruitful vine even into their last days.

And I will tell myself that I need to stop typing this and start living it.