I’m no expert on death. But in my nearly 25 years as a pastor I’ve done three funerals for every wedding I’ve performed. I should have known something was up on the first hospital visit I ever made. I asked old Mr. Hammer how he was doing, and the first words out of his mouth were, "I’m gonna die." And he did, just a few weeks later.

I’ve experienced the deaths of friends and family. I’ve seen the young and old die. No matter who it’s been or when their time on earth ran out, I often found myself wishing that we could all just skip the grief and loss that follows when someone we love finishes their journey on earth. When I think about facing death myself, even though I’m sure in my faith and know where I’m headed, sometimes I get scared when I think about how I might go. I don’t like some of the options, especially those that would be slow and painful or very difficult on my family. I’m just not a big fan of death. I’ve seen it come over people and watched as their life left their bodies. I’ve actually said at times, "God, I hate this. But I am glad God hasn’t left us in the dark about death and that Jesus was specific about how facing our final day ‘head on’ and fully informed can redefine and re-energize how we live life every day that we are given.

When Jesus spoke about the issues of life and death He often did so from the perspective of someone standing at the finish line of life. Sometimes as Jesus stood there, he would look back toward the starting line and talk about the kind of lives God wants us to live right now, in the time between our start and our finish. At other times, Jesus would turn and speak from the opposite perspective, looking beyond the finish line of life toward what will happen after we die.

It’s through a strange encounter with a man in a personal panic that Jesus spoke about the undeniable truth: Time is running out for all of us. Luke, who wrote one of the four biblical accounts of Jesus’ life, tells us that one day while Jesus was in the middle of speaking to a crowd of thousands, suddenly, out of the blue, some guy in the crowd yells out, "Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me."

Apparently this guy knew Jesus was all about people treating other people fairly, so right in the middle of things he yells out, hoping to get Jesus’ opinion on this situation with his brother.

Now, you know the interrupter’s brother had to be somewhere in the crowd, maybe standing right beside him, because the guy starts out with words that sound so familiar to every parent who has more than one child, "Tell my brother to…" You know how it goes, right?

Well, Jesus must have recognized this interruption as a teachable moment for everybody there that day, because he stopped and answered, "Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?" Jesus is telling this guy, "Hey, this is the kind of stuff you have civil courts and judges for. Why bother me? Solving family legal disputes is not my role. But since you asked, let me give you one piece of advice: Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own."

Jesus ignored the justice issue. He doesn’t comment on who was right or wrong or who deserved what when it came to these two brother’s inheritance. What Jesus does is address the priorities and values of a person so upset about not getting money he thought was owed him that he would interrupt the greatest moral and spiritual teacher of the day to try and get what he deserved.

I think Jesus interrupted his regularly scheduled teaching because the situation between these two brothers was so typically human. This kind of fight has been around since the beginning of human history: Think Cain and Able. Jesus knew that this pattern of conflict would continue so long as people and possessions exist. Jesus couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity so he told this story:

Jesus built this story on the undeniable truth that one day our time on earth will be over and that day could come at any time. No matter who you are, or what your religious beliefs are, or aren’t, it’s difficult to deny or argue against the fact that people on this planet are stuck in the cycle of being born, living and sooner or later facing death. Whether you’re a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, or whatever, it’s hard to disagree with the point of Jesus’ story: One day time will run out for all of us, so it probably isn’t wise to invest our lives in things that we’ll leave behind.

We can accept these things on the intellectual level, but when it comes to living in the light of this reality, I think many of us, like the bent-out-of-shape brother, find ourselves all tied up in issues and pursuits that we would never take the time or energy to invest in if we knew our life would be over tonight or next week, next month or next year?

When Jesus stood on life’s finish line and asked us to consider how we’re living and what is most important to us, he was asking us to live in light of the fact that our time is limited and none of us knows when our time on earth will end. That’s not an unreasonable request. It’s the challenge of accepting the undeniable truth about our mortality that makes thinking and living this way so hard for us.

Can you hear Jesus speaking to us right now? He might say, "People, don’t ruin your relationships by fighting over stuff. Life is too short! Real life, real significance and satisfaction come from your relationships not your stuff."

But when I look at how I and the people all around me live, I see that most of us live like our last day will never come. We pursue things and do things and fight over things we wouldn’t care about at all if we knew this was our last day or our last year on earth. I’m guilty of this and maybe you are too.

Please understand the ramifications of living that way. If we ignore reality in any area of life, it never benefits us. But defining moments occur when we come face to face with an undeniable truth and embrace it. It changes our lives. I’m convinced that each of our lives would change dramatically and radically if every day we would embrace the truth that tomorrow is not guaranteed and time is running out for all of us.

When Jesus got to the end of his story about the farmer he concluded it with this observation, "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." (Luke 12:21)

Jesus, still standing on the end-line of life, reminds us that how closely connected we are to God in this life is very important, because God holds all the cards when it comes to what happens to us when we leave our life on planet earth. As He saw it, a person would be a total fool to invest his or her whole life building riches or accomplishments on this earth, only to find himself in an afterlife with no connection to God and without any way to gain entrance into God’s heaven. The logic is simple, but buying into Jesus’ view of God and the afterlife is something up for debate. Can we believe Jesus? Can we trust him on these things?

At this point Jesus is asking us to accept two debatable truths that require faith. The first is that there is life after death, and the second is that this life after death is connected to God.

But let’s be fair. Because none of us can prove conclusively that God exists or say with certainty what happens after we die, whatever you or I choose to believe about these things is always a matter of faith. So, if you believe something different than the things Jesus says about what’s beyond this life, remember that all of us, Christ followers, and those who aren’t, have to make our choices about what’s beyond this life and then stake our destinies on those choices.

Jesus often spoke about what’s beyond our lives on planet earth when he described what he called the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. He described God’s Kingdom as a place where God was the ruler and all was right. This was a place without sin, suffering, pain and death. Those things sound good to most people.

But when Jesus’ says things like, there is a narrow road through this life that leads some toward God and his kingdom and also a wide road that many more people will choose to travel that takes them away from God and a future in his heavenly kingdom, people start to question if Jesus was telling the truth. Who can’t love the idea of spending an eternity in God’s heaven, but accepting the possibility of a hell, a place of separation from God and misery for all eternity, seems too cruel and unloving for God or Jesus to be a part of. We love to hear of and be objects of God’s love, but we struggle with God’s need for justice.

In the Bible’s letter to the Hebrews you’ll find this statement, "…it is destined that each person dies only once and after that …comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) This is where our rub with Jesus’ version of the afterlife begins. Jesus spoke at different times and in different ways about his future role as God’s judge and ruler over the earth. He spoke about a day in the future when all of humanity from all times would stand before him to have their eternal destinies determined. Jesus described that day: "But when the Son of Man [Jesus] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:31-34 NLT) So far so good, but then Jesus describes the destiny of the goats: "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! …And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life." (Matthew 25:41&46)

Those are scary words. But the picture Jesus paints here is crystal clear. All people will get their day in court before Judge Jesus. But those who choose in this life to ignore God, chose to cut him out of the loop of their lives and reject his presence and influence over them, get for all eternity what they chose on earth, a life without God and that will be hell. Because they did not go to Jesus, the Savior who died to pay for their rebellions and sins against God, they will now have to spend an eternity paying the price themselves. This is not God’s desire for them. It never was. From the very beginning, God had planned and prepared this Kingdom, this perfect place for us to live out eternity with him. But some will get for all eternity what they chose for this life, a godless existence.

I think I would have to agree with those who think the idea of eternal punishment in hell is unthinkable and an unacceptable cruelty, if God had done nothing to provide a way out or around this horrible destiny. But God did. The Bible tells us that God loved the world that he sent his one and only son (Jesus) into our world to die in our place as a payment for our sins.

Because of what Jesus did through his death on the cross, God can make each of us this offer: Accept the payment that was made to pay for all your sins and you will be completely forgiven of all of them and the doors of heaven will be opened wide for you!

Jesus claimed he was our only way to God and heaven when he said things like, "I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) and "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me." (John 11:25-26).