フィリピの信徒への手紙1:21-24 Philippians 1:21-24,
わたしにとって、生きるとはキリストであり、死ぬことは利益なのです。 （フィリピ1:21）
「死ぬことは利益なのです」とは、一体どのような意味なのでしょうか？ 「死ぬことは利益なのです」ということの意味を理解するためには、23節の後半に記されていることをよく踏まえなければなりません。すなわち、23節の後半には「一方では、この世を去って、キリストと共にいたいと熱望しており、この方がはるかに望ましい」とあります。つまり、この世の肉体が死ぬことによって、「この世を去って、キリストと共に」いることになるので、それがパウロにとっては「利益」であり「望ましい」ことなのです。これは、キリストと結ばれたクリスチャンの魂が、肉体の死によって天におられるキリストのもとに召されるということを意味しています。
同じような考え方は、パウロの他の手紙にも見られます。すなわち、コリントの信徒への手紙二の5章6節から8節には次のように記されています。「それで、わたしたちはいつも心強いのですが、体を住みかとしているかぎり、主から離れていることも知っています。目に見えるものによらず、信仰によって歩んでいるからです。わたしたちは、心強い。そして、体を離れて、主のもとに住むことをむしろ望んでいます。」「体を住みかとしている」というのは、この地上で肉体をもって生きているということです。人間がこの地上で肉体をもって生きている限りは、キリストと完全に一致することはできません。人間は、キリストに逆らう罪をもっており、完全にキリストの意思を自分の意思とすることができないからです。「体を住みかとしているかぎり、主から離れている」とはそのようなことです。そして、「体を離れて、主のもとに住む」とは、クリスチャンの魂が地上の肉体の死の後に「主のもと」すなわち天におられるキリストのもとに召されて、そこで安らぎを得るということを意味しています。これらの聖書の箇所で教えられている信仰は、17世紀にイギリスで作られたウェストミンスター信仰告白の32章で次のように整理されて述べられています。
「人間の体は、死後、塵に帰り、朽ち果てる。しかし、不死の実在を持つ彼らの魂（それは死ぬことも眠ることもない）は、それを与えられた神に直ちに帰る。義人（正しい人−−筆者註）の魂は、そのとき完全に清くされて、最高の天に受け入れられ、そこで彼らの体の完全の贖いを待ちながら、光と栄光の内に神の御顔を見る。また、悪人の魂は、地獄に投げ込まれ、そこで大いなる日の裁きを受ける身となって、苦しみと完全な暗黒の中にとどまる。(後略)」 (松谷好明訳) （4月27日の説教より）
We all have to experience physical death at least once. Death is an unavoidable problem for everyone. People have always thought about how to face death. Many people think that since we will die someday, we should enjoy life while we are still healthy. I think that many people today still think this way. It seems that people in the times of the Bible also had similar ideas. In the New Testament, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians 15:32, we read the words “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” This shows that people in the past and today think in a similar way. Eating and drinking may be enjoyable, but that enjoyment is fleeting. If you are full, eating more can even be painful. If you get used to eating luxurious meals, you probably won’t even feel that they are enjoyable. We must say that spending time eating and drinking to distract ourselves from the solemn reality of death, which will inevitably come, is a meaningless way to live. However, many people can’t think of any other way to live, so they end up thinking “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
On the other hand, there are a few people who try to live with the goal of dying, rather than enjoying life in this world. In other words, it is a way of life that sacrifices one’s own life in order to achieve something. This can be said to be a way of life that faces death head-on, but it is also a way of life that runs the risk of glorifying death. Whenever there is war between countries, the idea of “dying for one’s country” has been glorified. This is something that is easy to understand when you think about Japan during the Second World War.
In recent years, the news often reports on people who choose to die by so-called “suicide bombing.” And it is sometimes said that the motivation for “suicide bombing” is the fanatical beliefs of Muslims. But is there really a part of Islamic teachings that condones “suicide bombing”? Rather, isn’t it the case that tragedies such as “suicide bombing” occur because religion is being used for political purposes? When any religion is used for political purposes, it can lead to abnormal situations, where dying for one’s country or people is glorified. When you think about it like this, you realise that neither indulging in the pleasures of this world nor fanatically glorifying death are the right ways to face death. So, what kind of way of thinking would lead to a way of life where you face death squarely and live each day of your life on earth with a steady hand?
Today’s Bible passage describes how the apostle Paul, while firmly facing his own death, tried to live each day of his life on earth with a steady hand. In verse 20, which comes before today’s passage, Paul says, “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” At the time he wrote this letter, Paul was in the city of Rome, awaiting trial by the emperor. It was expected that he would either be found not guilty or found guilty, and if he was found guilty, the most severe penalty would be the death penalty. That is, “whether by life or by death” was not an abstract question for Paul, who was awaiting trial, but a very concrete question that concerned him personally.
So, Paul goes on to say more about the issue of life and death in verse 21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Firstly, “For me to live is Christ” means that for Paul, life on earth is a life in which the old self dies and he lives by the life of Christ. This is a Christ-centred view of life, and it is also in line with Paul’s desire in verse 20, “Christ will be honored in my body.” The best expression of this Christ-centred view of life is probably the following words from Galatians 2:20.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
As these words show, Paul is no longer living by his own life from birth. He is being kept alive by the life of Christ, which has been given to him through faith. Paul is united with Christ through faith, and so the life of Christ has become his life.
In addition, in Romans 14:8, Paul writes, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” In these words, it is said that the life of a Christian is no longer their own, but belongs to Christ. As Christians, we have been forgiven of our sins through Christ’s death on the cross and given new life through his resurrection, so we no longer belong to ourselves. Therefore, we live not for ourselves, but for Christ. In this way, Paul also makes clear his Christ-centred view of life in other letters. And in today’s passage, he expresses this Christ-centred view of life in a single, straightforward phrase: “To live is Christ.”
So, what exactly does it mean when it says in verse 21 of today’s passage that “to die is gain”? In order to understand what it means to say that “to die is gain,” we need to consider what is written in the second half of verse 23. That is, in the second half of verse 23, Paul says, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” In other words, by dying in this world, he will “depart” this world and “be with Christ,” and this is “far better” for Paul. This means that the souls of Christians who are united with Christ are called to Christ in heaven by dying in the body. A similar idea can be seen in other letters of Paul. In 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul says as follows.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
The phrase “we are at home in the body” means that we live on this earth with our physical bodies. As long as we live on this earth in physical bodies, we cannot be in complete unity with Christ. This is because we have the sin of disobedience to Christ, and we cannot make Christ’s will our own. “While we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” means this. And “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” means that after the death of the physical body on earth, the soul of the Christian is called to the Lord, – that is, to Christ in heaven – and there finds rest.
The faith taught in these Bible passages is summarised in Chapter 32 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which was written in England in the 17th century, as follows.
The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption: but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them: the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. (The rest is omitted.)
To put it simply, the souls of those who have believed in and followed Christ will be called to Christ the Saviour when their earthly bodies die, and will be resurrected on the Last Day with bodies of eternal life. Some people say that everyone goes to heaven when they die, but this is not correct according to the teachings of the Bible. Souls that are united with Christ are called to the kingdom of heaven where Christ is. That is why Paul says that “to die,” which is commonly thought of as a painful and sad thing, is “gain” for him. And even if “to die” in this case means dying as a result of being sentenced to death after a trial by the Roman emperor, he believes that it is nothing other than “gain” because he will be with Christ in heaven.
In this way, Paul not only did not fear death, but actually longed for it. However, Paul did not live his life in a way that was driven by a desire to die. This is because he also knew the positive meaning of living on earth. In verses 22 and 23, Paul confesses as follows.
If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
By the phrase “to live in the flesh,” he means to continue to live on this earth with a physical body. And by “fruitful labor” he means fruitful work for Christ. In other words, this means preaching the gospel of Christ and enabling people to receive true salvation of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. In particular, Paul was hoping to do this “fruitful labor” for the believers of the Philippian church at this time. In verse 24, we can see Paul’s thoughts expressed in the words, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” Needless to say, “on your account” refers to the believers of the Philippian church. “To remain in the flesh” means to live on earth. Paul wanted to stay on earth and live, preaching the gospel of Christ to the believers of the Philippian church and feeding those who gathered at the church with the gospel. Thinking about the believers of the Philippian church, Paul realised that he had many missions to fulfil. He wanted to stay on earth and fulfil those missions. That is, Paul was thinking of his brothers and sisters, who were being made alive together by Christ, and he had no intention of rushing to his death for his own sake.
As this attitude of Paul shows, Christians live their lives by steadily fulfilling their missions on this earth while also yearning for heaven. The Reformer John Calvin says that for Christians, life in this world is like “a post,” i.e., a job position assigned by the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, he writes, “For it is as if the Lord had assigned us a post, which we must maintain till he recalls us (Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3, Chapter 9, Section 4). When our life on earth ends is not something that we decide for ourselves, but something that God decides for us.
Paul confesses, “Which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two.” However, this does not mean that Paul was agonising over the two ideas. He is not saying, like the tragic hero in a play, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” He is saying that, whether he lives or dies, he will follow God’s will, because if he lives, he can do “fruitful labor” for Christ, and if he dies, he can be “with Christ” in heaven. Paul says that, although he would like to depart this world and be with Christ, if God’s will is for him to do “fruitful labor” by preaching the gospel of Christ for the believers of the Philippian church, then he will gladly obey God’s will. In this way, Paul shows us that true faith is to entrust all of life and death to God’s will.
To finish today’s sermon, I would like to tell you a true story. In Fukuoka, Kyushu, there is a hospital called Kameyama Eikō Hospital. This hospital is known for its large-scale hospice with 71 beds. There was a doctor called SHIMOINABA Yasuyuki who worked at this hospital and also preached the gospel as a cooperating pastor at the Kasumigaoka Christ Gospel Church. In 2021, Dr. SHIMOINABA Yasuyuki, who was the honorary head of the hospice at Kameyama Eikō Hospital, where he worked as a doctor, finished his 82 years on earth and was called to be with the Lord. One of the patients with whom Dr. SHIMOINABA had a close relationship was Ms. SAEKI Hisako, who was 54 years old and suffering from terminal cancer. Ms. SAEKI Hisako went to Kameyama Eikō Hospital, which had a hospice, at the suggestion of a friend, and she and her husband met Dr. SHIMOINABA. Her husband, Hirofumi, describes how he was led to believe in Christ as follows.
“Doctor, please help me.” I desperately pleaded for help. The doctor calmly, but with conviction, accepted me and gave me appropriate guidance. That night, I explained to my wife that her illness had recurred and that she was in a serious condition. We held hands and cried out loud. At that time, I had no faith, so I had no words of encouragement for my wife. “If you die, I’ll die too.” That was all I could say. Eventually, I came across a book by Dr. SHIMOINABA titled Inochi no Shitsu wo Motomete (In Search of the Quality of Life). When I read the words “Death is not a miserable defeat in life, but the completion of life, a glorious departure for heaven,” it was as if a scale had fallen from my eyes. I began to desperately wonder what God was, and what heaven was. (SHIMOINABA Yasuyuki, “Hontō ni Shu wa Yomigaetta – Hosupisu wa Fukkatsu Shinkō no Saizensen” [The Lord Has Truly Risen – The Hospice is the Front Line of the Resurrection Faith] Hyakumannin no Fukuin, April 1994. Tranlsated by MIYOSHI Akira.)
When we face death, I think we all think seriously about Christ, who died on the cross for us and rose again. And I sincerely hope that everyone here today will seek something beyond physical death by believing in Christ.