"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are
asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God
will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep." 1 Thessalonians
4:13-14
It was over 35 years ago that I called upon the parents
of a child who was dying.
Dad was a member of my church and had,
thanks be to God, not neglected his Christian duty as a father. He had
been the spiritual head of his household and all of his children knew
Jesus as Savior. On the other hand, Mother had never had much use for
God's Son or the sacrifice He made to save sinners.
Now, with
death so close, I thought things might be different for her. Hoping the
Spirit would touch her and give her a good mourning, I called on them
and spoke about passages from the Bible. I began with "Blessed are they
that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). Then I spoke of
other words from Holy Writ:
* I touched on the beloved 23rd
Psalm: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for Thou art with me ..." (Psalm 23:4a).
*
Then there was the Gospel in a nutshell, "For God so loved the world
that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall
not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
* I started to
share the Savior's promise: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and
believes in Me will never die ..." (John 11: 25-26a).
The husband
nodded when he heard the Bible's call to peace. In contrast the mother
seemed to be in pain. Finally, this woman who had no faith, interrupted:
"Go no further. I will not listen. When he dies, my son will be dead. We
will go to the cemetery. We will walk away. My heart will break, and I
will spend the rest of my life trying to forget him."
The passing
of three and a half decades has not softened the horrible helplessness
of those words. Even now I can remember how, the last time I saw her,
that mother was still striving and struggling to forget her boy. For
her, and others like her, every day without the Savior has a bad
mourning.
But in my opening paragraphs I also talked about the
father, the Christian father.
You know, that man's son had also
died. Like his wife, the father attended the service at church and the
committal at the cemetery. Like his wife, he was mourning, sorrowful,
sad, but ....
But as St. Paul says, the father was not mourning
as those who had no hope. He knew a living Lord Jesus would someday, on
Judgment Day, raise his son to life (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14), and
grant them a family reunion that would never end. For that father the
words of Jesus had come true: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they
shall be comforted."
His life was filled with good mournings. I
pray the same may be said for all of us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord,
death comes to all sinners. That means, sooner or later we will mourn or
be mourned. Grant that I -- and all I know -- have a solid, unshakable
faith in Jesus Christ who gave Himself, so we might be given a faith
which cannot be toppled by death or destroyed by life. Send Your Holy
Spirit upon this sad world and grant they may become people of faith and
be given good mournings. In Jesus I ask it. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved;
not to be duplicated without permission.
