“A Fox will grieve for the death of a hare”. This common Chinese idiom means all things feel sorry for their own kind, as both animals are favorite prey for hunters. Though this is an expression of personification, many animals do show signs of grief, or startle when encountering the death of its company. If this happens to lower animals, how much more do we feel about our fellow human? As an overseas Chinese, I am particularly heartbroken for the news from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of Coronavirus outbreak. As the virus spreads all over the globe, the onlookers of fire standing on the other shore suddenly feel the same burn right from behind. You can imagine the shock as we barely have time to switch mood from sympathizing those on a sinking boat, to realizing our very own boat is sinking together.
Who is not afraid of death? However, this fear varies from person to person, and even for the same person, his fear of death varies with respect to different kind of death. If one lived to the fullest of his expectation and died of a good old age, his final death warrants a celebration. No one is afraid of such a death, whether be it of his own, or of his loved ones. What we fear most is the untimely death. Whenever an unnatural death is happening, it leaves the dying cringing and the surviving grieving. When the deadly plague breaks out, the relatively rare occurrence of sudden and painful deaths suddenly become common place events that could happen to everyone. The fear of death would jump out in the broad daylight from the depth of our mind. What have been sporadic sparks here and there now become a wildfire that could wipe out the entire forest. For those who live under the shadow of death of a deadly plague, the wish of dying a good old age is almost as untenable as eternal life. It also becomes easier to recognize and honor those who die in their boots.
Not many people have courage to die in their boots, but there are certainly people like that. What produces such a courage to meet his own death undauntedly? I heard reports that after a forest fire, someone discovered unhurt chicks under the wings of a burned eagle. I read news about the discovery of a surviving infant hurdled tightly by the diseased mother under earthquake rubbles. It is love that motivates people to face their own deaths with courage. No one wants to die, but in order to save their loved ones, they are willing to give up their lives. This sacrificial love enables people to overcome the fear of death. When the deadly plague breaks out and everyone’s life is under threat, out of love, Dr. Li Wenliang marched against the tide for the sake of truth. By his death he revealed the love he had towards people, and this earned him the respect of the world. There is another kind of hero who stands up against the tide. Even before the coming of the deadly plague, out of love for truth, they would stand up and fight. Few noticed them, because the plague had not come, and life still seems rather enjoyable. When Pastor Wang Yi was publicly exposing the Chinese Caesar who wants to grab what belongs to God, he was already preparing to die in his boots for the truth. What kind of truth can overcome fear and enable him to die for it, even without the respect of the world?
The spread of the plague not only shortens the distance between one’s birth and his death, but it also shortens the time to recognize and honor the whistleblower. Therefore when Dr. Li Wenliang died, the whole world was moved. The stop of the plague would not change the fate of our ultimate death, yet it would damp our desire for salvation from the Savior. When Jesus Christ was crucified, the whole world couldn’t care for less. Yet it is this Jesus who began to travel backwards in the death march of mankind for the first time. He first traveled backwards to the cross, and then from the grave he traveled backwards to life again. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:7-8 ESV) As soon as one is touched by His great love, and shocked by such complete salvation from death, like Pastor Wang Yi, he would have no fear of physical death. He would follow Jesus Christ, the forerunner of our faith, and be ready to die in his boots for the sake of truth. Christians are all such travelers who have overcome the fear of death. It is a small thing that we would lead people out of fear of Coronavirus, we would lead them out of death for good and into enteral life.
Prayer: Lord Jesus! Thank you for coming to suffer and to die for us, and to resurrect from the grave on our behalf! May your love motivate us to speak out for truth, and the darker the cloud of death surrounds us the louder we are!
