I have taken the liberty of editing some of the lines of John Donne’s famous poem, “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” to perhaps clarify some of his ideas, and to serve my own purposes. “No man is an island, complete in itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod of dirt is washed into the sea, Europe is diminished as much as if it had been a mountain. Every person’s death diminishes me because I am a part of all mankind. Never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for me.”
John Donne was born in England 1572 and died in 1631. He was widely known and respected in England and Europe as both a powerful preacher and a prolific writer. It was the custom in those times, that when a person died, the church bell, which could be heard for miles, announced the death. Of course, nobody but the close family members knew who had died, so people from the surrounding area, would send messengers to find out.
Late in Donne’s life, he developed a life-threatening fever, and when he heard the church bell tolling the news of someone’s death, it caused him to think about his own, and this poem is the result.
On Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, a dear, long-time – 46 years – and close friend of mine, died in Kingman Arizona, and I was diminished because a part of me and my history, died with him. Last week, my life-long, much – loved cousin, Mason Smith died. He had been an important part of my life since I was a child, another part of me and my history died with him. Two years ago, my beloved sister, who had been a critically important part of my life since the day I was born, and my dearest friend died, and I and my history were greatly diminished. During those same two years, ten other close friends died, and with each death, a part of me and my history died with them, each one diminished me.
When I say, along with Ebeneezer Scrooge, “I am not the man I was,” I mean that there isn’t much of “me” left, and it occurs to me that a few more deaths like that and I will disappear..
In 1991, Easter fell on my birthday, March 31st. That morning, after my lesson, one of my “former” best friends observed rather drily, “Well John, happy birthday, I’ll bet you don’t realize that the next time Easter falls on March 31, you’ll be dead!” I found it hard to be grateful for the information.
My text for the sermon that morning was based on John’s first – hand account of what happened on that first, Easter resurrection morning. As I was reading, a revelation from the Holy Spirit flashed across my mind, I stopped reading and said, “Brothers and Sisters, the Spirit of God has awakened my mind to the best news I’ve ever received, “I Won’t Be Dead! – I’ll be more alive than I have ever been – the fact is, I will have never died, and I will be experiencing resurrection life – not anticipating it.”
When John says that after seeing the linen wrappings, and the body gone, “I BELIEVED,” he wasn’t just acknowledging the resurrection – he was saying that he now realized that Jesus was God’s Messiah, which meant that now he had to recall and reinterpret everything Jesus said and did during the three years he had spent with him. That same thing is true for every person who is born of God in baptism, they also have to totally rethink and reshape everything they believed about the purpose and meaning of life, and every event and circumstance of their lives, from the time of their birth to the present, has to be reinterpreted.
The resurrection life that Jesus entered into when He rose from the grave, was the same life he had with God before His incarnation, and it is the same resurrection life that every Disciple of Jesus experiences – when the Holy Spirit “resurrects them” after their spiritual death, to who and what they were in baptism.
When Jesus said that he came to earth to give “abundant life,” to all of his Disciples, he wasn’t talking about something they would get “by and by,” after the judgement of God – he was talking about the abundant, resurrection life that we receive right here on earth, when we obey the gospel and enter in to a new, Spirit filled abundant life.
“Resurrection life,” is what Paul was talking about when he wrote these beautiful words in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We” – the born from above, resurrected children of God – “with our unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the likeness of Christ, with ever-increasing glory.” Reflecting the glory of Jesus, in our daily transformation into his likeness, is taking place right now!
Jesus says it this way in John 5:21-24, “In the same way that the Father raises the dead, and gives them life – I give life to whoever I please. Here is the truth, anyone who hears my words, and believes Him who sent me, “HAS” eternal life – (not will get – HAS – and they won’t be condemned because they HAVE CROSSED OVER – not “will cross over” – from death to life.”
Disciples of Jesus assemble on the first day of the week, and on every other possible occasion, just as the early Disciples did – not primarily to hear a sermon on the doctrines of the Bible, but to celebrate the cross, and to re-affirm their faith in the resurrection – not just Jesus’ resurrection, but their own.
I’m going to finish by returning to the idea of how the death of my dear Disciple friends diminished me – and challenge you with the idea of the second coming of Jesus, and restoration. Luke writes, Acts 3:21, “Jesus must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
Peter writes, 1 Peter 5:10, “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you, and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.”
In the resurrection, God is going to restore all things, which means that all of those we have loved and lost during our time on earth – leaving us diminished – will be restored – and we, together with them, will be changed from one degree of glory into a higher and nobler degree of glory, as we are made “strong, firm, steadfast, and whole.”
The first century Disciples, adopted a single word that captured the essence of their faith in Jesus’ resurrection and return – that word is “Maranatha.” Essentially, it means, “Come Lord.” It’s found in the closing verses of Revelation, where Jesus says, “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let those who hear my words say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let them “come” and drink freely from the gift of the water of life, and “Yes, I am coming soon,” and John adds – “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Maranatha!
All of those “Comes” are derived from “Maranatha!” When the early Disciples greeted each other on the street, they didn’t say, “Hi!” they said, “Maranatha.” When they parted after their assemblies, they didn’t say “Goodbye,” or “See ya,” they said, “Maranatha.” It was the word they uttered when they were persecuted and tortured.
Those early Disciples organized their lives around that one great, all-encompassing truth – the resurrection of Jesus, his return, and their own. The challenge every Disciple faces every day is, “Can I honestly say that my life is organized around the great central truth of the resurrection and the second coming of Jesus, or my work, possessions, sporting events, recreation, health concerns, or political preferences, for those my age, is it organized around my doctor’s appointments?
We simply cannot live deeply spiritual, meaningful, and purposeful lives, without an unwavering faith in the resurrection of Jesus – and in our own,
In John 11, just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he says to Martha, “Anyone who believes in me will never die.” Then He looks Martha right in her eyes and says, “Do YOU believe this?” It’s not a generic question – for Martha, or for us. If it isn’t “personal” to us right now, I promise the time will come when it will be, because there won’t be anyone around but you and Jesus – and then it will be personal.
It became personal for me a few days ago in a cemetery near Pangburn, AR, when I looked at the body of my cousin Mason Smith, lying in a casket. It’s the same question I had to answer when it was my wife, my sister, my parents and a hundred others. It’s the most important question any Disciple is faced with!
Can we, as we stare into the casket say, by the grace of God, YES – “I BELIEVE” that this person never died, they simply transitioned from the resurrection life they enjoyed here on earth, into the resurrection life they are experiencing in the paradise of God.
My dear brothers and sisters, let’s all resolve today to get more serious about reclaiming the power and purpose of the resurrection life we have in Jesus, and in His second coming – by organizing our lives around it – and will you join me in a united prayer by saying – “Maranatha.”
John W Smith