SermonStudio

W. George Easson

What is it that gives value to life? In the eyes of the world it is intelligence and the ability to produce. Great importance is placed upon the Einsteins, the Salks, the Menningers, the Shakespeares and the Lincoins of the world whose brilliance and ability have shaped human society and produced the tide of technical and intellectual advances which almost overwhelm us today. Those with leadership qualities who are able to influence others; those with persuasive or political or intellectual or athletic power who can inspire others, gain approval, and create excitement are the people of worth. Those are the lives the world values.

On that basis, most people have some value. But it happens at times that there are those who are denied the normal capacities the rest of us take for granted; those who require unusual amounts of care and attention. For those with the responsibility of providing that care, it does not take long to discover that there are other human qualities of much greater significance in determining the value of life. They soon learn to value life by other things than productive capacity, Things like love and trust, sympathy and patience, honesty and a transparent spirit are infinitely greater indicators of real value to life.

These things have the ability, even in very uncomplicated situations, to create strong relational bonds, which, in the final analysis, are what declare life to be of value. Two things in particular deepen and strengthen relationships. One is need and dependency. It is the helplessness of an infant in the first few months of life that stirs the initial wells of love in a parent.

The other bonding factor is sacrificial service and devotion. As the dependent individual feels the security that devotion provides, the depths of love are plumbed in him or her. There are many difficulties associated with this kind of relationship. Over a long period of time it is physically very difficult to bear the responsibility of meeting the needs of someone who is highly dependent, yet in spite of problems and limitations, there exists something creative in the relationship and the bonds that are forged are strong.

But then when the responsibility is over and the labor of love is ended there is an urgent need to hear again the assurances of our faith. We need to hear again the affirmation which gives confidence that the one who is gone from us is now in a more creative and fulfilling situation than we could provide; that he is in the care of hands more omnipotent than the ones which have served until now, and that he is under the shadow of a love even more appealing. For this, we have the comfort and the glory of the faithfulness of our Lord.

"In my Father's house are many rooms," Jesus said. "I go to prepare a place for you." Up to the time of Christ, all people thought there were two worlds - one of earth and sky and sea, of clasping hands and loving hearts; and another world into which all passed at death; a chill and cheerless, lifeless place, which at best, was robbed of all that made for pleasantness; a place where life was nothing more than dazed existence.

But when Christ came he declared that there was but one world, all under the direction of the one God. Heaven is his throne; earth is his footstool. All the universe of created things is God's house. Earth with its green fields, its majestic mountains, its steadfast hills, is one room. Heaven, which outshines the earth in infinite ways, is another room. There is a life to be lived with the Father here, but there is a limitless and expanding life of glory and peace and boundless fulfilment to be lived with him there.

"I am going to prepare a place for you ... And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself."

Life is characterized by movement out into the world. Children move out into the world to get an education and to begin to take their place in the social life of the community. Later they go out to join the work force and to provide for their own needs. Often young children will go out to help work on some club project or to visit or play with a friend. Then, when evening comes, their father will go out to where they are with the word that it is time to come home, and he will take them home with him. There may be a reluctance to leave what they are doing, but there is something about going home that is appealing and that feels very right. It is the proper place to be.

For each of us, the time comes when at the end of the day a kindly, interested and concerned Father comes to us and interrupts the activity of the day with the word that it is time to come home, then he gathers us up securely and takes us home with him. He takes us home! There may be some reluctance to leave what we are doing, but it is the proper place to be. That is where we find security. That is where everything is regulated to serve our best interests. That is where love enfolds us with a peace which washes away the strains, the hurts, and the anxieties of the day. That is where we know we belong. That is where we can grow and rest in comfort in the presence and under the protection and care of a love that cannot wish anything but good for us.

"I will come back and take you home." He has now come to yet another of us with the word, "Come, it is time to go home." As he takes him, we who are left rejoice in the comfort of the promise that those who walk with God go back home to the peaceful security and joyful presence of the Father's love where learning is forever expanding, and where relationships are perfected and all life is glorified. Oh the depth of the joy and the security and the comfort of the Father's promises and of his love.