Title: Our Place In Heaven
Theme: Heaven
Text: John 14:1-6
By: Mark Engler, Mt. Vernon Christian Church, Mt. Vernon, MO
INTRODUCTION
We’ve come here today with a purpose on our mind, haven’t we? Some may say that the purpose we came with was to bury and pay our final respects to our loved one. While that is true, I believe the purpose, more so, is the purpose of celebrating a life. You might be thinking, how can we celebrate a life when the life is no more and that’s where a lot of us go wrong. It is true that Grace is no longer with us on this earth. I don’t mean her body, but I mean her spirit. It’s not her body that all of you loved, it was her spirit wasn’t it. The body is just a vessel in which the spirit lives.
It is a body that is frail, which gets old and has pain as a lot of us know more and more as we get older. Grace lived a long time on this earth with this body that she had, but it has finally come to the end of its usefulness here on earth. Just like Grace’s body is no longer useful on this earth, so our bodies will be the same way one day. It is a natural part of life.
Now I only mention life and not death, because in life, if we are Christian, we only die once and Grace did that many, many years ago. Matter of fact she did that at the age of 9 years old when she accepted Jesus Christ into her life. And she lived her life from that point on in faithful service to her Lord and Savior.
Romans Chapter 6 tells us that when we are baptized we die, our old self is crucified. From that point on we are a new person in Jesus Christ. We don’t get a new body at that point, but our spirit is reborn within us. It’s our spirit that’s goes on. It’s Grace’s spirit that animated her body and it’s her spirit that has moved on, and now is with the Lord in heaven. Not only that, not only is she with the Lord, who I know she longed for to see, but she is with all of her loved ones that have died in Christ before her. Oh what a reunion she has had in the last few days.
We, who are left here on this earth are still longing for the day that we will be united with Christ face to face. And while we are left, we grieve. Grief is a natural part of life. Yes most of us, if not all of us here today are Christian and we know that there will be a day that we will meet our Lord in heaven and as well as be reunited with Grace. But that doesn’t take the reality away from her being gone from this earth today. She will be missed I know, and therefore we mourn the loss of her presence in our lives.
Jesus left us with many comforting words. We can comfort each other, and as Christian’s we are called to comfort each other in times of sorrow. But I believe the best comforter we have is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to convey to you the words of Jesus and I pray that they comfort you. (Read John 14:1-6)
I. LET NOT YOU HEART BE TROUBLED
First off Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled.” And I would guess that Grace would probably say something along the same lines just now. When I visited with the family the other night I asked them about Grace. I wanted them to tell me anything they wanted about her. I didn’t ask them to give me one-word statements about her, but many of them pop into their minds. They said she was “faithful”, that she was an “encourager”, and “loving, she was “unselfish”, and a “leader”, I think all of those statements tell a lot about her and the way she was. While this next statement is not a one-word statement, it’s one of the things that I took away with me that night and I think it sums up a lot, if not all about Grace’s life. That was the statement that she was a “Christian woman of great faith”
That’s why I say, that I think Grace would say something along the lines of what Jesus said in this verse. Because when you have great faith as Grace did, you know the promises of God. Let not your heart be troubled, because the promise of God that is through Jesus Christ Grace is with the Lord right now. It also says that if anyone be in Christ that they will one day be with the Lord in heavenl. What a comfort it is to know that Grace lived her life in Christ.
In Hebrews the 10th chapter and the 23rd verse it says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Grace did exactly that, she held on to her hope in Jesus Christ unswervingly and she professes His name to those around her. That is evident by her family. They say the fruit will not fall far from the tree and that is true. And Grace bore fruit, good Christian fruit. That is a sign of her faithfulness to her service to God. And God is faithful to keep His promises. Let not your heart be troubled. Rest assured that Grace is in the presence of Jesus in heaven, today.
II. IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY ROOMS
Then Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many rooms.” In the KJV it says there are many “mansions.”
I understand that Grace loved her home and she wanted to keep it just as her husband Leroy made it. She stayed there for many years. She stayed there until she just couldn’t stay there anymore. I’m sure that it was a very hard thing for her to move from her house into the nursing home. But when she was no longer able to take care of herself she did that.
You have so many memories that go along with the place you live. You think back on the times shared in that house. The hard times, the good times, maybe the times you didn’t want to be there, but then there were times you couldn’t wait to get there, I’m sure, especially for the grandchildren and the great grandchildren.
I understand that there is a long history in the place that Grace lived. Whether that be the house that is there now or the old house that was there before. Many of the family started their marriages in that house, for some of the family; their life began there. There are times that you recall, and times you wish you could go back to.
I found out something new the other night that I didn’t now anything about and that was about salt fish. I never knew about salt fish. When Russell first said something about that I thought he was talking about fish that came out of the ocean. After a little bit of explaining I realized what salt fish were. I never knew you could pack fish in salt and they could be stored for a long period of time without being refrigerated and it still be good. But apparently salt fish was a good breakfast meal when Russell and Hazel were growing up. Russell said you couldn’t get fish like that anymore. I don’t know whether to be disappointed or glad about that.
When you think about life, it often comes back to your house, often times to the kitchen. One of Grace’s grandchildren recalled how Grace would do anything for anybody. Apparently someone in the family had lost a ring and they thought it might have fallen in the slop bucket and Grace didn’t hesitate to put her hand in it and search that bucket from top to bottom for that ring. Her grandson said something along the lines of, “here I was a little boy, I would put my hands almost anywhere, but grandma without a thought put her hand in that slop bucket to search for that ring. A place I would have never put my hand.” Often times when you think about a life it revolves around your home and the love shared in it.
Do you know that God has many mansions in heaven for us? Grace may have had to leave her house and go to a place that was not her own, the nursing home, while she was still on this earth. But now she has taken up residence in her home that she will have for all eternity. What a wonderful blessing that is and what a comfort it is to know that one day you to will be able to have a home in heaven for all eternity as well.
III. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU
Then Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Isn’t that wonderful. Jesus, who came to this earth to serve us through dieing on the cross for our sins, says after He dies on the cross, He is going to heaven to prepare a place for us. I look at that statement of Jesus and I think of His servanthood. He came to this earth to be a servant, he once held equality with God, but He gave that up so he could become a man and He was a servant to the point of death on the cross.
I believe what He is saying here is that if you believe in Me and if you believe in My Father who sent me, then be faithful. Be a servant, as I have been a servant to My Father and you will be assured of a place in heaven, because I will prepare a place for you. Not only that, not only will He prepare that place for you, He will come back to get you and take you there so you can be with Him for eternity.
Grace had that servant attitude like Jesus was talking about. She sacrificed herself a long, long time in being the caregiver to her mother-in-law. It’s a struggle taking care of others at times. Yet Grace gave of herself day in and day out in her role as a caregiver and I’m told she never complained.
When you serve others that are in need you are doing the work of the Lord. Grace spent her life doing the work of the Lord. Whether it was caring for others, or whether it was quilting or making baby blankets for her grandchildren or whether she was praying she was doing it all as unto the Lord.
In the obituary I read a while ago it said that she “was an active, faithful servant of God.” I believe that statement is one of the most high honor one can give a person. In the Church of the Brethren she served as a summer pastor in 1935. Also for several years she was the church clerk, song leader and Sunday school teacher. She truly was an active, faithful servant of God.
When people get older they feel like there usefulness in the work of the Lord is not as much as it used to be. That goes especially for people like Grace, now I’m not saying that Grace felt this way, but I’m saying that often times people that have had an active servant life often feel that way, because they once were so active.
Sometimes I have had older people say to me that they don’t feel like God can use them anymore. But that is far from the truth. You don’t have to be physically fit to serve the Lord; all you have to be is willing. Grace was willing all her life. One of the greatest things a person can do in serving the Lord is to pray for other people. That’s one of the things that I was told about Grace, that she was always praying. What a servant she was.
If there is one thing that I would like to have on my tombstone when I die, it’s the statement, “he was an active, faithful servant of God.” That’s exactly what Grace was and because of her servanthood, Jesus has prepared a place for her in heaven.
IV. YOU KNOW THE WAY TO WHERE I AM GOING
Then Jesus says, “you know the way to where I am going.” Now when Jesus said all these things He was talking to his disciples. He was talking to the 12 disciples directly, but I believe He was talking to all His future disciples as well. The disciples He was talking to at that time didn’t know what He was talking about. They didn’t understand yet who Jesus really was. And Thomas says, “Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know that way?”
That’s something that Grace had figured out by the age of 9 when she gave her life to Christ. She spent her life following that way, and she spent her life teaching her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and others the way to where Jesus was going.
Grace has finally made her way to where Jesus is. She knew the way for a long time, but it was a long journey. It took her 96 years to get there, but in those 96 years she affected a multitude of people for Christ. In bringing others to Christ, how you act, how you live, is very often more convincing than any words anybody can say. A person who lives a life faithful to God, day in and day out preaches a powerful sermon. You can take the best preacher in the world, preaching his best sermon that he has ever preached and it won’t be as effective as a Christian who lives faithfully everyday of their life. Folks Grace has preached a powerful, powerful sermon.
V. CONCLUSION
The last thing Jesus says in this passage is, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Grace lived her life in the Way. If you recall in the 1st century before Christians were called Christian they were called the Way (Acts 9:2). Why did she do this, because she knew the truth and now she has come to know the life that she will know for all eternity in heaven.
From everything I have heard about Grace I don’t believe that she would want us to finish this service without your knowing that if you’re here today and if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior she would want to show you the way to the place that Jesus has prepared for you.
No Disappointment in Heaven
There’s no disappointment in heaven,
No weariness, sorrow or pain;
No hearts that are bleeding and broken,
No song with a minor refrain.
The clouds of our earthly horizon
Will never appear in the sky,
For all will be sunshine and gladness,
With never a sob nor a sigh.
We’ll never pay rent for our mansion,
The taxes will never come due;
Our garments will never grow threadbare,
But always be fadeless and new.
We’ll never be hungry nor thirsty,
Nor languish in poverty there,
For all the rich bounties of heaven
His sanctified children will share.
There’ll never be crepe on the door-knob,
No funeral train in the sky;
No graves on the hillside of Glory,
For there we shall never more die.
The old will be young there forever,
Transformed in a moment of time;
Immortal we’ll stand in His likeness,
The stars and the sun to outshine.
I’m bound for that beautiful city
My Lord has prepared for His own;
Where all the redeemed of all ages
Sing “Glory!” around the white throne.
Sometimes I grow homesick for heaven,
And the glories I there shall behold:
What a joy that will be when my Savior I see,
In that beautiful city of gold!
~ F. M. Lehman
Grace is no longer homesick for heaven, for she’s there right now. What a great
day it will be when we can join her around the white throne.
Let’s pray.
