The Opening of the Window

Children’s Sermon

The transfiguration is precursor for us…ILLUSTRATION OF TAKING SELFIES…WHAT DO THEY SUGGEST? DUCK LIPS, ETC…Filters, spray tans, air brushing, light adjusting, etc. And yet, we’ll never look as good in a selfie as we’ll look with the savior! Moses and Elijah, etc...

Scripture

Luke 9:28-36 - About eight days later, Jesus took Peter, John, and James up the mountain to pray. While Jesus was praying, his face transformed, and his clothing became dazzling white. And, suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with him. They looked glorious! They were talking about Jesus’ departure, which would happen in Jerusalem. Peter and the other disciples were very drowsy but were able to stay awake and see the glory of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. As the men were about to leave, Peter blurted out about how it was great moment and offered to make three tents. At the same time, a cloud came and overtook them and the disciples were seized with fear. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my chosen one, listen to him!” After the voice spoke, suddenly it was only Jesus and the disciples again. Speechless, they didn’t say anything to anyone in the following days about what they had seen.

Engage

Dr. Christopher Kerr, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Hospice Buffalo, in NY, tells a story about his first days working for hospice. He had visited the room of a young man dying of AIDS. He came out to the nurses station and began to tell a nurse that the young man could live a while following Dr. Kerr’s treatment plan. The nurse, never looking up, said, No, he’s dying soon. What are you talking about, Dr. Kerr asked. How could you say that? Because he’s seen his dead grandmother, the nurse said. Dr. Kerr said, sarcastically, I must’ve missed that class in Medical School. The nurse responded, be quiet and look beyond your own reference point…the nurse was right, the young man died in the next few days.

Encounter

Friends, we cannot science faith right out of our lives.

Was that young man dying of AIDS REALLY visited by his deceased grandmother. Yes, he was. Was it really her in spirit form…yes, I believe it was. Again, realizing I’m sounding like a broken record in this series, we have OVERWHELMING evidence of these occurrences happening. All throughout our country, our world, for as long as humans have been documenting their lives.

This SHOULDN’T be a surprise to us, if we haven’t allowed science to become god to us. We have it right here in Scripture, in the New Testament, with JESUS. Now, Jesus wasn’t dying of disease…but he was relatively close, time-wise, to his coming death. Moses and Elijah visit…what an experience this must’ve been for the disciples. Often when those on the other side of the window visit, they are only visible to one person. Yet, here the disciples, though they’re drowsy, get to see Moses and Elijah. These two heroes they’d heard of all their lives…the key representatives of the Law and Prophets, now with them, incredible…Is the ability to come through an opening in the window reserved for heroes like Moses and Elijah…or someone like Jesus and the disciples…NO. It might happen to any one of us or, I should say, any one(s) of us.

Friends, detective work should come before doubt when listening to the dying.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about near death experiences, or NDEs. The topic today is often referred to as NDA - Near Death Awareness. I am deeply indebted to hospice for their care of my own father in 2014. Also, hospice is a great organization at spreading the truth about Near Death Awareness. Often, as people approach death - most noticeably in cases of disease progression, cumulative effects of aging, and the like - the dying are often given special knowledge about, and possibly even control over, the process of dying.

As the dying approach death, there are physical changes, of course. Thinning, eating much less, aspiration, breathing changes, and the like. But, their communication may change significantly as well. Often communications of the dying are misunderstood by family and caretakers. Important messages can be mislabeled as confusion, side effects of drugs, or hallucination. Too often, the dying are treated more like children and a distance develops…not a physical distance but a gap where family and caretakers effectively stop listening to the dying…thinking they are “out of it.” One of my aims today is to tell you, there is another way! Keep an open mind, assume your dying loved one or friend is NOT out of it, listen for clues, watch for signs, ask for help interpreting the messages, pay attention. Now, what are some of the happenings which the dying may be blessed with?

Sometimes the dying will talk in language of a journey, or journeys. They may mention seeing places and their language may be very metaphorical. They may talk of maps, or charts, or other physical items that would potentially accompany a journey. Often the dying use the metaphor of travel to alert those around them that it’s time for them to die. For example, George, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was approaching death. He kept talking to his wife about getting his papers, his passport, and his ticket. He’s out of it now, she told the hospice nurse. The nurse loving explained that often the dying use travel metaphors. George even asked the hospice nurse about his ticket. After she asked some simple questions, she guided him through how the death process would take place and helped communicate his coming death to his wife. This put him much more at ease. He still occasionally asked about his passport and papers in the ten additional days he lived, but with much less anxiety than before. He was simply communicating his desire that everything be in order for his journey. The dying may dream of, or even get glimpses of, what lies on the other side of the window during this process. They’re not crazy, their experiencing near death awareness.

detective work should come before doubt when listening to the dying.

The dying may also gain an awareness of the timing of their death. In some cases, they may even gain control of it. They may want certain things to happen, or people to arrive, or reconciliations to occur, before they’ll allow themselves to die. If a dying person is uncomfortable, restless, or agitated, and the hospice folks or other medical professionals are certain it isn’t due to pain, there may be something holding the person back. Something they’re waiting for. Careful listening and attention may illuminate these missing links. Andrea, a young mother dying of cancer and very weak in her last days, kept mumbling, while asleep or nearly asleep, “We must go to the park.” The hospice nurse and Andrea’s husband figured out that she must be waiting on her father-in-law, who went by Pop. Before her illness, Pop had helped Andrea significantly with her children…taking them to the park, for instance. Pop had been staying away due to his overwhelming anger, grief, and confusion around his beloved daughter-in-law’s illness. Andrea’s husband called his dad, Pop, and made him come over…They shared precious moments together and then she died that evening.

Sometimes, the dying will direct that all people be AWAY from them to die, wanting to spare everyone. Sometimes they’ll be waiting on permission from someone or someones. They’ll almost certainly want to know, and to hear, that everyone will persevere financially, physically, and emotionally. For example, Bertha had seven grown children and was dying. She kept saying, “I can’t find feed for the horses!” I’d never make them take me on this trip without feeding them first! The hospice nurse talked with the family about what she might be talking about. She grew up on a farm, they said, and all they had were horses and carriages to get around. The hospice worker noticed that Bertha may be needing something, or someone to be ok with dying. That’s when she learned that Bertha had 8 children, not seven, because “nobody count’s Dwayne.” Dwayne was a problem child, had always been in and out of trouble, etc. When they called Dwayne, he came. They reconciled. During the next two weeks, Dwayne and Bertha spend quality time together…and she said nothing else about needing to feed the horses before she died.

One hospice nurse notes that when dying people have important goals they more often than not reach them. Those goals may be birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, completion of a project, or what have you. Any good and honest doctor will tell you they are quite good at predicting death when it’s fairly imminent but not nearly as adept at making projections of months or years.

detective work should come before doubt when listening to the dying.

Also, of course, as I’ve referenced above, the dying may experience the presence of someone not alive on earth. With the gift of hindsight, I wonder if my uncle Miles may have had this experience…There aren’t just a handful, or a few dozen, or even a few hundred of these stories, friends. There are thousands, and thousands, and thousands of these stories. It is quite simply a FACT that the dying are sometimes gifted visitations. During these times, the window between this world and the next fades away, or opens, and the two worlds become one for certain people at certain times. The timing of these experiences varies, they can happen days, weeks, or even months before death. I told you several weeks ago about Ginny Rose, the young girl who had visits from her aunt and her aunt’s dog. I was talking about these happenings a month or two back at the pastor’s breakfast I attend most Thursday mornings and Mark Krause, the Methodist pastor in Mertzon, told me about a dying lady at one of his previous appointments. He said he walked into her room to visit her and she promptly told him that an angel had visited. And, he said, she was GLOWING. Sometimes the dying are visited by religious figures…Jesus, God, angels. Sometimes they’re visited by people, sometimes by animals and/or by people. As I talked about last week, these visits may even come in dreams or in spirit to those who aren’t dying…

Take the story of Steve and Ralph. They spent their summers swimming, pulling pranks, and the like on Cape Cod…where both families spent their summers. They both went to college and started good careers but their seeing each other reduced to exchanging Christmas cards. Then, at age 27, Steve was paralyzed in a car accident. He ended up in a nursing home..but never lost his spirit of humor and his love of others. Then he contracted pneumonia, which took his life. A few weeks after Steve’s death, a card arrived from Ralph’s widow. Ralph had not known of Steve’s paralysis or death. But in the last few weeks of Ralph’s life, suffering from cancer, he had visions. His wife chalked them up to confusion. But, right before he died, he sat up. “Oh, look!” he said excitedly. “Here comes Steve! He’s come to take me swimming!” Steve’s family took great comfort in the note and his mother said, “The devilish duo are up to their old pranks again.”

Or take the story of Fred. Fred and his wife Ann were in their eighties and their 40 something year old daughter Ruth lived with them. Fred had declined significantly and was approaching death but was very concerned about how Ann and Ruth would get along after he died. At one point, Fred sat up and waved his hand excitedly, as if brushing away an interruption. He said, “Would you wait, I’m not ready yet.” After a lot of discussion amongst the three of them and the hospice professionals and volunteers, Fred died peacefully.

There are so many more stories I could tell, and probably that you could tell as well. Tell them! Don’t hide them for fear that someone may think you are crazy. First of all, maybe you are crazy, but so what! Seriously, there is nothing crazy about Near Death Awareness. It’s reality. It’s fact.

Empower

Give yourselves permission, empower yourselves, to believe these truths. Expect the unexpected. Few people expect a dying person to have anything new to teach. Wrong! Expect them to teach. Listen carefully, document, investigate. Detective work should come before doubt when listening to the dying. Also, watch for physical cues. Looking at other parts of the room, looking through you, wide, glassy eyes. Look for a glow or a radiance. Sometimes, the dying will fall out of bed, remove sheets, try and get up to join the beings they are seeing. Too often this is chalked up to confusion or hallucination when it likely is not.

Finally, WHEN we experience the miraculous, believe it. Tell it. Have confidence in it. And thank God and Jesus for it. God’s words from the cloud at the transfiguration still apply to us today. This is my Son, my chosen one, listen to him!

Pray