It sounds like something out of a nightmare. "Doctors at St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center were about to remove organs for transplant from a woman they thought was dead. Then she opened her eyes. She was alive." Her well-timed return to consciousness after a severe drug overdose prevented her from dissection.

How did such a horrifying scenario happen? Hospital staff were too quick to label her "dead," and failed to perform routine double checks that would have revealed that she was still alive—a failures that recently resulted in well-deserved fines for the institution.

Possible Preaching Angle:

How quick are we to write off things that are "dead" without checking carefully for signs of life? In our culture, our communities, our churches, we often make hasty judgments about who or what has life, based solely on appearances. Shouldn't we work instead to emulate the One who looks past appearances to the heart? Life still flickers in many places where death looks total.