With apologies to all you N.T. Wright fans, I think I like the idea of “a home on God’s celestial shore” from the old Gospel hymn, I’ll Fly Away. (Theologian N.T. Wright insists that we should avoid talking about “going to heaven” and think more about “heaven coming to earth.”  He has a point often over-made by his enthusiasts. Psalm 90, the Psalm of Moses, however, reminds us:
                The years of our life are seventy,
                                or even by reason of strength eighty;
                yet their span is but toil and trouble;
                                they are soon gone, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10 [ESV])
 
I’ve been thinking about when I come to die not because of any health problems or other concerns – I’m hoping to make at least eighty years of life by Moses’ reason of strength before I fly away. What has me pondering death is a disturbing article in the Wall Street Journal. Under the headline “Inside Putin’s $26 Billion Quest for Longevity,” the story tells how “Russian state scientists appointed by Putin have focused on two key technologies: bioprinting, or 3D-printing living tissue, and xenotransplantation, or growing human organs inside mini-pigs, a porcine breed deemed genetically compatible to humans.”
 
Putin’s idea is that we (he) can avoid or at least postpone death by trading in old and worn-out organs – hearts, livers, kidneys – with new ones spit out by our 3-D printers or grown inside some poor lab pig.    
 
Add the tech bros who want to upload our minds to the matrix, and we’ve got a problem.
 
Our problem is, and has been, death. It happens. Dictators and digital billionaires may try to cheat death or buy their way out of it, but death, the final enemy, cannot be defeated by high tech or lots of money. There is only one person who has overcome death and, amazingly, he invites us to share in his victory (1 Corinthians 15:57-58)
 
The Wall Street Journal article about human attempts to cheat death was disturbing. Much more reassuring have been the stories and interviews with former Senator Ben Sasse who is expected to die soon.  Diagnosed last fall with terminal pancreatic cancer, Sasse has turned to his Christian faith rather than high-tech hopes.
 
If you prefer video, I suggest this 60 Minutes interview from late April (start at the 31-minute mark). Readers might want to access this from The Dispatch.
 
In response to a question about fearing death, Sasse said, “I don’t really feel much fear. I believe the stuff I believe theologically, (so) I’m not afraid of death, but the dying part doesn’t sound very fun.”
 
As to why God has not answered the thousands of prayers for his healing, Sasse replied, “I wouldn’t want a sovereign God to defer to all of my prayers with a yes. I’m not omniscient. I don’t know what the weaving together of the tapestry of full redemption should look like, but I know going through the period of suffering that I’m going through is a benefit because it is a winnowing. I’m filled with dross. This suffering is not salvific, but it’s sanctifying, and I’m grateful for it.”
 
How do we find peace in the face of death as Ben Sasse has found? How do we avoid the desperation of Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos? 
 
 “I was blessed to be raised in the church and to be catechized, and always believed myself to be a sinner,” Ben Sasse says. “I’ve never, never doubted the need for a substitute for me.”
 
Believe what we believe. “You can have all this world but give me Jesus.”
 
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye, I’ll fly away.