1 CORINTHIANS 15:50-57 – “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

THEME OF THE DAY:  OH DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?   I am writing today’s devotion on Christmas Day right after a brisk morning walk in the cemetery behind my church.  Cemeteries are great places to visit.  They are quiet allowing for reflection.  They are also great teachers offering clear lessons on the inevitability of death, the brevity of life, and the impartiality of the grave.

As I walked through this large cemetery, I realized I was not alone.  Not far from me, I saw a man looking to be middle aged, standing over a grave, his left hand resting on the headstone, and looking down.  I immediately thought, “He is likely visiting his departed wife on this Christmas morning. He looks so sad.”   As I continued to walk, another figure came into view. It was a woman. She was younger than the man I observed earlier, but she shared the same experience with him.  She stood over a grave with her head pointed upward as if she was staring into heaven.  And she looked sad too.  My thoughts were, “Is she missing a husband?  A child?”

I watched them, not with an intruding stare but a look of respect. I wanted to approach the grieving man and woman, and say, “There is hope. The grave is not the end.  Death does not have the last word.”  In both cases, the visits to the graves of their loved ones were brief as each headed to their vehicles before I was within speaking range. Observing their visits and return to their cars, each acknowledged me with a small smile sending me the message, “I come here often and just had to make a Christmas visit.”

The emphasis on my walk now shifted.  Praise came as I looked over the vast amounts of graves and whispered to myself, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Friends, as the New Year approaches, don’t leave Christmas as a Christmas passed only to be thought of as a memory.  Christmas is the beginning of the triumphant cry over death.  Visit it daily.  And visit a cemetery soon too.  The Lord may give us some encounters with people to pray for and to share the message of Christmas.

PRAYER: Lord, I praise you that the last enemy, death, is conquered. I need not fear this foe any longer.

REFLECTION:  Death no longer has a grip on us because the Risen Christ broke its grip on us.