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Friday, November 18, 2005

"The Great Chasm"

"And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us"  (Luke 16:26). "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:17,18).

Yesterday I shared concerning the homegoing of my mother.* We are so blessed by the responses we received with email notes, email cards and calls. In fact I have placed these messages into a single compilation and I expect to receive ongoing comfort, encouragement and perspective from them and to share them with others as well. If any readers would care to share a note I would be blessed to add them to this compilation and I am sure they would bless others as well.

Today let me again share from my heart and personal experience. I mentioned above that I was blessed by the perspectives many shared. The death of a parent is something we all experience if we live long enough.*2  Often the degree of loss and pain is related to the closeness of our relationship and the closer we are the more pain and sense of loss we will likely feel.*3

Mom's last months were very hard, both physically and emotionally. We tried to help her as best we could. She expressed strong feelings about not wanting to go to an institutional setting. Due to age and mental impairment she seemed to increasingly misunderstand our intentions when we carried out responsibilities as her caregiver. Frankly I just wasn't as patient, gentle nor understanding as I should have been with her at times. Expressions of care just didn't seem to get through.

Several of you, in writing your notes to us, brought the perspective that we were already feeling. There are things we wanted to say just one last time but were unable to do so. It's over. I committed her to God just prior to her passing. Since her passing I have also expressed to her my love and sentiments to the affect, "Mom, I hope you know now that I cared deeply and that Brooksyne and I did the best we could." *4

In considering the Scriptures the first daily text comes to mind. It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. It is a powerful portion and much can be gleaned from it. (A link to the entire passage is noted below.) 

However I am especially intrigued by the phrase, "a great chasm has been fixed."  Now this is specifically referring to the chasm between the rich man in hell and those who remained on earth whom he desperately wanted to warn.

However clearly this same chasm exists between heaven and earth as well for it is equally true that "Those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."  We just can't willingly pass back and forth between heaven and earth. Once we die this chasm is indeed fixed.

That's what I am now experiencing. The two way communication has been completely curtailed. This is so hard!

But the second daily verse has a wonderful promise. It's the great "rapture" passage and the entire context is linked to below. It's a promise concerning the coming of the Lord and expressly addresses a concern the Thessalonian believers had concerning their deceased loved ones. Paul assured them that actually the dead would arise first then those living will be caught up together with them. That will be a great reunion. "We (note the plural) will be with the Lord forever."

Paul wanted them to "encourage each other with these words." The basis of the encouragement is that they would once again be together with their deceased loved ones. This is a Biblical truth and we also have the same promise.

I so desire and expect to hear my dad, who died in 1998 say, "Son, thanks so much for taking care of your Mom as I asked you to before I came home."  Perhaps my Mom will say to Brooksyne and me, "Thank you for your care during my final years on earth. I know you tried to do what was best for me."

That will be wonderful and I pray each reader will find similar encouragement in these sentiments.


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

Brooksyne's prayer – Jesus, You are the all-seeing, all-hearing, and all-knowing Savior who communicates with those in heaven and those of us on earth.  How frightening it would be to think that You had this unfathomable power and would use it for evil.  But we know through Your Holy Word and because of Your divine character that You use it only for good and never for evil.  We are the recipients of Your goodness and Your favor lasts not only for a lifetime, but for all eternity.  When those we love shed their corruptible, mortal bodies we struggle with the finality of such an event.  The exchange of conversation and sharing of each other's thoughts has ended.  Jesus, I need continual reminding that the final event of my life will only take place when You ordain it.  To know that I will be with You forever is truly encouraging and takes a great load of care off my shoulders today.  Keep my focus heavenward as I fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on that which is eternal.  As I do so the cares of this world will have proper perspective and the allurement to sin will diminish in light of eternity.  

* Yesterday's message 

*2 I do consider here the tremendous pain of parents that lose children to premature death.

*3 However I do consider here another type of pain, loss and regret so many must feel when they were not close or even had been separated.

*4 This is an emotional response and please don't draw any theological conclusions from it. In regard to my study of the Scriptures we simply do not know to what degree those who have gone on before us can "hear" our thoughts or verbal expressions. I am not aware of any Scripture that addresses the issue of whether they can or can't. Today's first text certainly states that those who have gone the other direction cannot warn those who are still on earth. If any have insight into this please share it with me along with supporting Scripture.

As Brooksyne and I prayed this morning prior to sending this material out another thought occurred to me. I asked God to convey my thoughts and love to my Mom.

Luke 16:19-31
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
 
Certainly I realize most of the recipients of this material live no where near South Central Pennsylvania. Mom's memorial service will be this coming Monday morning, November 21, near Mount Joy, PA. If any readers are local and feel they may want to come to this service please email me and I will send more details.  Thank you!

As mentioned above we are so blessed by the many responses we have received. We read each one and have compiled them and have already shared them with others. We simply will be unable to reply to each one as you can imagine this is a very busy time. If you would like to add to this collection merely use this form.  Thank you so very much. Actually I sure wish my Mom could read all these as she also would be so blessed by them but that's another question I just don't have the answer to!


 

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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version.

Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

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