Dear Friends,
There's a wonderful story about hope found in
John Ortberg's, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of
the Boat. Let me share the story in the words of Pastor John.
"I read recently about a woman who had
been diagnosed with cancer and was given three months to live. Her doctor told
her to make her preparations to die, so she contacted her pastor and told him
how she wanted things arranged for her funeral service. She talked about the
songs she wanted sung, and the scriptures she wanted read. She described what
she wanted said and even the clothes she wanted to be buried in and that she
wanted her favorite bible to be buried with her."
"But before he left, she called out to
him, and said, 'One more thing.'"
"'What?" 'This is important. I
want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.'"
"The pastor did not know quite what to
say. 'No one had ever made such a request before.'"
"So, she explained, 'In all my years
going to church functions, whenever food was involved, my favorite part was
when whoever was clearing the dishes from the main course would lean over and
say, "You can keep your fork.'"
"'it was my favorite part because I knew
that it meant something greater was coming. It wasn't just Jello. It was
something with substance-apple pie or pineapple upside down cake- or some other
dessert delicacy.'"
'"I just want people to see me there in
my casket with a fork in my hand, and I want them to wonder, what's with the
fork? Then I want you to tell them, ‘Something better is coming so keep your
fork.'"
"The pastor hugged the woman and said goodbye,
and soon after she died.
At the funeral service people saw the dress
she had chosen, the Bible she loved, and heard the songs she selected, but they
all asked the same question; 'What's with the fork?'"
"The pastor explained that the woman
wanted them to know that for her or for anyone who dies in Christ - this is not
a day of defeat. It's a day of celebration. The real party is just starting.
something better is coming.'"
I love the message in this story. It's a
message of hope. Someone once said, "hope stands on tiptoe, as it eagerly
anticipates the future."
We Christians need to be standing on tiptoe as
we look to the future for the fulfillment of the promised resurrection.
One can't live very long without hope. Show me
a hopeless person, and I will show you a lifeless person. Hopelessness will
suck the life blood from your veins quicker than almost anything I know. It is
a silent killer.
But the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we
have a hope which is an "anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast." (Hebrews 6:19)
As believers, we should be standing on tiptoe
waiting for the arrival of our heavenly home. We should share the sentiments of
the apostle Peter who writes, "In his great mercy He has given us new
birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven
for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of their
salvation. that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3- 6)
This is good news, and so the next time you
are at one of those church suppers, don't forget: 'Keep your fork' because you
know something greater is coming.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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