It seems our church family has been surrounded by death lately. In the last two weeks, Jake and I have attended two funeral services and have one more to attend this weekend. In the midst of all of this, I have gotten what I think is an amazing picture of Heaven. One of the men who passed away has been a Christian for many years and has served the Lord in full-time ministry for over fifty of those years and is a patriarch of our church. He worked as our Visiting Pastor right up until he was no longer able to leave the house, which was just a couple of months ago. His wife is still continuing that ministry as he is now in the presence of the God he worked for on this earth for all of his life.
The second man who passed away recently is the father of a very important family in our church. This man was a believer for many many years as well, raising his family to know and love Christ. He was a doctor and although not considered in full-time ministry as a position, he and his wife served faithfully in their church home and started up ministries that are still thriving today.
The third man whose funeral we attended was just 31 and had been married for three months. This was the hardest funeral I have ever attended, but it's the piece of the mosaic that makes it that much closer to completion. This man had just accepted Christ a few months before his passing. He was not well-educated in Biblical knowledge, and his job was a "normal" position of an electrician. He didn't carry with him the status a doctor has, or the pedestal pastors are usually put on. But he was a minister of the Gospel, sharing his faith with his family and telling them about Jesus and the exciting faith he found in Him.
When I think of these men together, I get a bit teary. In an earthly sense, they had nothing in common. But through their faith in Christ, they had a bond and now they are all in Heaven, rejoicing together with their Heavenly Father. I love that Christ takes us all, don't you? I love that we don't have to be perfect because He has taken care of that for us through His death and resurrection. I love that Heaven is a hodge-podge of believers and that none of us will look the same, even in Heaven. I just love how God works - and am thankful that He takes broken vessels like me.
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