Live like you were dying

Many, maybe even most, of us have heard Tim Macgraw’s 2004 hit “Live Like You Were Dying”. But if by some chance you haven’t heard this song, its the story of a man learning he has a terminal illness and instead of moping about, he went skydiving, climbed the Rocky Mountains, and rode a bull for 2.7 seconds. But more importantly than the activities he did, he loved deeper, spoke sweeter, and forgave people he was holding grudges towards. This isn’t to say that he didn’t have plans for the options to save his life, the first verse tells us that he looked at the x-rays for days. He talked about the options, with whom we don’t know exactly. Only when he accepted it could “be the real end” of his life, did he go and live a life he was excited for. He then leaves us with the nugget of wisdom “I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.”

This song is not only a fun song to sing at the top of your lungs with the sunroof open, it also evokes emotions that we all struggle with. Our life is temporary, and people are afraid of dying. Sometimes the fear of dying means the actual what happens after you die but more often than not I think people are afraid of not doing “enough”, or not checking enough things off an imaginary list.

If you knew you would die in a week… would you go on with your plans as usual? Imagine with me: Let’s say, its the week before Christmas… You are meeting your friends and family at the end of the week for a big Christmas Eve dinner. But first:

Day 1: You drive into town and meet your mom at church for a service but you’re going back to stay at your friend’s house the town over at the end of the day.

Day 2: You go back to your mom’s town and go to the grocery store to get the figs she asked you to bring for dinner but they don’t have them. (Your response was to tell the produce section it should have figs.)

Day 3: You have a speech at a local amphitheater, where you cryptically tell people you know you’re going to die in 2 days… (On the way to the theater, you pass the grocery store from day 2 and it is now out of business.)

Day 4: You have all your friends over for Christmas Eve dinner! It’s a huge meal, so you have your friends help you prepare the meal. As everyone arrives, you take all their coats and boots and hang them up accordingly in the mud room. Wine is poured and everyone joins round to eat and enjoy company. At the end of the meal, someone pipes up about the weird comment you made at your speech that you would die in 2 days. You tell them, “yup! it’s true but I’ll see you again.” The room is confused but your friends go with you when you say you can’t sleep and want to go to the garden near the theater.

Day 5: In the morning, you decline quickly and are no longer alive at 3pm…

So if you followed my weird scenario… you may have noticed it followed a simplified timeline of the last days of Jesus… a man who actually knew when and how he would die. He knew that going to the Passover Feast would be the end of his life and the end of his physical mission. He knew that the dinner he had with his closest friends would end praying and begging God to take the burden from him. And yet, he remained: Humble, Peaceful, Gentle, a Teacher.

And in the last days of Jesus’ life, he was with his friends and loved ones. He wept with His friends over their brother’s death (and then promptly raised him from the dead). He rode a donkey and he washed feet. He taught His friends about the power of the tongue in blessings and curses. He showed what righteous anger was and He even healed a soldier who was assaulted by His friend.

I’d say he loved just as deep as he always did, spoke with the same humility, and certainly held no grudge even to the best friend that He KNEW would betray Him. But unlike the fictional character in Tim McGraw’s song… Jesus lived a regular last week (for Him). He didn’t go skydiving, He stuck to his usual dirt roads, and he rode much longer than 2.7 seconds into town on a donkey (not the white horse the Jews expected). Jesus stayed with friends, He kept His mom close, He worshiped, He ate, and He prayed. I guess Jesus always lived like He was dying, since day one. He lived the ordinary life that ordinary people live… and then he died in an extraordinary way, taking all of your (and my) sins with Him.