Where, O death, is thy sting?

Earlier this year, my church was saddened to learn of the loss of Maria Hougesen. This lady was a prayer warrior and constant encouragement. Though wheelchair bound and often in pain, she would always want to offer fellow congregants (like myself) a word of encouragement and remind them that she was praying for them. In her frailty, the brutality of a fallen world was fully exposed and the resurrection of the body became more than an abstract doctrine. She now sings and dances amongst the angels.

And now my church steadies herself for the loss of another mighty woman of prayer. Sandra Wagner, wife of some 50 years to the Westminster librarian, Dan Wagner, is in the last stage of her fight against cancer and race of life. Sandra and Dan are the most admirable of people--married for 50 years and still full of compassion, tenderness, and love to each other and to all others within their reach. Their three children are all married and have children--they go to the same church as Sandra and Dan. Three generations of Wagners sitting in one place always proved emblematic of God's covenantal faithfulness.

Sandra was a regular member of the church choir, and helped to anchor the alto section. In practices, she was always ready with a prayer request for a grandchild or homeless friend. It was a bit shocking one evening to hear her ask for prayer for upcoming tests. The tests came and the cancer was revealed. Chemotherapy started, the handkerchief was donned, and the body started to be sapped of strength. In about a year's time, the suspicion of cancer has evolved into an inevitable demise.

When one looks upon a child, he sees the image of the child's parents--particularly the mother. A responsible child is a product of a mother's loving discipline; a faith-borne child of God is a product of a Christian mother's power of love and nurture. This is said, not to undermine God's sovereignty, but to recognize that His sovereignty in caring for covenantal children is often conducted and displayed through Christian women. Through these women, God builds and blesses his Church. As was true with Maria, Sandra has children who walk with the Lord.

Death is both the great leveler and divider of humanity. On the one hand, as the writer of Ecclesiastes notes, no amount of wisdom, wealth, or work will make anyone less mortal. Death comes and robs all of their earthly possessions. On the other hand, death finds itself robbed of its power for the Christian. Instead of ending whatever vestiges of peace are attained in this world and ushering a person into the hellish confines of an eternity apart from God, death is used by God to usher the Christian into eternal life. Even death is His servant! It is the final sanctifying stage for the person born anew in Christ Jesus, in which the agonies of child birth gives way to the beauty of seeing the heavenly lights for the first time.