"Rejoice in the Lord always."

Yesterday a man whom I was privileged to call a friend went home.  Charles Butler was called from this life to be in the presence of Jesus Christ, his faithful Lord and Savior.  I believe Charles lived on this earth for 87 years.  It was but for a time, with much that was good and also with its share of struggles.  Charles has left us and is now in his Lord's presence, forever.  And much as he loved life here, with his family and friends, the place he is now is his true home.   

I didn't meet Charles until fairly late in his life.  And I think that by the time I began to consider him a friend the illness that claimed the life of his wife, Marilyn, was already advanced.  My perception of his later years was that his greatest loss was his wife and his greatest longing was to see her again, which I have no doubts happened yesterday.

Among my own memories of Charles, the most dear are the ones of the mornings we spent together in prayer.  For a number of years we were involved in the leadership of a men's ministry and one of the activities of the ministry was a regular prayer meeting on Wednesday, before work.  The number of people present varied but for several years the core of the group was Charles, another man, and myself.  As Charles got older we moved the meeting to his home, so that it would be easier for him to attend.

Good prayer meetings begin with scripture.  Sometimes one of us would open a Bible and read but often it would be Charles who started us, reciting from memory either Psalm 51:1-12 or Philippians 4:4-7.  In the Philippians passage Paul says this:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."[1]

Today Charles is rejoicing with a gladness that overflows and will never end.  The Lord is near to him in a way that I can only imagine.  His Savior has been faithful and brought him home, to join in the everlasting praise of His glory.

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[1] Quoted from the 1984 translation of the New International Version.

Called home to glory

Yesterday a very dear friend breathed his last and was called home to glory.  The picture here of he and I was taken at my ordination last August.  We had one more opportunity to spend time with him and his wife after the ordination before we moved to New Mexico later in the month. 

Our friendship went back at least 26 years, and maybe a bit longer.  I recall where we met, in a general sense, but not when.  He had sustained a spinal cord injury in his late teens, so that the "normal" that he lived with on a day-to-day basis was much different than mine.  There were several times over the years of our friendship when his medical issues became life-threatening.  His body rebounded time-and-again, sometimes back to his baseline and sometimes with a new normal.

He was in pretty good health in 2012 when his daughter married.  Things in his body seemed to be gradually slowing down over the past year and I am glad that he could come to my ordination, and also for our last phone call, for I treasured his encouragement in following the track that God was leading me on over the past seven years.

Last Sunday I preached from 1 Corinthians 2:1-13 and two thoughts come to mind from my sermon as I recall my friend.

The first was a reference to the question asked of Eve by the serpent in the Garden.  Eve ponders the apple, and the instructions given by God not to eat of it, and the serpent asks "Did God really say…?" 

In the sermon I noted that not only did God really say something about not eating the apple, but God made his most profound statement in the finished work of Christ on the cross.  

At the cross we see that God very clearly said something.  At the cross we see that God very clearly did something.  At the cross, in the finished work of the Son, those who know the Son by faith are reconciled with the Father.  In verse 7 Paul points out that we can believe this with complete certainty because it is something "which God decreed before the ages for our glory." 

That God would establish a plan of salvation prior to any act of creation is something that defies human logic.  But while I may not understand how God could do such a thing I can take great comfort in the fact that he did it that way, for a plan of salvation that pre-exists creation is a plan of salvation that cannot be defeated in any way.  There is nothing that can take salvation from those God gives it to.

The other point from my sermon has to do with verse 9, where Paul looks back to the prophet Isaiah and writes:

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him."

Paul is teaching that the things God has prepared for us in heaven are so good that as they are seen from this side of life they are beyond our ability to imagine.  Isaiah had a glimpse of heaven and brought that back for us.  It is a wonderful glimpse, but the difference between his words and the reality is something like the difference between a child's crayon drawing and a Rembrandt.  They both certainly show beauty, but we can't imagine the richness of Rembrandt if all we have ever seen was done in crayon.

My friend knew Christ Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  Today, while I read God's word and imagine what future glory may be like, my dear friend has entered into it.  My heart aches for his family and the pain of their loss.  But my heart also rejoices that one of the Lord's own, claimed by him before anything was created, is in the eternal presence of his Savior. 

To God be all glory, now and forever.  Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.