“I am immortal.”
Immortality is, to some, a science fiction fantasy. For the believer, however, the promise of heaven is also the promise of immortality.
Is it possible to experience immortality in the flesh? I believe it is.
To say “I am immortal,” and say it with a straight face involves a certain mindset and worldview. In order to make it reasonable, though, I have to introduce (or reintroduce you) to Lottie Moon.
Stay with me here. This will intrigue you. Promise. And I’ll give you a darn good application from a little history lesson.
In some circles (among Southern Baptists), Charlotte Digges Moon is spoken of in the same reverential tones as students of English lit speak of Shakespeare. She’s so honored that she’s lost some of her humanity. She’s attained mythical status. That’s a shame – she was a real, breathing, flawed human. A piece of work, for sure.
(The next five paragraphs are gleaned from the Wikipedia article about Lottie.)
Lottie was born into a privileged family in Virginia on a 1500 acre tobacco plantation in 1840. At four feet, three inches, she wasn’t what you’d call an imposing figure. She must’ve been brilliant; in 1861 she received one of the first Master of Arts degrees awarded to a woman by a southern institution.
Lottie was indifferent to her Christian upbringing, but had a spiritual awakening on her college campus during a series of evangelistic meetings. She was an outspoken and feisty young lady, from all accounts. She ended up in China as a missionary in 1873, sent by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board.
Lottie was initially frustrated. She started out teaching in a boy’s school, but her real passion was evangelism and church planting. Eventually she gave up teaching and moved into the interior to evangelize full-time in the areas of P’ingtu and Hwangshien. Her converts numbered in the hundreds.
I’ll fast forward to the end of the story.
Lottie spent her last years begging for support for her work and other missionaries. Ultimately, she shared her personal finances and food with anyone in need around her, severely affecting both her physical and mental health. In 1912, she only weighed 50 pounds. Alarmed, fellow missionaries arranged for her to be sent back home to the United States with a missionary companion. However, Moon died en route at the age of 72, on December 24, 1912, in the harbor of Kobe, Japan.
There is plenty more to say about her – for instance, she was a strong proponent for gender equality. And she is honored together with Henry Budd with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on December 22.
Thus endeth the history lesson – and to my point.
Here’s what Lottie said:
“I am immortal until my work is done.”
Read that again.
Let yourself revel in the implications of that statement:
- You and I are here for a reason.
- We are uniquely gifted. No one on earth has the same mix of talents, gifts, and knacks as you and I do.
- You are living in the time you were born for.
- Obviously, you woke up this morning. You’re able to function and comprehend what you’re reading.
- In other words, you ain’t dead yet.
- Furthermore, you won’t die until you complete what you were put here to do.
That should give you crazy hope.
Maybe you’re tempted to think you don’t have what it takes to be the kind of person you’re supposed to be. It might be that your track record of getting things done is lousy.
Want to know something cool? The Lord routinely uses deeply flawed human beings.
Oswald Chambers said, “I must realize my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it.”
See? You are immortal. I am immortal. We are still here. And our earthly immortality will be traded for eternal immortality when we’ve finished our appointed task.
You’ve already come so far. You’ve grown in wisdom and knowledge, even in the most minute ways. No matter how uncertain you may feel, there are tasks to do and goals to accomplish whether you understand exactly what they are or not.
Relax. You are a work in progress. There’s still lots you need to do. You’re supernaturally equipped to get it done.
O be joyful.