I am writing this blog after speaking at the second of two thanksgiving services for believers who had gone to be with the Lord in their 90’s.
The first was for my mother-in-law Beryl (98). The text for that message was based on 1 Peter 1:3–9. I spoke about Christianity being true, good and beautiful.
Peter celebrates the living hope that is rooted in the truth claim that Jesus has been raised from the dead. This hope is also a celebration of the goodness of inheritance in Christ, that will never perish spoil or fade. This hope also produces an inexpressible and glorious joy.
It was interesting to me that this passage appeared in my PrayerMate on the day that Beryl went to be with the Lord and appeared again twice in the following fortnight. It is always nice to have a little steer toward a text for preaching.
I had a similar sense of God underlining a message when I read Isaiah Chapter 12 in my daily reading the morning I heard that Brian had gone to be with the Lord. That was the text that Brian (94) had chosen for his thanksgiving service.
His widow Joyce and daughter Glenys said that they smiled when they found the scrap of paper Brian had left behind expressing his wishes for this service. I also smiled when I saw that Brian had not only suggested the reading for today –but had supplied three headings for the sermon, each with double alliteration:
Diverted Wrath — Drawn Water — Directed Worship
I don’t normally go for alliteration’s artful aid! I tend to tell my students to avoid it because it can appear somewhat artificial and forced. Since Brian had gone to all that trouble, I decided to swallow hard and give it a go.
The first point “Diverted Wrath” helped me to stress the gratitude of Brian toward a God who is hurt by our sin but is willing to comfort us with forgiveness, a God who accepts us not because we are willing but because he is willing.
The second point “Drawn Water” helped me to focus on the beautiful metaphor of joyfully drawing water from the wells of salvation. Brian was a happy man, who had a quiet joy in God.
I was interested to see a clip of a podcast that John Lennox did with Stephen Bartlett, the podcaster, in which Bartlett, who is not a professing Christian, made a fascinating comment:
“That one of the most compelling arguments for God that you have presented is not your arguments or what you have written in your books, it is actually you. You have a certain peace and contentment that I rarely see in people that I interview, but I have often seen in the Christians I have interviewed. They have an anchoring that so many of us are looking for.”
It is this anchoring that leads to the third point: Directed Worship. If the God of the Bible is all he is cracked up to be, then we will want to make some noise about it in grateful thanks, heartfelt praise and focused proclamation.
Preaching at funerals is an excellent way to make a noise about what it takes to end well.
Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash