God Remembers Us
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| 1920-2011 |
Last week I attended a funeral for my great uncle. What a great man, wonderful father and avid fisherman! My great uncle was in his 90's when he passed away but unfortunately had suffered from dementia at the very end of his life.
Upon arriving in my home town I was asked to deliver some brief thoughts on behalf of the family during the funeral.
In thinking about the context of my great uncle I was brought to Jesus' dialogue with the Thief on the cross as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. What gripped me was the words of the Thief on the cross where he said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." Wow. "Remember me." Isn't this a great confession? In Jesus' reply we hear Jesus saying to the Thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Jesus certainly remembered him.
Helmut Thielicke once said,
"Praise God that the Gospel is more than a philosophy or ideology. If it were only a dry religious idea, you would just have it as long as you could keep it in your mind so that it could give you comfort. However, thank God that it is so much more, that even when you can no longer think about God, He still thinks of you. If we can feel nothing of His presence, He still feels for us." (Paraphrase of Quote)The good news of the Gospel for my great uncle and my family is that even when our mind slows at the end of life and our mind gets crowded with the events of life, God remembers us. Even when we are plagued by the pain and numbness of losing a loved one, God still feels for us.
I praise God that the Gospel is dependent on God's actions toward us and not dependent on our actions toward God. There is comfort in this external message of the Gospel. There is a concrete nature to the Gospel. There is nothing in this life that can reach back in time and remove Christ from the cross. The events of today cannot reach back into time and keep Christ in the grave.
God, certainly remembered my great uncle, the cross is proof of that, and God certainly remembers and feels for you. You are buried deeply in the wounds of Christ my friends. The blood shed on the cross was for you. The nail scarred hands are proof of the Savior's love and forgiveness. Receive this gift by faith.
May God bless the memory of Glenn Evans.