Wednesday,
March 17, 2021
Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. Psalm 107:4-7
This Psalm
celebrates Israel’s history, of course.
But it is also a story told and retold throughout the generations of humanity;
it is the story of distress and deliverance, rags to riches, dungeon to throne,
love-lost to reunion, blindness to sight, crippled to leaping, and in a thousand
other themes. This is God’s story of the
bleak impossible turned real, the ageless, magnificent story of hope and salvation.
Monday
of this week the ultimate working-out of this story made its way into my line
of sight…again. We buried a church
member. Linda was not pretentious or mean-spirited. She wasn’t over-demanding or unduly-proud (other
than her love of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team!). She was just Linda, mother, grand & great
grandmother. She loved her family and
football!
It is
humbling to stand before any congregation with the awesome charge to present
the Gospel of Jesus Christ…but particularly so when the charge for the preacher
is to say a word of comfort to a grieving family. The words are in the church’s worship book, about
why we gather, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death
resurrection. Sometimes that comfort,
hope, and resurrection come in just gathering, or the preacher’s words, or a
child’s reciting a memory verse. Monday,
for me, it came in the son-in-law’s song.
With a resounding baritone, Rick sang Celebrate Me Home. The words are particularly filled with faith in
God which overcome pain and sorrow. It
was almost impossible to get off my chair and continue. Here are the words he sang:
When the time comes and I am standing at the river
That separates the two worlds that I love
Torn between my precious friends and my family
And the place of peace that's waiting up above
Hold my hand and stay there by my side, And when I
finally step into the tide
Celebrate me home!
Celebrate me there
Celebrate me in that land of wonder where nothing can
compare
Celebrate me in that place Celebrate me saved by grace
Don't just sit and weep because I'm gone…Celebrate me
Home
I have spent most of my life on earth preparing
To take the trip from here to Heaven's throne
With the Shield and Word of God to guide me
Its a comfort knowing I am not alone
So when I take my final fleeting breath And fade into the gentle sleep of death
Celebrate me home!
Celebrate me there
Celebrate me in that land of wonder where nothing can
compare
Celebrate me in that place Celebrate me saved by grace
Don't just sit and weep because I'm gone Celebrate me Home
No more broken dreams
No more tears to cry Into my
Father's arms I'll fly Celebrate me
home! Celebrate me there
Celebrate me in that land of wonder where nothing can
compare
Celebrate me in that place Celebrate me saved by grace
Don't
just sit and weep because I'm gone Celebrate
me Home![1]
This is
more than just a tear-jerker, designed to create a momentary
flood of emotion. This is a Christ-centered
statement of faith, and the fondest prayer I know for the ones I love. It bridges the divide between longing for
Heaven, and the connection of here.
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky
Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1]
Celebrate Me Home, Joel Lindsey, Wayne Haun, performed by The Perrys, 2012, (Songlyrics.com)
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