JOHN 14:1-3, 18-19. 27-29

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;1 believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?2

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

I think I’m going to put it in my will. When I die I don’t want people to go to my grave and create one of those mini-shrines that you see these days.  I don’t want people to create a mini-shrine by leaving tennis balls, Christmas decorations and quarts of lobster bisque. Like the poem says, I don’t want people to stand at my grave and weep.

At the same time I hope that the people who know me won’t be like the woman who surprised a friend one day.  The woman said, “I used to have an uncle who I really despised.  I despised him so much that I vowed once that I wouldn’t even go to his funeral.  But now that I’ve finally got religion I’d be happy to go to his funeral.”

Have you noticed that a lot of people today have a hard time when it comes to dealing with death and dying?  Maybe it has something to do with the increasingly secular society that we live in.  Actually, it has a lot to do with the increasingly secular society that we live in.   People just don’t know what to do now when someone dies.  So, they create shrines in the cemetery with trinkets and toys, flowers and food and elaborate decorations.   It’s almost as if they want to believe that the person is still here and nothing has really changed.

When it comes to death and dying you can also see how uncomfortable it makes people feel by listening to what they say.   When someone dies people usually don’t say that the person is dead.   What they’ll say instead is that the person passed away or the person is no longer with us or the person expired.  I don’t know about you but I don’t want people say that I expired.  It makes me feel like a mushy two week old banana.  It makes me wonder if I’ve got a label on me somewhere that says “Best if used by such and such a date.”

Humor is another way that people try to cope with death and dying and some of the humor can be clever and entertaining. Take the little girl for example who went to her mother one day and asked her a deep theological question.  “Mama,” she said, “is it true that we’re made out of dust?”  The mother nodded her head. “Yes it is dear!  That’s why the Bible says, ‘Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.’”   “Well ,” the little girl said, “You better take a look underneath your bed because there’s someone under there who’s either coming or going.”

Jesus knew that his death was going to be difficult and devastating for the disciples.  He didn’t use humor though to help them cope.  Instead Jesus gave them a healthy dose of faith to help them cope.  Jesus did that at the Last Supper when he said to them, “Believe in God. Believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many rooms.  If it were not so would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also.”

Jesus promised the disciples that he was going to prepare a room for them in his Father’s house.  Jesus told them about that heavenly room because he knew that there were a lot of rooms here on earth where  they had shared some wonderful grace filled moments.  For example, right at that moment they were together in the Upper Room sharing a sacred meal together.   Then there was the room in that house where Mary showed Jesus how much she loved him.  She did that by anointing his body with that expensive perfume.  Then there was the room in the synagogue up in Nazareth.   It’s probably safe to say that a few hearts in that room probably skipped a beat or two when Jesus picked up that scroll and said, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has sent me to proclaim good news to the poor and to set at liberty those who are oppressed…” (Luke 4:18)  And who can forget that miraculous night in Bethlehem.  There may not have been a room in the inn but there was room in that stable where Mary gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloth!

Jesus didn’t want the people who loved him to forget all of those special rooms and the grace filled moments that they shared. He just didn’t want them to become prisoners in those rooms and get stuck in their sadness and their sorrow. That’s why he said to them, ”Believe in God.  Believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many rooms.  If it were not so would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you?”  Jesus wanted them to remember that was also a room waiting for them in his Father’s house.

Because we live in an increasingly secular society people either don’t know about that heavenly room or they’re really not sure about it.   So, they focus all of their emotional energy on the earthly rooms and the result is a grief that is filled with despair and self-pity.  When you remember that there’s a heavenly room waiting for you you’re still going to be sad but the sadness is going to be different.  It’s going to be a sadness that hope that is healing and a hope that fills your heart with a peace that the world cannot give or take away from you.

So, it’s okay to walk through the dining room and smile when you see the chair where your loved one carved the Thanksgiving turkey every year, but just remember.  Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms.”   It’s okay to sit on the porch at the camp up in New Hampshire and remember the late night card games and the laughter, but just remember.  Jesus said “If it were not so would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you?”  It’s okay to smell the wood chips on the floor down in the cellar and remember the rocking chair that your loved one made for you, but just remember.   Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also.”

Just remember that Jesus also didn’t say that there was only one room in his Father’s house.  He said that there are many rooms in his Father’s house.  So, there’s a room waiting for you and for me and for your loved one and for all who believe in him.

That heavenly room is what lies behind a comforting poem that I share sometimes after a husband or wife has died.  Some of you have heard it I’m sure.   The poem ends by bringing you to that heavenly room and it goes like this:

Spring, and the land lies fresh green beneath a yellow sun.

We walked the land together, you and I and never knew what future days would bring.

Will you often think of me, when flowers burst forth each year?

When the earth begins to grow again?

Some say death is so final, but my love for you can never die.

Just as the sun once warmed our hearts, let this love touch you some night when I am gone.

And loneliness comes--

Before the dawn begins to scatter your dreams away.

Summer, and I never knew a bird could sing so sweet and clear,

Until they told me I must leave you for awhile.

I never knew the sky could be so deep a blue, until I knew I could not grow old with you.;

But better to be loved by you, than to have lived a million summers,

And never known your love.

Together, let us, you and I remember the days and nights, for eternity.

Fall, and the earth begins to die, and leaves turn golden-brown upon the trees.

Remember me, too, in autumn for I will walk with you,

As of old, at evening-time, though I cannot hold you by the hand.

Winter, and perhaps someday there may be another fireplace, another room,

With crackling fire and fragrant smoke,

And turning suddenly, we will be together, and I will hear your laughter,

And touch your face.

And hold you close to me again.

But, until then, if loneliness should seek you out, some winter night

(when snow is falling down)

Remember, though death has come to me, love will never go away.

Believe in God.   Believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many rooms.  If it were not so would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you?”   That’s a question.  It’s a rhetorical question my friends because you already know the answer to the question.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

May 22, 2011