Dear family and friends of WCPC:

 

If there is a day in the year I don’t like, it’s June 30th.  It was on June 30^th seventeen years ago that my dad died after a battle with cancer.  He was diagnosed only three months prior to his death, so even though we had some time to prepare, it was a huge shock.  I remember that morning as if it were yesterday.

So, June 30^th, is not one of my favorite dates on the calendar.  Maybe you have a date like that.  A date when everything changed.  A date when the world sort of stops and you think nothing from that point on will ever be the same.  We live in a broken world and sadly, none of us escapes the consequences of that brokenness.

Paul certainly could identify with what I’m describing.  His life was anything but easy after he fell before the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus.  In obedience to Christ he gave up a life of leisure and worldly success.  It was tough going.  His imprisonments are evidence enough of what the grace he received cost him.  Yet he writes from prison, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say it rejoice.”  (Philippians 4:4)  I’ve often reasoned that Paul had to repeat himself because no one would have believed him if he hadn’t.  How can one rejoice facing a fate such a prolonged imprisonment or even death?

He could because of the confidence he had in the risen Christ and the redemption that was his through Him.  He writes to the Romans, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  (Romans 8: 28)  The promise contained in this passage, the “good” that God is at work to accomplished, isn’t health, wealth, or even happiness.  It is something far more valuable.  Something that has eternal value.  It means becoming more and more like Jesus.

In truth I don’t know, this side of God’s eternal kingdom, how God has been at work to redeem my father’s death, and now of course, my mom’s death just ten months ago.  Yet in faith and in trust I believe that God is about that right now in my life and in the lives of all those touched by their deaths.  One day I will know.  One day I will see clearly, but for now, I walk by faith, catching a glimpse every now and then of God’s unfolding mercies.

I will still cry today.  But I know one day those tears will be wiped away.  I also know one day I will see just how God was at work, redeeming, and then, instead of the tears, there will be laughter, maybe even, “I told you so,” from Paul.

Your pastor,

David Jones

 

P.S.  I hope you will try and attend tonight’s 7:00 p.m. performance in the sanctuary of “David and Goliath.”  The kids have worked on it all week during our first Music and Drama Camp.  The program last a little over thirty minutes, so maybe before or between dinner and a movie you can drop by and show them your support.