Passages
Sermon
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
For an elderly, faithful woman
Passages
Psalm 84:4-7
Psalm 84 speaks of God showing himself in Zion, which is the hill on which the city of Jerusalem sits. The psalm itself is a song sung by the faithful as they make a pilgrimage to worship in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
This part of the psalm mentions the thirsty desert valley through which the pilgrims must pass, but it also gives thanks to God for the springs of cool water he provides along the way.
Then, as the pilgrims arrive at the temple, they pass, the psalm says, from the outer wall to the inner. The temple was constructed as a series of courtyards, one within another. It was believed that the presence of God was most intense in the innermost court. Thus, the deeper one moved into the temple, the closer to God one became.
This concept suggests a kind of movement or passage in life where one goes from one stage to the next, each one bringing us closer to God.
The imagery of movement suggested by this psalm can be applied to the life of a Christian whose experience of God grows as she moves through the joys and pains of life.
In one sense, this image of movement applies to Birdine as it does to all of us. As she moved from childhood to teenage years, the little girl she had been was left behind. When she became a young woman, the teenager was seen no more. In middle age, the young woman was gone. And in her more recent advanced age, the younger woman she had been stayed behind.
But that's not the whole story for those who have committed themselves to the way of Jesus Christ. For Birdine, who was faithful in her commitment, there was the ongoing experience of God, constant, yet new in each stage of life.
I only knew Birdine in her most recent years, when she'd already suffered some of the physical problems that afflicted her, and then came the new ones with her eye problems and the final illness. But it struck me in talking with her about those things that she dealt with them in a matter-of-fact way, accepting what came to her as part of life. To me at least, she voiced no complaint, but took what came to her with grace.
I suspect that was in part because of her outlook on life, but also in part because of her faith.
Like the movement across the desert and then through the various courtyards of the temple, the passages of life each bring us all closer to the day when we will meet God face-to-face. This is not to say that life gets easier with each stage -- certainly that would not be true for Birdine -- but that for those seeking God in this life, the presence of God is growing reality.
Birdine has now gone into the innermost courtyard, where the presence of God is most intense. Just as the little girl, the teenager, the young woman, the woman of middle age, were each in turn left behind as Birdine aged, so now the unwell, tired out, senior woman that she was has been left behind as well, as she has put on the resurrected body in the presence of the Lord.
Do you remember that song "Sunrise, Sunset" from the play, Fiddler on the Roof? It was about the passages of life. The words can be found on the internet. For the Christian, as Birdine was, it goes like this: Sunrise, sunset, SUNRISE! Amen.
Passages
Psalm 84:4-7
Psalm 84 speaks of God showing himself in Zion, which is the hill on which the city of Jerusalem sits. The psalm itself is a song sung by the faithful as they make a pilgrimage to worship in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
This part of the psalm mentions the thirsty desert valley through which the pilgrims must pass, but it also gives thanks to God for the springs of cool water he provides along the way.
Then, as the pilgrims arrive at the temple, they pass, the psalm says, from the outer wall to the inner. The temple was constructed as a series of courtyards, one within another. It was believed that the presence of God was most intense in the innermost court. Thus, the deeper one moved into the temple, the closer to God one became.
This concept suggests a kind of movement or passage in life where one goes from one stage to the next, each one bringing us closer to God.
The imagery of movement suggested by this psalm can be applied to the life of a Christian whose experience of God grows as she moves through the joys and pains of life.
In one sense, this image of movement applies to Birdine as it does to all of us. As she moved from childhood to teenage years, the little girl she had been was left behind. When she became a young woman, the teenager was seen no more. In middle age, the young woman was gone. And in her more recent advanced age, the younger woman she had been stayed behind.
But that's not the whole story for those who have committed themselves to the way of Jesus Christ. For Birdine, who was faithful in her commitment, there was the ongoing experience of God, constant, yet new in each stage of life.
I only knew Birdine in her most recent years, when she'd already suffered some of the physical problems that afflicted her, and then came the new ones with her eye problems and the final illness. But it struck me in talking with her about those things that she dealt with them in a matter-of-fact way, accepting what came to her as part of life. To me at least, she voiced no complaint, but took what came to her with grace.
I suspect that was in part because of her outlook on life, but also in part because of her faith.
Like the movement across the desert and then through the various courtyards of the temple, the passages of life each bring us all closer to the day when we will meet God face-to-face. This is not to say that life gets easier with each stage -- certainly that would not be true for Birdine -- but that for those seeking God in this life, the presence of God is growing reality.
Birdine has now gone into the innermost courtyard, where the presence of God is most intense. Just as the little girl, the teenager, the young woman, the woman of middle age, were each in turn left behind as Birdine aged, so now the unwell, tired out, senior woman that she was has been left behind as well, as she has put on the resurrected body in the presence of the Lord.
Do you remember that song "Sunrise, Sunset" from the play, Fiddler on the Roof? It was about the passages of life. The words can be found on the internet. For the Christian, as Birdine was, it goes like this: Sunrise, sunset, SUNRISE! Amen.
