This Sunday, the famous basketball player Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash. Although all death reminds us of our mortality, the sudden death of a well-known person tends to cut through the noise. It makes us stop and realize how easily and unpredictably our fragile forms can become so damaged that we can no longer exist in this world. And as Christians, death is a very unique reminder that we have one purpose and an unknown number of days to live it out.
When death stands out
To avoid succumbing to overwhelming sorrow, it becomes necessary to almost completely ignore the constant death in our world. We become numb to it, to the point that it takes little more than opening our phone to social media to make us forget that hundreds of God’s image-bearers were recently destroyed. Sometimes, it takes a very notable death to shake us from our stupor and open our eyes to reality.
Whatever a person’s thoughts on sports, celebrities, or Kobe Bryant in general, there’s no doubt that his death was unexpected. That’s not to say people thought he was immune to dying, but surely there was a more fitting end to someone as famous as he is. To die at 41, we assume it would be from an injury during a game, or perhaps an accident on the way to a televised game. Even something as crazy as a sports fan attacking him would make some kind of sense.
Instead, he died in a helicopter crash on the way to his daughter’s basketball practice. It seems like such a simple and protected moment in his life – he was just a dad doing what dads do. In a way, it seems unfair that his death would come in a way that had nothing to do with what he was known for. It just seems random.
Really, death that seems random is the best reminder we have of our limited time on Earth. It forces us to acknowledge that the simplest errands are just one catastrophic failure away from ending our lives. Whether we’re traveling in a helicopter or car held together with duct tape and a lot of prayer, there’s never a guarantee that we’ll reach our destination.
We understand that in the back of our minds, but when someone like Kobe Bryant dies during a trip he’s made many times before, it stands out to us. It lets us know that it really can happen to anyone, without any apparent rhyme or reason to who dies and who lives. Hopefully, it forces us to consider whether the things we’re pursuing today will seem worthwhile as we breathe our final breaths.
Death-fueled living
Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)
Jesus Christ gives an excellent example of how death should motivate our lives. Here, Christ is addressing the reality that some Jews were recently slaughtered while making their sacrifices. It’s a universal assumption that if someone dies before their time, they somehow “deserved it.” We see this when we make snide comments about certain people dying, and also with statements like “She didn’t deserve to die like that.”
Here, Christ debunks the idea that death comes sooner to those who are worse sinners than others. As a point, he reminds them of a recent construction project that ended with the death of 18 workers. Like the Galileans killed by Pilate, he pointedly says that the tower didn’t fall on these men because they somehow deserved it. Instead, Christ is clear that death awaits us all, and we need to take that very seriously.
For those who are still guilty before God, like those Christ was speaking to, repentance needs to be their primary goal in life. Turning from sin and asking Christ to save them is the single greatest thing they can do in their lives. No amount of love, prestige, money, or greatness that they achieve in this life will mean anything to them in the end. Only finding forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ will last beyond death.
Valuing our time before death
So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
For those who are in Christ, that moment of salvation is just the beginning of our greater purpose. God calls us to live a life dedicated to Him. We are to love holiness, hate sin, love those in need, train others in spiritual maturity, and preach the gospel to the lost. We are called to give our lives to Christ.
And we will. We really want to. Just… not yet. But it’s okay, because we have plenty of time to dedicate our lives to Christ.
This is where it becomes dangerous for us to ignore the reality of death. Without admitting it, we live as though we have as much time as we want to get things done. We have huge goals of where we’d like to get in our spiritual lives, we just have all these things standing in our way right now.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them. (Ecclesiastes 9:10-12)
Death is coming. We don’t know if we have 30 years or 24 hours. God doesn’t call for us to devote our lives to Him when it works best for us. He doesn’t give us a certain number of years to enjoy the world as He waits for us to settle for Him.
We are called to give our lives to Christ not because God wants us to have less than we want, but because He wants us to have everything we truly need. Christ doesn’t save us from the penalty of our sin so we can put Him on the back shelf and get to Him when we feel like we’ve spent enough time doing other things. When we become Christians, the only question is whether we obey our Savior or live in rebellion to Him.
Kobe Bryant’s death, along with everyone in that helicopter, is tragic. None of them entered that helicopter assuming they would never make it to their destination. They never thought that the last thing they said to someone they love would be that person’s final memory. And everything they put off was never meant to remain undone.
The mark of a life well-lived is one spent pursuing Jesus Christ. We can become distracted with secondary things, allowing them to compromise our most important purpose in this life. Many of us will go to our grave saying “Not today, but soon.” We put things off, assuming we’ll get to them one day. Yet today we are reminded that those things we put off today may be put off forever.
What is it we’re putting off for Christ?
When will it be the right time to surrender to Him?
We don’t have time to waste. Whatever riches and pleasures we’re pursuing now will mean nothing at death. Only our relationship with Christ, and a life spent truly serving Him, will have eternal meaning.
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:19-21)
