Simple Faith and Death
I tried to recall a story I heard on Truth For Life that illustrated what we experience with death. I tried searching the web thinking Alistair lifted the story from somewhere else but I couldn't find it. But as I was listening to TFL a couple of days ago (the message is titled "Down in the Valley, Part B) and there was the replay of the message including the story. This time I took the time to write down the illustrations because they are timely.
First he told a story about the simple faith of a child.
"There is a story of a Grandpa taking his grandson to the gravesite of his grandmother. It was in Scotland and they always have florists selling flowers out of baskets in the summer outside of graveyards. And so the grandpa bought some flowers and he was going to put them in the jar next to the tombstone. And he gave them to his grandson to carry and as they were making their way through the graveyard and grandpa was dispondent with all the memories that were filling up in his mind and the wee boy was plaguing him with questions. Where is gran Grandpa? Is she in the ground? No, said grandpa, we put her body in the ground but she's not there. Well, where is she, grandpa? Well, she's with Jesus. Well, where's Jesus?. Jesus is in heaven. Well, where's heaven. Well Jesus went up into heaven so it is up, at least in our minds. So that satisfied the wee boy and they continued to walk together. He continued to hold the flowers. And the grandpa got a few strides in front of his grandson. And he turned around to call him. And as he turned around he noticed the boy was holding the tulips up into the air as he walked. And he said to his grandson, "Why are you holding the flowers in the air?". And he said, so that granny can see them if she's looking.
Then Alistair said, "God has made of death a narrow sunlit strip between the goodbyes of yesterday and the hellos of tomorrow."
Finally he told this story.
"There's a man making their journey with his son. And as they made their outward journey they were travelling together they come and passed over a rickety old bridge, which goes over the river. The boy is anxious over the bridge. And when they made their return journey they discovered the river has swelled its banks and washed the bridge away. And so the father picks up the child in his arms and begins to wade with him out into the river. And as he does so the boy begins to cry. And so the father simply holds him closer to his heart. And the boy falls asleep as his dad walks with him into the river. And the next thing the boy knows is that he wakes up in his bedroom. And the sun is shining through the windows. And he's home. That's death for the Christian. What we fear most we never experience. We fall asleep in the arms of Jesus and we wake up we are home."
Fact is that we either know of someone who is dying or maybe is facing death ourselves. Unless the Lord returns before the end of our lifetimes it is something we all will face. Take faith in the grace of our Lord for this part of our lives.
First he told a story about the simple faith of a child.
"There is a story of a Grandpa taking his grandson to the gravesite of his grandmother. It was in Scotland and they always have florists selling flowers out of baskets in the summer outside of graveyards. And so the grandpa bought some flowers and he was going to put them in the jar next to the tombstone. And he gave them to his grandson to carry and as they were making their way through the graveyard and grandpa was dispondent with all the memories that were filling up in his mind and the wee boy was plaguing him with questions. Where is gran Grandpa? Is she in the ground? No, said grandpa, we put her body in the ground but she's not there. Well, where is she, grandpa? Well, she's with Jesus. Well, where's Jesus?. Jesus is in heaven. Well, where's heaven. Well Jesus went up into heaven so it is up, at least in our minds. So that satisfied the wee boy and they continued to walk together. He continued to hold the flowers. And the grandpa got a few strides in front of his grandson. And he turned around to call him. And as he turned around he noticed the boy was holding the tulips up into the air as he walked. And he said to his grandson, "Why are you holding the flowers in the air?". And he said, so that granny can see them if she's looking.
Then Alistair said, "God has made of death a narrow sunlit strip between the goodbyes of yesterday and the hellos of tomorrow."
Finally he told this story.
"There's a man making their journey with his son. And as they made their outward journey they were travelling together they come and passed over a rickety old bridge, which goes over the river. The boy is anxious over the bridge. And when they made their return journey they discovered the river has swelled its banks and washed the bridge away. And so the father picks up the child in his arms and begins to wade with him out into the river. And as he does so the boy begins to cry. And so the father simply holds him closer to his heart. And the boy falls asleep as his dad walks with him into the river. And the next thing the boy knows is that he wakes up in his bedroom. And the sun is shining through the windows. And he's home. That's death for the Christian. What we fear most we never experience. We fall asleep in the arms of Jesus and we wake up we are home."
Fact is that we either know of someone who is dying or maybe is facing death ourselves. Unless the Lord returns before the end of our lifetimes it is something we all will face. Take faith in the grace of our Lord for this part of our lives.
posted by Gary at 9:00 PM
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