Lessons Learned From a Visit to a Country Graveyar

The Poca Hollow cemetery 

"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes {it} to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure." (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4)

 I visited the Poca Hollow cemetery last month.  My first trip to this hidden little graveyard nestled in the boot heel of Missouri was some thirty years ago, in 1980.  My wife’s clan is from there.  This cemetery overlooks an almost forgotten civil war battlefield. The locals point to the valley where the Yankees came through, then point to some of the old buildings (over their shoulder, behind the picture) that still have civil war bullets in them.  The anonymity is fair enough… except for the family this cemetery is almost forgotten as well.   You don’t just accidentally go there… you have to know where it is and choose to visit it.

Today Poca Hollow is a peaceful place.  As you thoughtfully stroll among the stones, contemplating the human lives represented by each grave, numerous Biblical passages cannot help but come to mind.  The first scripture is obvious….

“For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.” (I Peter 1:24-25)

The Precious Death of a Christian

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.  

O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, 

and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, 

and will call upon the name of the Lord." (Psalm 116:15-17) 

After my last “jotting,”  I received word that a Christian lady that I had only once met was dying.  Last month the father of a dear friend, and a dear friend, who was the wife of a dear friend, (all Christians) had passed away.  Yet another friend sent me the linked video of a gospel preacher’s saying farewell to his congregation 5 days before his cancerous death… after preaching there for 40 years.  You can click here to listen to his last sermon.   

There is a beauty to knowing you have done the best you could with all integrity and now it is time to receive your reward.  Not because you are famous, but because your Lord knows you… and you know Him.  You are not just one of the endless hordes… you matter; God knows and cares for you.

We use euphemisms to try to soften every aspect of death.  On the contrary, our Lord teaches us to embrace it.  We cannot control death, that is why we fear it so.  We can cause it, but we cannot avoid it.  He has promised that we need not fear.

Where are the Dead? (A Guided Tour of Hell)

Jesus *said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.' " John 20:17

Jesus said this after He had been in the tomb for 3 days. So . . . where do the dead go?  I thought the dead went to heaven!  Well, they do but…. Let’s work our way through some of what the Bible actually says concerning the realm of the dead.  Most have drawn their conclusions based on tradition and various sources rather than scripture leaving vast gaps in their understanding. 

Let’s look in on one of Jesus’ conversations. 

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. Luke 16:14

So, Jesus was being ridiculed by a group of Pharisees and they got more than they bargained for…

Jesus gave them a guided tour of hell.  Want to tag along?  I’ll reproduce the text in it’s entirety then we’ll digest it below.

The rich man and Lazarus

Luke 16

19.  "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

20.  "And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores,

 21.  and longing to be fed with the {crumbs} which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

 22.  "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

 23.  "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

 24.  "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'