A Dwelling Place
Preaching
The Life Of Christ And The Death Of A Loved One
Crafting The Funeral Homily
A Funeral Homily For The Season After Pentecost
Music: How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place
Almighty God, our Father in heaven, before whom live all who die in the Lord: Receive N. into the courts of your heavenly dwelling. Let N.'s heart and soul now ring out in joy to you, O Lord, the Living God, and the God of those who live. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP p. 466)
''Receive N. into the courts of your heavenly dwelling.'' I think that says everything about why we are gathered here today. Because we are here today to affirm that to God's ''faithful people, life is changed, not ended; and when our mortal body lies in death, there is prepared for us a dwelling place eternal in the heavens'' (BCP p. 382). We read in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John, these words of Jesus: ''In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.''
We are here today to offer up our prayers that N. be received into God's dwelling place, and we are here to prepare and pray for ourselves, that we would be received into the place of God's dwelling.
What do we mean when we say ''God's dwelling place''? What kind of place is it? What happens there?
Scripture has much to say about heaven.
First, it is a place where we do not have to be afraid. Psalm 27 begins, ''Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? One thing only I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.'' To dwell with God is to not have to be afraid any more.
It is also a place of safety. Again, the Psalmist writes: ''For in the day of trouble God shall keep me safe; God shall hide me in the secrecy of God's dwelling.'' And it is a place of joy and happiness: ''Therefore I will offer in God's dwelling an oblation [an offering] with sounds of great gladness; I will sing and make music to the Lord.''
It is a permanent, not a temporary, dwelling. Paul writes:
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling ....
This body, this earthly tent, is a temporary shelter. But God's dwelling place is permanent and eternal in the heavens; as Psalm 23 says, ''Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.'' God's dwelling place is a forever place. It is a real place. And it is into that heavenly court that we pray N. will be received.
_______
How are we who remain preparing for that heavenly dwelling place? Do we, as Paul wrote, ''groan under our burden, because we wish ... to be further clothed'' with God's dwelling? Even though our outer nature (our body) is wasting away, is our inner nature being renewed day by day ... are we prepared not for what is temporary, but for what is eternal?
Those who believe and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, at their death, will rejoice to say with the author of Psalm 84:
How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts, to me!
My thirsty soul desires and longs within thy courts to be;
my very heart and flesh cry out; O Living God, for thee!
Beside thine altars, gracious Lord, the swallows
find a nest;
how happy they who dwell with thee and praise thee
without rest,
and happy they whose hearts are set upon the pilgrim's quest.
(''How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place,''
The Hymnal 1982, 517)
Amen.
Music: How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place
Almighty God, our Father in heaven, before whom live all who die in the Lord: Receive N. into the courts of your heavenly dwelling. Let N.'s heart and soul now ring out in joy to you, O Lord, the Living God, and the God of those who live. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP p. 466)
''Receive N. into the courts of your heavenly dwelling.'' I think that says everything about why we are gathered here today. Because we are here today to affirm that to God's ''faithful people, life is changed, not ended; and when our mortal body lies in death, there is prepared for us a dwelling place eternal in the heavens'' (BCP p. 382). We read in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John, these words of Jesus: ''In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.''
We are here today to offer up our prayers that N. be received into God's dwelling place, and we are here to prepare and pray for ourselves, that we would be received into the place of God's dwelling.
What do we mean when we say ''God's dwelling place''? What kind of place is it? What happens there?
Scripture has much to say about heaven.
First, it is a place where we do not have to be afraid. Psalm 27 begins, ''Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? One thing only I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.'' To dwell with God is to not have to be afraid any more.
It is also a place of safety. Again, the Psalmist writes: ''For in the day of trouble God shall keep me safe; God shall hide me in the secrecy of God's dwelling.'' And it is a place of joy and happiness: ''Therefore I will offer in God's dwelling an oblation [an offering] with sounds of great gladness; I will sing and make music to the Lord.''
It is a permanent, not a temporary, dwelling. Paul writes:
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling ....
This body, this earthly tent, is a temporary shelter. But God's dwelling place is permanent and eternal in the heavens; as Psalm 23 says, ''Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.'' God's dwelling place is a forever place. It is a real place. And it is into that heavenly court that we pray N. will be received.
_______
How are we who remain preparing for that heavenly dwelling place? Do we, as Paul wrote, ''groan under our burden, because we wish ... to be further clothed'' with God's dwelling? Even though our outer nature (our body) is wasting away, is our inner nature being renewed day by day ... are we prepared not for what is temporary, but for what is eternal?
Those who believe and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, at their death, will rejoice to say with the author of Psalm 84:
How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts, to me!
My thirsty soul desires and longs within thy courts to be;
my very heart and flesh cry out; O Living God, for thee!
Beside thine altars, gracious Lord, the swallows
find a nest;
how happy they who dwell with thee and praise thee
without rest,
and happy they whose hearts are set upon the pilgrim's quest.
(''How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place,''
The Hymnal 1982, 517)
Amen.
