All Will Be New
Our church family lost a young man last week, and it has deeply saddened our congregation. Joel was the oldest son of a fine family of eight. He was 21 and ready to graduate this winter from OSU and had a wonderful future ahead of him. Tragically, he fell while climbing North Sister with his girlfriend, and he perished.
Foundry Church, led by our pastors, has rallied to the side of this family, as churches do. We prayed for rescue, then recovery, for comfort and trust for all who knew Joel and grieve. Food was brought and errands run. One of our elders said to me, "I have no words." In times like these, presence is often most important, not sermons. Our hearts collectively are broken for the loss of this young man to his family and to all who knew him.
Tim Keller was pastoring Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City when the attack on 9/11 happened. He reflected that the sermon following that event on 9/16 was the hardest talk he ever wrote and delivered. What words could convey hope in a time of excruciating loss without sounding contrived or platitudinous? What message might bring God's love and care close when people are faced with sudden calamity? Keller focused on the resurrection of Jesus that brings forward our true and only hope. And as he was prone to do, Keller included a bit of Tolkien to aid in understanding:
"In the last book of the Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee wakes up thinking everything is lost, and upon discovering instead that all his friends were around him, he cries out, "Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead! Is everything sad going to come untrue?"
The answer is yes. And the answer of the Bible is yes. If the resurrection is true, then the answer is yes. Everything sad is going to come untrue."
Our hope as Jesus-followers lies over the horizon of this life. Tragedies happen, often without explanation. If our hope is tied to peace, prosperity and health here, we live on the edge of soul-crushing, faith-destroying disappointment. But the great news of the good news is just as Tolkien says, "Everything sad will come untrue." What the resurrection of Jesus from the dead tells us is that this is not the end. Listen to Jesus in John 16:
I have told you these things, so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.
And Paul hitchhikes on this in 1 Cor. 15.
If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
Living well in a world that is bent can be hard at times, yet we are challenged to live life with all we have ... but with one eye looking out to our hope that will not disappoint. How that appears will look different for every person, but what is constant is an understanding that...
As good as this world can be, this is not our home
Jesus traveled as our pioneer from this world to the next at the resurrection
We are not left here as orphans but have the Spirit to comfort and to guide and to instruct
Together, we stand and remind one another where our true hope lies
Any time when one in our circle dies, we grieve. But not as those who have no hope. Believers in Jesus have hope that "everything sad will come untrue." And that is our message to one another and quietly to our world.
Music for the week is good for the soul
Even in the hard times, it's OK and healthy to chuckle...even at bad jokes...
My Grandpa used to sit in a rocking chair. He had a recliner, but didn't use it, because it wasn't comfortable for him.
So one night when we were over there, Dad tried putting shims under the recliner feet to change the angle, to see if that would make it better for him.
While we were doing that, Grandma was rummaging around in the closet and knocked over a box of marbles.
That is forever stuck in my mind as the night Grandpa was off his rocker and Grandma lost her marbles.
__________
A woman meant to call a music store but dialed the wrong number and got a private home instead.
"Do you have 'Eyes of Blue' and 'A Love Supreme'?" she asked.
"Well, no," answered the puzzled homeowner. "But I have a wife and eleven children."
"Is that a record?" she inquired.
"I don't think so," replied the man, "but it's as close as I want to get."