A Life Well Lived

For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.  (Psalm 39:12 ESV)

I’m going to a funeral today. I wish I wasn’t. It’s raining and dreary today; dreary and sad like the weeks preceding this day. I went into my study early this morning and sat down with my tea and my Bible, picked up my little devotional and was directed to Psalm 39. 

This verse on this day - only God. For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.  

My stepson has gone home. His sojourn on this earth has ended and he’s seeing sights that our wildest imaginings couldn’t begin to describe. 

I love the song, “I Am a Poor, Wayfaring Stranger”. While the tune and the words have a sad, haunting quality, they speak to the hope and the promise that we, as believers, hold on to. As Christians, we face death and loss with a whirlwind of emotions: grief, tears, anger, along with joy, hope, peace and a sense of celebration. They are normal and should be walked through and, I think, embraced. It’s how we honor our loved ones.

I believe the Lord honors our grief. He understands it, experiences it with us and is our comfort through it. Grief is normal and a gift. We celebrate the life that was lived on this earth, we celebrate the fact that our loved one is healed, whole and with the Lord. We celebrate; we grieve. We recall the wonderful memories, laughter and fun times – and we grieve. What a contradiction! 

Without the hope we have because of Jesus, we would be lost:

Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1:27)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

And he [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

The verse from Psalm 39 reminds us that while we are a sojourner, a guest in this world, we are not alone. We journey with our Savior. We are his guest. We are also his gift.

The life we will celebrate today was a gift – to his family, friends, co-workers and church family. A life well lived. A gift that will keep on giving. A gift that brought glory to the Giver.

The Word of Life

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:1-5 ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV)

As I read the passages from 1 John this morning, I had to flip back in my Bible to John's Gospel. Based on the notes in my Bible it's hard to tell how close together these two books of the Bible were written but regardless of the time span, John's awe and wonder never left him - awe for who this man, Jesus, is and was. He is keenly aware of the fact that he encountered, lived with and was taught by the Living Word who was and is and will be forever:

we heard

we have seen

we looked upon

we have touched with our hands

we have seen it and testify to it

we have seen and heard

we have heard from him

Seven times in five verses John expresses his excitement - his amazement! - at this truth. John is testifying and proclaiming - not just the Gospel that he knows about, but the very words from the Word of God. The words he heard with his own ears, straight from the source. We heard! We have seen! We have touched with our hands! Brotherhood, fellowship, journey mates who laughed together, grieved together, prayed, ate, slept - lived life - day in and day out.

What a powerful witness, an irrefutable testimony! Maybe we need to read this passage with a fresh perspective. Can we try to capture some of John's excitement and awe? Can we really begin to grasp what happened when Jesus came to live among us?

May we pray to live more fully into the significance of God leaving the glories of heaven, the eternal, to dwell on earth as a human, a man in the dust and muck of humanity, giving us the gift of hope, of salvation, of reconciliation with our Heavenly Father and the promise and reality of eternal life.


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That which was from the beginning . . . we have seen . . . we have heard . . . we have touched . . . we proclaim . . . we testify . . . . And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20 ESV)

On the Other Hand

Pslam 46:  God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Remember Tevye in "The Fiddler on the Roof"? When he was having his discussions with God and struggling with decisions, he would weigh his arguments on one hand and then on the other hand. That's what this psalm seems like. On one hand are the warm, fuzzy attributes, descriptions and statements about God:

He is our refuge and strength
a very present help in trouble
a river whose streams make glad the city of God
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.
God will help her when morning dawns.
Be still and know that I am God.

On the other hand, there are descriptions and images of terrible destruction, nations raging, kingdoms tottering, desolations of war -- you can get dizzy just reading this psalm! 

But what power in the words, what truth! Most of it is underlined in my Bible with different pens from the many times something has spoken to me. There's a "thank you Lord" with a date written in the margin. Psalm 46 has been a psalm of comfort, refreshing and strength because this is the reality of authentic faith in a difficult, troubled world. In the midst of fear, chaos, the bombardment of "BREAKING NEWS" bulletins that could keep us in a constant state of anxiety, we are to be still and know that I am God. No matter what happens in our world, we are in the hands of a mighty God! 

We need the difficult verses of this psalm to remind us of the power of our awesome God. We tend to forget; we like our image of God as a comfortable, manageable god. We need to remember his awesomeness, his power and sovereignty over all his creation. We need to be still in the presence of a holy God. In spite of the condition of this world, the hopelessness that can creep in when we hear devastating news, our God says "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" 

Keeping our eyes on the One who holds all of eternity in his hands is the answer, the remedy, to our fears and anxieties. We can stand in the midst of chaos, stand in the power and strength of God who is our refuge and strength, our very present help in trouble. 

Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!