Comfort One Another

In Paul's first epistle to the church at Thessalonica he tells them to "comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess 4:18). What words? The Lord will return and we will rise along with the dead in Christ to be with Him (1 Thess 4:13-17). That's comforting when you have one who was in Christ who died, isn't it? And encouragement and comfort are good, aren't they? I think so.

Recently a coworker who does not know Christ lost his mother to cancer. Very sad. But I was at a loss to comfort my coworker. "It's okay," we always want to say, "they're in a better place." That works well for a Christian who dies. Not so much when either the person you're trying to encourage doesn't believe it or the person about whom you're trying to encourage them may not be in a better place. Where do you go in these cases to provide comfort?

It's odd that many of these events -- funerals, memorial services and the like -- are held at churches under the care of a pastor or priest even when the deceased or their survivors are not religious. You see, regardless of how much the world shakes its collective fist in the face of God, at times like this we really don't want to think that it's just ... over. But without Christ there is no other conclusion. Still ... there they are, asking us to comfort them with these words.

The loss of a loved one is devastating. My mother, bless her heart, tells me to celebrate when she leaves to go be with Jesus. "Yeah, Mom!" Not gonna happen. Not because she won't be in a better place, but because I'll miss her. But I can have the comfort of knowing that she is in a better place and "since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep" (1 Thess 4:14). There is comfort there. But I'll sure miss her. What, then, do those without Christ do for comfort at these times?

In John 6, Jesus was saying some disquieting things (like "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you") and even some of His disciples were leaving (John 6:66). We read, then, "So Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'." (John 6:67-68). I get that. They didn't understand and they didn't get the ramifications and eventually Peter himself would deny he even knew Jesus, but I get that. Where else shall I go? He is my only hope.

Comfort one another with these words.