HD Homilies- Alive

I have officiated two funerals in the last ten days.  In both cases, the deceased were older people who had lived long and wonderful lives.  I have found that the pain of loss does not diminish because of a long life.  As family members gather around a burial plot, saying their last good-byes to the person they loved so much, the tears flow for a great-grandmother as freely as they do for a young child.

As Jesus drew near the final days of his life, he tried to prepare his disciples for what was to come.  “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus told them.  “You trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1)  Jesus understood how troubling death is for us.  Facing life with the empty chair at the table.  Questions about what happens after we breathe our last breath on earth.  Will we see our loved ones again?  The unknown nature of death leaves us troubled and anxious.

Jesus goes on to tell his followers that, even though he would no longer be with them, he was going to prepare a place for them.  One day they would be together again in the house of his heavenly Father.  “In my Father’s house are many rooms,” Jesus told them.  Some translations read  “mansions.”  I kind of like the idea of having a mansion in heaven (although I think I would feel a little like the Beverly Hillbillys.)  Still, I prefer the translation “many rooms.”  I like the image of being in the same house with my heavenly Father - maybe just down the hall from Jesus.

Following this beautiful picture of what happens after death, Thomas asks the uncomfortable question.  “Lord, we don’t know where you are going?  How can we know the way?” (John 14:5)  Jesus does not give Thomas a list of rules to follow or scripture verses to memorize.  He simply says to him, “I am the Way…”  We find our way to heaven when we follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

How can we know that Jesus is trustworthy?  How can we be sure that he knows the way through the “valley of the shadow of death?”  We know because of Easter.  This coming Sunday we celebrate the truth that Jesus overcame death and rose again.  He is not in a grave.

He is alive!  Just like he said.  “Don’t let your heart be troubled!”

-Dr. Jim Baldwin