May 20 - Here and Now, There and Then

May 20 – Here and Now, There and Then

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. (John 12:20-26)

Death is just one of those things that freaks a lot of us out.  Even though I wait expectantly for the moment I arrive in heaven, I’m not in a terrible hurry to get there.  I enjoy life.

One day during an extremely stressful period in our lives, Mom and I were driving through Omaha past a beautiful cemetery.  The lawn was perfect, trees were gently swaying in the breeze, there seemed to be no hurried pace.  I just quietly mentioned to Mom that it looked so wonderful.  For some reason, the tone of my voice or the exact words I used startled her.  She turned on me and asked, “You’re not planning something crazy, are you?”

No, I just loved the idea of the peace and quiet that seemed to exist beyond the gates into that cemetery.

Now, when I was growing up, cemeteries really creeped me out.  I suspect it might have something to do with the horror stories I read.  You can’t imagine the number of them that had bad things happening in darkened cemeteries! 

Death scared me then and I’m not in any hurry to approach it now.

But, Jesus promises us that if we serve Him, we will follow Him into heaven.  He will be there waiting for us.  And at some point in the transition between the here and now and the there and then, we will yearn for eternal life more than we love life on earth.