The text this afternoon is from the Gospel according to John, the fourteenth chapter:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Thus far the text.
Dear Nancy, Bob, Jennifer, Nicole, and my dear friends in Christ,
Fred was a stubborn man. But I mean this in a good way. I didn’t know him long, but I knew him pretty well. You could see exactly who he was, each and every time he set foot into this church. I say he was stubborn because Fred, even as he grew weaker over the last years, tried to insist on one very special thing: to walk himself up to this altar, to reach out his hands, and to take Communion.
Fred knew the way he was going, and that was to the front of the church. It’s not really because he was stubborn, of course, but because he knew a basic and simple truth, at this Communion rail, in the Lord’s Supper, Fred would be united with Christ in His body and His blood each and every time. And because Fred was in Christ, part of the body of Him who saved him, Fred would be reunited with his beloved bride, Betty, even if for a brief moment, a brief foretaste of the eternity they would share together in Christ.
In fact, the last time I visited Fred before he died, I brought him Communion. He was so thankful to receive the great gift that comes in the Lord’s Supper. And by the end of it, remembering that this is a foretaste of the feast to come, remembering that it was the promise of the resurrection from the dead, Fred was crying. He wasn’t crying tears of sadness. They weren’t lamenting over his condition. He was in pain, yes, his legs, were swollen, yes, things were difficult. But, Fred was crying for a different reason: his Lord had come to him in that moment. And that is a blessed gift.
Fred was a man of great faith, confident in his Lord. This was not by his own doing, but by the will of the Father, that Fred would trust in the Lord and serve for us as an example. He took the Lord’s words, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” to heart. When we would speak of what was to come, there was not fear for fear’s sake. I think, when it comes down to it, we’re all going to be afraid of death. We don’t like pain, and that’s okay. But, Fred never doubted that his Lord would save him through it. He knew that when he died, and, honestly, neither of us thought it would be as soon as it was, He would go to the place prepared for him.
He believed in the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. And so also should we; this is what Fred would want. We speak often of his love for Betty, and what an example it is to us, that for 60 years, they lived in marital bliss. But, Fred’s love for Betty paled in comparison to his love for Jesus. Jesus saved him, Jesus lived for him, died for him, resurrected for him, ascended for him, and Jesus went to prepare a place for Fred. Through Jesus, Fred has found eternal life, for only Jesus is the way to such a thing, only Jesus teaches the truth of such a thing, and only Jesus is the source of live everlasting. This is what Fred died believing. And he wants you to believe it, too.
I say “wants” because Fred is not dead, but merely sleeping. I know, this is his body laid out before. This is the consequence to sin. This is the very sign that Fred was not a perfect man, for the wages of sin is death. But, when Fred took his last breath in this life, I tell you the truth, he opened his eyes to see His Jesus waiting to welcome him to eternal rest. Fred was taken to be with his Lord, and now he awaits with all the saints in heaven for the day of resurrection, when this body before us will be made whole and new, and Fred’s soul will be joined with it once again, and he shall live forever in the new creation, a perfect creation, never to die again. This is what Fred wants for us, as well.
He and Betty both stand ready, waiting for that day, when our Lord will return in judgment, and He shall sit over you and over me, and, if we are in Him, if we have believed in Him, He shall declare us righteous for His own sake. Then shall we be welcomed to live with Him, and Fred, and Betty, for all eternity.
Fred knows a basic and simple truth: if you desire to live forever, you must believe in the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. If you want to live forever, you must be redeemed by the blood of the Christ, washed in His blood in the waters of Baptism. Fred knows a basic and simple truth, that Jesus is the Lord of all creation, and that Jesus picked Fred and redeemed him just as He picked you and redeemed you.
Today, even amidst our sorrow and losing Fred for this time, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe in Christ. He has prepared a place for you, and He will come again to take you to where He is, that where He is, you may be forever, with Fred, with Betty, with all those who have died in the love of the Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment