“Someone
has said, ‘the most certain things in life are death and taxes.’ As to
the first, death and dying, we must agree for God has ordained that we all
should die!”
I’m
Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World the Word & You! Broadcast
and in a moment we’ll talk about dying today and the terms and options we
face in our 21st century world…
...Hello and
welcome again to the World, the word & You! Broadcast, featuring 30
minutes of Biblical commentary on events of life and happenings in our
world, coupled with a dash of beautiful music for your listening enjoyment. I'm Dennis Finnan, your host & commentator thanking you
for tuning our way, and hoping you'll stay with us in the moments ahead. On
today's broadcast, I'll be talking about a most important subject - many
people have questions about. But
first let's refresh ourselves, by listening to this delightful moment of
music, after which I'll return to introduce my topic entitled – A KINDER,
GENTLER DEATH...
... Everyone
remembers the tragic demise of more than 90 lives some years ago in clash
between government law enforcement and a fanatical religious cult. Men,
women and children unexpectedly died in an awful fiery end to the “Branch
Davidian Cult” stand off, near Waco Texas. How sad that so many people had
their lives ended by the lunatic actions of one man, a self appointed
messiah, David Koresch. However the cult story is not my topic for today,
except to remind us all that death ¾
one way or another will come for us all. The Bible says,
Ecclesiastes
3:1-2 There is a time for everything, and a season for every
activity under heaven: {2} a time to be born and a time to die..."
Hebrews 9:27 "It
is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment."
Yes, these sobering
words fill the Bible, to warn us to prepare ourselves for our eventual
death. Yet, preparation is often the last thing most people do. Why we’ll
spend more time planning a two week vacation from work than we will for our
last two weeks on earth. A new TIME/CNN poll reported that “7
out of 10 Americans say they want to die at home… Yet statistics say more
than three-fourths will die in medical institutions after spending at least
10 days in intensive-care units where they will endure torturous attempts at
keeping them alive.” [1]
The Branch Davidians of course were unprepared to die, for they especially,
by their very religion, denied the Bible's message of hope and the
afterlife. Perhaps, there is no Scripture that better tells the hope of all
and any past death than the words of the apostle Peter who declared on the
day of Pentecost,
Acts
4:12 Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus Christ], for
there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved."
Yet, spiritual
preparation alone is not all that’s needed these days for anyone living in
this sophisticated age of technology. Spiritual
preparation is paramount, but physical, and societal preparation is also a
new order of the day. After we pause for a second musical moment, I'll
return to talk about the controversy surrounding the growing idea of
preparing physically, for the moment of death. We'll talk about what the
Bible has to say about the call today for a KINDER, GENTLER DEATH. Stay with
us, you hear...
... After the
tragic explosion of the Challenger
space shuttle back in 86', the students of Christa McAuliffe's class,
struggled deeply to cope with their grief over the sudden death of a vibrant
young woman, friend and teacher. Yet death is never easy whether it occurs
in the innocent lives of young children destroyed in a senseless fire as the
Branch Davidian Cult, or an aged man or women, full of years, who simply
passes on. Death is still the “King of Terrors.”
However, a new terror and fear is stalking humanity, the thought of
not dying quickly, without dignity, and through much suffering caused by
modern medical technology infused into our bodies for us to linger on in a
state of suffering, vegetation, comatose or worse.
Years ago, people
who became terminally ill by disease, accident or age, simply expired in the
comfort of one's home and bed, with loved ones around them.
But now, one is often taken to modern hospitals, where they are
isolated from their families and friends. Studies show that “nearly
half of Americans die in pain, surrounded and treated by strangers.”2
Then, they are grotesquely hooked up to life-support systems, where their
physical bodies are strained and stretched to the limit, to be kept alive
almost indefinitely, prolonging their death cycle.
In fact, horror stories surround many whose love ones have been
caught in this twilight zone of life and death, and have suffered ¾
both patient and families, for unending days even years! Why today we plan
for retirement, yet about one third of Americans bankrupt their families in
the stalled and painful process of dying.
However, recently a
new concept has arisen that is controversial at the least. It is the call
for people to make LIVING WILLS. What is a living will? Well, "a living
will is a legal document by which a person can give in advance, a directive
to have heroic life-sustaining medical treatment either withheld or
discontinued at a future terminal illness or injury should one become unable
to make medical decisions."
With today's
sophisticated biomedical technology, doctors are enabled to maintain life,
by mechanical means, far beyond what was once possible. Of course, no one
denies the benefit of this technology when the life of a parent, child,
sibling or friend is sustained by it, and eventually regains a useful life
in the face of certain death without it.
Yet with this ability to prolong life, each one of us will probably
have to face this issue ourselves or with someone we love. Therefore, the
question many are asking about life is - "how
long is too long? Is there a kinder, gentler death that God approves
of?" This among other
things is one of the biomedical ethical dilemmas of our day.
Increasingly, as a pastor and
Biblical commentator, I am asked by people, is it right to make a Living
Will? Well, to answer this question we have to first discuss all that
surrounds it. The first issue we must confront when we discuss the death
process is the growing call for EUTHANASIA. Euthanasia is "a deliberate act, taken by loved ones, friends or the caregivers
of a dying one, to immediately end their state of futile suffering and
meaningless existence." This
so-called act of "mercy-killing" is increasingly being accepted as
a right thing to do by most Americans today. Tragically, warped minded
zealots of euthanasia, like Dr.
Jack Korvorkian, have carried this to extremes, as they provide suicide
machines for those who are physically suffering, to end their lives.
Societies such as “CONCERN
FOR DYING”,” SOCIETY FOR THE RIGHT TO DIE” and the
“HEMLOCK
SOCIETY” ¾
all are active
euthanasia proponents, wanting legislation to permit, caregivers, and loved
ones the right to immediately end the lives of their suffering family
members or patients. However friend, please note, EUTHANASIA,
according to the Bible, is a blatant act of disobedience to God.
The reason is, God's written Word says,
ALL
HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED.
Genesis
1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in
our likeness..."
Genesis 9:6-7 "Whoever
sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of
God has God made man..." Exodus
20:13 "You shall not
murder.
Yes, the Bible is
full of warnings from God, that all human life is sacred. From the unborn
life of a human beings, to the aged, infirm, and helpless, all life is of
value and sacred. Yes, the sanctity
of human life therefore always commands a higher priority than the quality
of life. Euthanasia proponents today stress that “quality” of life
is the only criteria for living.
Yet, Hitler and Nazi Germany held this same view and exterminated the
unborn, the crippled, and aged. Thus,
I believe to practice EUTHANASIA, that is the active taking of human
life, God says will be judged as the sin of murder. Therefore responsible
law abiding, God fearing, people will never
act in a manner that will "harm"
or "kill" oneself or another person. Consequently, any LIVING
WILL that advocates the stopping of feeding of an individual, or giving a
lethal injection, to a comatose, vegetative person is always morally wrong,
and such acts carry eternal consequences for the perpetrator, regardless of
the motives behind it. Yes, “ALL”
LIFE IS SACRED, and that must never be violated.
Now, the second
thing we should know from Scripture, concerning the ending of life is that DEATH, “IS” A NATURAL GOD ORDAINED EVENT OF HUMANITY.
Thus, we can Biblically say death is not always to be avoided. Listen to the
Scriptures that says,
Psalms
72:14 [God] will rescue [His saints] from oppression and
violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalms 116:15 Precious
in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Romans 14:8-9 If we
live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we
live or die, we belong to the Lord. {9} For this very reason, Christ died
and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the
living.
Philippians 1:21 [Paul
the apostle ]For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
From these verses,
God is saying that the death of His saints is a matter of concern to God.
All believers in Jesus Christ are the Lord's property, whether they are
alive or dead. Today there are
well meaning Christians, who condemn
all LIVING WILLS, because such a device, they say, is promoted by the
EUTHANASIA SOCIETIES. Yet, to reject all LIVING WILLS, because
godless people are for them, I personally believe is erroneous. Why?
Well somehow, good
Christians have confused the RIGHT
TO DIE, with the subject of EUTHANASIA (the deliberate killing of those who
are suffering) ¾ BUT, they are not the same
thing. The
"right to die," is actually an individual's right to determine
whether or not "unusual or heroic" measures should be taken, to prolong
the natural death experience. However, since life is sacred, we must be very
careful, never to deliberately cause the unnatural taking of life. This is
the major reason all Christians are opposed to abortion and euthanasia -
including this speaker!
But at the same
time, allowing the natural death process God orders for all humanity to run
its course, is
not necessarily wrong, when minimum life can only be sustained by
extreme and costly medical measures. If
we are able, I believe we have a right to say "Stop, no more."
For when death is imminent and life is no longer possible, I believe it
would be morally wrong to deny death and prolong profound suffering to do
it. Even worse, it has been found that extraordinary biomedical technology
can actually cause tremendous suffering and harm to dying patients, contrary
to what some doctors will tell you.
Reports of those
surviving resuscitation and other heroic procedures, often tell of the great
pain and personal suffering experienced through such procedures. So, here's
some advice from Scripture.
Romans
14:10-12 "[believers]
...we will all stand before God's judgment seat. ... {12} So then, each of
us will give an account of himself to God."
Did you hear that?
God says we “alone” are accountable for “our” actions. We are not
responsible for someone else's actions. Therefore, it is the right of every
individual capable of giving informed consent, to make his or her own
decisions regarding life and future medical care
(after having been fully informed about the benefits, risks and
consequences of available treatment) even if such a decisions may result in
what appears to be a shortening the individuals life, heroically speaking.
Thus I believe it
is not unbiblical, for a Christian
or anyone else, to write a LIVING WILL, provided... nothing in that
legal statement of medical care at the end of one's life, calls
for, or encourages the deliberate taking of your life. Again I
reiterate, "refusing
extraordinary medical care" at the death experience is
not euthanasia. Now of course, some would call it passive euthanasia.
This is the act of discontinuing artificially administered nutrition or
hydration. In others words forcing a dying patient to starve to death
by dehydration and malnutrition. This too, although seemingly passive, is
directly causing the death of another. This is wrong and constitutes murder,
and should never be written into any end of life document. Sound confusing as to how we find a solution to all this?
Well, the answer
lies in,
how we treat the dying patient. Again from a Biblical perspective we
know that death is inevitable,
but we also know death is not to be deliberate. We also know that the death
experience is an active part of God's hand in the lives and affairs of men.
Job 12:10 In his hand
is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Deuteronomy 32:39 "See
now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I
bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of
my hand.
Yes, God says He
ultimately controls our destinies and the longevity of life.
We see this often in comatose patients, thought never to recover, who
suddenly awake. Dying patients abandoned by all medical reason, who
wondrously recover. Why? For God, sovereignly chose for them to recover
without, mind you, the help of modern medical technology. Often
when all such biomedical wizardry is removed, patients thought to die, live
on and recover. So, I believe it is not murder or suicide, for one to say
while they are well – “when my death experience from God arrives,
I want to either go into eternity, without heroic human resistance, or to
live - without the same.”
Today,
many godly Christians who have reached the natural
death experience, have chosen to say - NO HEROIC MEASURES -
allow me the “gentler, kinder death” and dignity to trust God for life
or death. Now in the Christian world of the past 20th century,
godly men such as Theodore Epp, Francis Schaefer, and Vance Havener ¾
they were willing to trust the death experience to God, which by the way did
include loving care of comforting medication, proper normal nourishment,
fluids and necessary medical procedures administered for the express purpose
of providing for the basics of life, without attempting to override the
natural death experience. And likewise they had ordered that absolutely and
in no case, was any medical caregiver to take away or deny medication,
nourishment, fluids or necessary medical procedures for their comfort or
continuance; for the express purpose of producing their death by
dehydration, malnutrition, suffocation, poison; or any other conceivable
means which the secular world calls a “gentler, kinder, death!”
Now, if such
merciful procedures are carefully crafted into language, and it is worded in
what we call “a Living Will,” it is not disobedience to God, nor is it
euthanasia ¾
it is simply a Christian trust that ones death experience is divine and
under the care of God's sovereign will.
For
centuries, man was able to do this without the interference of technology,
but today the story is different. Thus, I believe we have to be prepared to
meet our moment of death with Biblically sound thinking and appropriate
actions.
But say friend,
it's sober to talk about our physical death and meeting it with dignity, but
the Bible far more, talks about the spiritual state we are in, when death
arrives. Again, the writer of Hebrews says it best,
Hebrews 9:27 man is
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
You see, God is
warning all of us that once death occurs, whatever state we were spiritually
in life, we are sealed in it for all eternity. Therefore every man, woman
and child should, while they are healthy in mind and body, prepare for
one’s death, both physically, and SPIRITUALLY.
Now for all of us
this is GOOD NEWS, for in one verse of Scripture, God has wrapped up the
call and purpose of man's life, death and existence. Hear again God's Word,
John
3:16-17 "For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life. {17} For God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
It is not enough to
prepare for our physical death, we must all the more, be ready to avoid the
Second Death God says comes to all who have
not been forgiven of their sins.
Mat
10:28 (NIV) "Do not be
afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be
afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
The main message of
the Christian faith still is valid ¾
Come, and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, trust in Him and His work on the cross, for it is the
only ticket one can have to take us through the portal of death and deliver
us to life eternal with God.
So friend, if you
are not a believer today, on behalf of God and the Christian faith, I
warn you , you are in the most serious peril and danger of all! Your life
and death are in God's hand, and He now calls to you while you are alive,
and before it’s too late, to believe in Jesus Christ.
Will you spiritually prepare for your death right now? How? Call upon
Him to save you, and be prepared and ready with God's greatest
"ETERNAL" LIVING WILL, granted to all who receive Christ in this
life. I beg of you, receive Jesus Christ, right now through a prayer of
faith, and do it without delay. No one knows what breath of life is left in
us, and if death catches you UNPREPARED for eternity, there will be no
second chance! So, for a “gentler, kinder death,” prepare physically
with a living will, but for a glorious, dynamic and everlasting life of joy,
peace, and blessing ¾
prepare now by believing and trusting alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, for
all forgiveness and life eternal, and the Bible says, “you will be
saved!” (Acts 16:31)
...
...Yes friends,
LIVING WILLS are not wrong for Christians nor non-christians, but rather
something to be encouraged, if ... written with a Biblical
perspective and upheld in honor of God. I personally have a LIVING WILL, and
I've spent much time in preparing it. In fact, I've written a Christian
concept of a LIVING WILL, I'd be happy to send as a free copy, to any
listener who writes. Now, I'm not a lawyer, so if you write and receive this
copy, check it out first with an attorney, if you plan to use it for
yourself and your loved ones. Here's our address for your free copy of
today’s broadcast and or a
“Christian concept of a, living will,” Write to the World the
Word & You! Broadcast, PO Box 40133, Grand Junction, CO 81501.
Well friends,
you've been listening to the World the Word & You!, and speaking is your
host & commentator Dennis Finnan. I'm thankful you tuned our way and
stayed with us these 30 minutes. I
trust today's message has been
an encouragement to you. First
of all, to be sure you have taken Christ as your Lord and Savior for the
security of eternal life, and second to give you a handle on matters of
ethical concern in the difficult dying world of biomedical technology. But
as this is the weekend most broadcasts are heard, you can know even more of
God’s Word on maters of life and death, by attending a Bible believing
church. Then tune us in again next week for another look at, our world,
God's Word and its tangible relationship to you!
Now, the Lord willing, have a good day, and a great Lord's day as you
prepare all this week to walk with the King. God bless you friend, good by
for now.
[1,
2] -- TIME Magazine, “A Kinder, Gentler Death,” by John Cloud, page 60, September
18, 2000.
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry
based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A
copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly
radio commentaries can be heard in selected areas around the nation. Dennis
Finnan has been the speaker for 20 years, and serves as General Director.
These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them.
Also available are radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message.
A free listing of all messages is available upon request also.