Dear Rose Park,
4 times. 4 different phone calls. 4 different families. 4 different emails sent to the congregation. 4 times in 11 days, we were notified of a death in the Rose Park family. It’s been a tough stretch. It’s been a harsh reminder of our mortality and the fragility of life. And yet, as we’re in the season of Lent, it’s also a call to remember resurrection.
At the beginning of each funeral service, I read the following words from our liturgy: We are gathered here to praise God, to witness to our faith, and to give thanks for the life of a sibling in Christ. We come together in grief, acknowledging our loss. So, may God grant us grace, that in this pain - we may find comfort, in this sorrow - we may find hope, and through this death - we may remember resurrection. By dying, Christ destroyed our death. And by rising, Christ restores our life.
In the midst of grief and pain, I find it absolutely paramount to our Christian faith to remember resurrection. Remembering resurrection is very different than “faking it until you make it” or “just looking at the bright side of things” or the well-intended but often misguided “when one door closes, another door opens.” Remembering resurrection is not a motivational sticker we slap on our heart when life gets hard.
Remembering resurrection is a posture and embodiment of Revelation 21. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “see the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
This doesn’t mean that we pretend that heartache doesn’t exist or that the pains of this world have no effect on us. Instead, it is an intentional posturing towards the throne of God to remember two things. First, God is with us. He has never left us nor forsaken us. He will never turn His back upon us, and He will never abandon us. His promises are true. Second, one day will come when God fully returns, wipes away every tear from our eyes, and makes all things new.
We live in between this great comfort and this great hope. The comfort of God’s presence in the midst of pain, and the hope that one day God will return and eliminate pain altogether. In other words, we live in between an “already, but not yet” tension. Meaning, Christ has already defeated death, but He hasn’t fully returned yet. Christ has already assured us of salvation, but we are still on the road of righteousness and sanctification.
This is all to say. Take heart and remember resurrection. In this Lenten season, as we continue to journey towards the cross of Good Friday and the empty tomb of Easter Sunday, let us not be burdened by the pains of this world. Instead, may our eyes be fixed upon Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash