I am pretty sure that Jesus would and does call out to dead people and to alive people in the same way – with His same voice to them – because He sees them as in soul rather than in flesh – and it is the soul in us that listens and therefore doesn’t become deaf in death… just relocated.  I was just reading in Hebrews 5:13-14, 15-16): Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  

And it is totally true that we have an ability to be real with God – the good and the bad and the everything –  we have both an opportunity and a weakness to be ourselves in front of Him. It is said that His Strength can show thru our weakness. One of the hardest things I found out about doing a new polar plunge was that I had nobody to jump in with. In another I have fellow silly sisters as well as thousands of people. In this new one I walked in to the event alone. Cold water was fine, but the loneliness of alone is not. And so – by the grace of God there are others there who become your instant friends and comrades in taking on the challenge – talking about the situation – people come alongside even if it is for a five minute timeframe and you come alongside others… Although some (many) just go up to their knees or waist – there were others that went ALL IN…  We decide how deep we go. 

AND isn’t that life, isn’t that how we also decide to go all in for a conversation or just stay up to our ankles and jump out… Admitting weakness is one thing but finding opportunities to open and work thru weaknesses and stress could be difficult to find. And sometimes the “random” person on the train with you – or the gas station attendant – or in the grocery store line – or someone who notices us looking lost in a sea of people – those are the folks Jesus sends to connect with us – and we decide the level of our honestly and commitment to conversation – if we feel human compassion thru them, then they are whom we connect with – all ears and no judgements – humans who understand our humanness. 

Ultimately for the healing, however, we need Jesus and we do need to come clean with Him – this is where He can help the most – when you are honest with Him. His mercy and grace takes into account our brokenness before we are even born.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Even in our death He calls out to us – like Lazarus who walks out of the grave – like Jarius’s daughter who comes back for the sake of her family – isn’t that what Jesus does? Brings us back the souls of the people if not the whole bodies… If we can call on the Lord, then we can call on people. Jesus can fill a room with someone’s spirit – or simply tell us they are not there. And that DOES happen when you don’t have anyone to talk to. In substitution Jesus shows up because He wasn’t ever gone. He can soothe and comfort.  

Jesus is never gone – yes for those days after his death and before He resurrected, He was GONE in presence from those who had not yet gotten reconnected with His Spirit. How truly we are told that Jesus came to His friends and others back then and surely now. How truly Jesus comes with compassion and mercy and coverage for our loneliness with His calling our names from Heaven to earth. We may think that our souls live here on earth – but surely you might know that the place in heaven is mapped out for you – many rooms Jesus said – many rooms. 

Jesus calls us in life and in death because surely our soul is from His spirit – and something our dust is wrapped around… We are not deaf in death, therefore let us try to listen and speak to God in our life.  God knows our dust trails and therefore our hearts and minds. Let us call out to the Lord in our aloneness, even in a crowd. Let us let God comfort us. And, yes, let us let God settle our accounts on earth just as He settles our dust.

Amen

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.