"The Day Dan Ytzen Died" 

by WXAN & KMHM General Manager, Doug Apple

Time for another offering.  The ushers came forward.  The pastor prayed, and closed with the usual “Amen”.  Immediately there was a loud cry from the congregation.  And just like that, 43-year-old Dan Ytzen passed from this world to the next.

Sobering.  People die, but not at 43.  And certainly not in the middle of a church service – a roomful of witnesses. 

Picture a wife at the altar, weeping while CPR is performed.  Picture prayer warriors, interceding, hands outstretched.  Prayers mixed with tears. 

And the look on my face?  Helplessness.  Sure, I prayed, too.  But I had the feeling that Dan was gone, and that there would be no bringing him back.  And in a way, I envied him.

I stood by the ambulance as they loaded him in.  I pictured the day when my own body would be loaded up like that.  I stood by at the hospital, and prayed and waited.  I heard the cries as the announcement came.  I saw a new widow take her first step onto the path of grief.  I pictured my own wife, sitting in that chair, with friends gathered around. 

But what about Dan?  He is in a better place.  In 2 Corinthians 5:7 Paul wrote that he would “prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” 

When a Christian dies, it is not the end, but a new beginning in a new home.  Dan had never dreamed of anything so wonderful as what he is now experiencing.  And you know what?  We will all join him soon enough. 

I spent the rest of that Sunday with the same helpless, introspective feeling.  But as I read the passage in 2 Corinthians I noticed that Paul said, “We are confident,” and, “We are always confident.”  How can we enjoy confidence when dealing with death and grief?  “We live by faith and not by sight.”  By sight, Dan is gone, never to be seen again.  By faith we know that Dan is with the Lord, and that we will all see him again soon.

So what to do between now and then?  Paul addresses that as well.  Verses 9 and 10 say, “So we make it our goal to please Him…for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” 

Like Dan, none of us know how much time we have left here.  Let us each examine ourselves, and pledge to live lives more pleasing to the Lord.