Revelation 21:3-5: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
It doesn’t seem fair. I’ve only known Judy since January, but I know that long before she was confined to nursing homes and hospitals she was an active, vibrant person involved in so many activities in this church and elsewhere. I know that she was a loving wife and mother. And that’s why it doesn’t seem fair that a good, loving person like Judy Doolin should suffer for so many years from a disease like diabetes. It doesn’t seem fair that she didn’t just have diabetes – but kidney failure, heart attacks and so many other insurmountable medical problems, too. It doesn’t seem fair that while so many people enjoy good health – and while modern medicine can cure so many of today’s illnesses and diseases – that the doctors couldn’t cure Judy’s illnesses, couldn’t help her return to good health. It doesn’t seem fair that in these past few months Judy has been confined to a nursing home and a hospital because her condition had become so much worse. It doesn’t seem fair that during her final hospitalization – despite the best efforts of so many talented doctors and nurses – Judy’s life couldn’t be saved.
There’s nothing fair about death. There’s nothing fair about the fact that today her loved ones – Toni, Chuck, family, friends – mourn the death of this dear woman. In a perfect world, Judy would never have suffered her diabetes and kidney failure and heart attacks. In a perfect world, Judy would never have been sick. In a perfect world, Judy would be here with us today, and your tears and sadness would be replaced with nothing but happiness and joy.
Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a world of sin. We live in a world that is ravaged by sin. But it wasn’t always that way. That wasn’t God’s plan.
When God created the heavens and the earth – when God created mankind – everything was perfect. There was no hunger, no thirst, no pain, no suffering, no illness, no death. God gave this perfect world and this perfect life to the first man and woman – to Adam and Eve – in what He called the Garden of Eden. But standing in that garden was a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of any other tree in the garden – but if they ate the fruit of that tree, they would surely die. And we all know what happened next. Adam and Eve defied God – they sinned – by eating from the forbidden tree. And when they sinned, everything changed. Our once-perfect world was infected by pain and suffering and illness and death. And it would remain that way forever.
But that wasn’t God’s plan, either. God’s plan involved the birth of a baby in the village of Bethlehem, a baby who would be named Jesus by His mother Mary. God’s plan focused on His holy and beloved Son who would live the perfect, sinless life that none of us could ever live. God’s plan called for His Son to suffer a terrible death on the cross to pay the price for our sins. God’s plan called for His son to be raised from the dead on Easter morning. God’s plan called for His son to die for our sins – and by His resurrection, to forever conquer death for us. To conquer death for Judy.
God’s plan calls for His Holy Spirit to bring us to faith – the faith that gave Judy the strength to face her illnesses with courage and hope. Hope not that she would be cured or returned to health during her earthly life – but the sure hope and certain knowledge that her Savior loves her, that her Savior cares for her – and that her Savior has prepared a place for her in heaven for her eternal life. An eternal life where there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more diabetes, no more kidney failure, no sickness of any kind. An eternal life of indescribable joy.
And yet, there is sadness today and there will be more sadness in the days, the weeks, the months and the years to come. It’s hard to lose someone you love and not feel sadness. In our Gospel lesson, Jesus told His disciples that they would have tribulation in their lives, and that holds true for all of us. It held true for Judy in her illnesses. It holds true today for you – Toni, Chuck, family and friends – as you mourn Judy’s death.
But as we also heard in the Gospel reading, Jesus also said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.” I pray that you also may feel a sense of peace on this day – peace for Judy, and peace in your hearts. Think of a rainbow. Rainbows don’t appear on clear days. Rainbows come on gray, stormy, rainy days. We come with our grief, we come with the grayness of our thoughts, we come with our loneliness—and God gives us a rainbow. Part of that rainbow is God’s work in Judy because Judy lets us see one band of color in God’s whole beautiful promise also to us. In Christ Jesus, who redeemed Judy by His death on the cross, both she and you have His whole bright, many-colored promise.
A promise so beautifully expressed in these words from Revelation chapter 21: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
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