As we ponder the approaching snow storm that is due to hit this afternoon, it’s hard to fathom that Easter is just a few short Sundays away.  I am not a fan of early Easters generally and much prefer when they come in late April.  It just seems more Eastery when it comes later.  And, yet, as I watch the snow move closer to us on the radar, maybe it’s better to have a reminder of new life and resurrection even as we are still in the grip of winter. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of winter.  About this time of year it just seems so long and dark and cold and, well, long.   I will admit, though, that Michigan winters (as relatively mild as they have been the past couple of years) do make the arrival of Spring that much sweeter.  Spring, when it comes, is like a resurrection of sorts.            

When I was a boy we lived in a new subdivision that was still being developed.   And so, unbeknownst to our parents, my friends and I would often go exploring in construction sites that I’m sure we shouldn’t have been at.  But one day we discovered a tunnel under a new road.  It was a long, dark, and wet tunnel that kind of creeped me out.  However, my friend, who sometimes had more guts than brains, insisted that we go through it.  But there was no way I was going in there.  So he went without me. When he disappeared out of sight into the darkness, I was sure he was a goner. 

A few minutes later, to my surprise, he called to me from the road above the tunnel. He had gone all the way through, had come out on the other side, and was now standing above me.  He cajoled me into entering the tomblike darkness of tunnel assuring me that he would be there to meet me on the other side. 
Many times since, I have thought that this was much like death—a long, dark, and damp tunnel that seems so dangerous and frightening. And then our friend Jesus stepped ahead of us, died on the cross, and traveled the tunnel alone. He came out the other side and now stands in heaven promising to meet us there.

Jesus says In John 14 “let not your hearts be troubled trust in me.  For in my father’s house are many rooms and I am going there to prepare a place for you so you may be where I am  and I will come back and take you there.”

Over the last 20 years of ministry I have had to conduct many funeral services for folks who, in a winter moment of desperation, made a decision to end their lives.  For reasons that seem very inexplicable to many people (but not to others) the darkness and despair just seemed too much for them. The tunnel of their depression just too long. There is no worse type of funeral to conduct.  I have heard some, even preachers, say with authority that the taking of one’s own life is an unforgivable sin because there is no opportunity to repent afterward. 

There is just no scriptural support for this belief.  We do not earn our salvation through what we do or do not do.  And we do not lose our salvation because of what we do in a moment of despair.  Our salvation is based on our faith and belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior and our baptism into Him for the forgiveness of sins—all sins, past, present, and future.   Taking one’s life is a sin.  But it’s not an unforgiveable sin because Jesus Himself has travelled that dark tunnel of death and he has come out on the other side.  Suicide should not be glorified as it is too often in plays, movies, music, and other media.  It always leaves a trail of brokenness, hurt, pain, and unanswered questions in its furious wake.  I have often been in that wake trying to help those left behind. It’s just the cruelest kind of pain for the deceased’s loved ones. And the pain never goes away. Never.

Yet, in Easter Sunday, even when it comes too close to winter bleakness, we are reminded that Jesus walked out of death’s tomb.  And because of our faith in Him, so will we one day. Consider Paul’s powerful words in Romans 8:38&39:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you ever begin to feel that there is no hope, no solution, no alternative, no way out of your dark tunnel, please get help. Call me. Call a friend. See a doctor.  But, above all, reach out to Jesus.  He has already been there and He knows the way out.