In the House of Mourning

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

Ecclesiasties 7:2

Soldiers saluting beside the casket of Sgt Gabriel DeRoo

It was with great fear and trepidation that I approached the congregation at our home church (and Gabe’s church) last Sunday. I knew people would be ready to listen to God’s Word in a time like this. What a privilege and responsibility to shed the light of God’s Word upon this tragic situation!

The prospect of death makes us all think twice and it should. Below are a few lines from my sermon last Sunday.

The cold wind of death has passed over our family and our church this past week. Its cruel fingers have pierced our hearts and ripped out a portion that can never be replaced.Without warning it has in a moment snatched from among us a dear friend, a beloved son, a kind husband, a gentle father and a brave soldier.Our cheeks will not dry from the overflow of tears that cloud our eyes and silently fall to the ground as an expression of the crushing pain we are experiencing due to this great loss. The news came upon us suddenly and in the middle of a bright summer day in August the dark clouds of sorrow, pain and grief have crept in consuming the sun and chilling our bones as if it were a cold winter’s night.

Death has come into the room and made its choice. This time it did not choose the sick, it did not choose the elderly, it did not choose the outsider, and it did not choose the wicked. Instead it has chosen one who was young, healthy, strong, one who had hopes and aspirations for the future, one who had a righteous and kind character, one who was most noble and courageous.

Now the vacant eyes of death are staring at us and we can not turn away from its empty gaze. The silent voice of death is crying out to us, saying,

“Look here! Pay close attention! Consider carefully what I have done!All will come to me, none can resist me. It may be tomorrow it may be today but YOU will be mine. When I come I can not be turned back.What I do can not be changed all my actions are final!I am the one that separates best friends, I am the one who takes Fathers and Mothers from their children, I am the one who takes the beloved child from the arms of his parents. I am the one who rips apart husband and wife, the one who crushes hope, turns joy to sorrow, laughing to weeping, and happiness to grief.

So stop! Stop your busyness, put away your distractions, turn off the entertainment, be done with vain and useless trivialities, quit wearing yourself out for wealth and personal pleasure. When I come for you these things will mean NOTHING!

The only thing that will mean something when death comes to us is Christ. What have you done with Christ? Have you reached out to Him in faith and made Him your Lord and Savior, are you living for Him every day with every fiber of your being?

Phi 1:21 For to me to live is Christ,