Acts 21:1-16 | Preparing for DeathSample

Dying with Dignity

This is a plan about living with death in mind. It’s not so much a plan about dying itself as much as it is living with the sure and certain notion that one day we will die. For some, that death might be imminent. For others, it may seem far off and feel more theoretical. The apostle Paul lived with a sense that living for Jesus might result in his death. On more than one occasion he faced death, and in Acts 21 we see him going towards death – or at least going to where he believed God was calling him to go, knowing that it might cost him his life.

Our lives are filled with preparations and plans for the future. For some, it may be secondary education; for others, investments or retirement. Still others, marriage or children. The list is endless. But one thing that the majority of us don’t prepare for is our death.

Currently, the death rate in the world is at 100%. Unless Christ returns first, we will not be the ones to lower that statistic. Even though we aren't prepared for our inevitable time on earth to end, most of us hope that we will die with dignity. And yet, dying peacefully is not the same as dying with dignity. What determines if you die with dignity is the life you lived before that day.

In Acts 21, we see Paul saying his goodbyes. Like in movies when a death row prisoner is marched toward execution with the other prisoners yelling, "Dead Man Walking," Paul is set on a course towards Jerusalem despite his friends and fellow disciples trying to discourage him. Paul knew that living a life following Jesus may not always be pretty, but it is a path worth dying for.

Later in Acts 21, Paul will eventually be arrested in Jerusalem, and this will set in motion a series of trials before Jewish and Roman governors that eventually brings him to Rome. He will not be a free man again. Tradition says that Paul was eventually beheaded in Rome as an enemy of the State for his devotion to Jesus, a death many of us would think is far from dignified. But he died with dignity because he died for Christ.

Chances are, you will die. No matter how old you are, the manner in which you die, where you die, or who you are surrounded by. No matter who remembers you or forgets you, honors you or condemns you, whether your grave is a monument or unknown place, what matters is what God thinks of you when you die. Dying with dignity is dying in him.