1-21-19<\/p>\n
January 21 is the anniversary of my wife Nancy\u2019s death. It often seems easier for people to say \u201cpassing\u201d instead of \u201cdeath\u201d; and with many people, about many situations, \u201cpassing\u201d is perfectly appropriate. Not like passing, say, over the River Styx. In Greek mythology, that river separated the living from Hades, or hell, and grief was associated with that last journey.<\/p>\n
In Christian typology, we pass from this life to Heaven, to Paradise, to Eternal Life. It sometimes has been corrupted by fictions of Limbo and Purgatory, but those way-stations are not in the Bible. Believers can be assured that upon death we will be in the presence of Jesus; standing before the Throne.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it is called the Great Hope, also known as the Blessed Assurance. During Nancy\u2019s long illness \u2013 several heart attacks, then transplanted heart and kidneys \u2013 she started a hospital ministry, praying with patients and their families, and conducting weekly services. This was on the Heart Failure floor of Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. <\/p>\n
She waited four and a half months for a new heart after being listed. The ministry \u2013 a family ministry on the floor, with my children and me fully participating \u2013 continued for many years. Nancy could identify with hurting patients, because she also was plagued with diabetes, celiac disease, cancer, five mini-strokes, amputation, dialysis. The counsel of people who have shared your pain or problems always resonates.<\/p>\n
Remarkably (no, for Christians, \u201cpredictably\u201d) we saw conversions, a few miracles, family members and casual visitors touched in vital ways. Jews attended our open services. Blacks loved the Southern Gospel music we sometimes would play; rural farmers discovered the blessings of Black spirituals. One woman whose husband died after transplant told us she believed that her husband\u2019s heart failed just so he would wind up at Temple and attracted to our services, where he became a Christian. A \u201cGod thing,\u201d she thought. That is not biblical\u2026 but those were the sorts of emotions and testimonies.<\/p>\n
I could write this message about hearts around Valentine\u2019s day, too; but the messages are universal. Also\u2026 Nancy received her new heart, ironically, on Valentine\u2019s Day. That became her new birthday, but we also remember much on the day of her home-going.<\/p>\n
\u201cHome-going\u201d is what some Christians call it. Properly. Other terms were natural about Christianity and salvation\u2026 when confronting heart failure. \u201cGive your heart to Jesus\u201d\u2026 \u201cCreate in me a new heart, O Lord\u201d\u2026 so many verses. It made it easier, or frequently more challenging, to construct messages or offer a prayer. But, oh, the church services (funerals; “home-goings”) we discovered, for instance in the Black churches \u2013 \u201cpreach-offs,\u201d joyous singing and dancing. The ecstatic prayers and songs of the Pentecostals.<\/p>\n
One focus of Nancy\u2019s ministry was to enforce and reinforce the point that \u201chead knowledge\u201d was not enough for a child of God. Passing a quiz, reciting Bible verses, even merely attending church gain you nothing in themselves. We had emotional adherents who had never been to churches in their lives; one big fella cried when he confessed to never having prayed, publicly, in his life\u2026 before he did so in our fellowship. But Nancy did not feed them weak milk. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou must do more than know<\/em> things in your head,\u201d she said. \u201cYou must know in your heart<\/em>\u2026 believe deep down in your heart.\u201d That Jesus is the Son of God; that He died for our sins; that God raised Him from the dead. Heart knowledge.<\/p>\n That basic message, the \u201cold, old story,\u201d is all that humankind needs. Head knowledge will follow. Good works will be the result of a redeemed life. The \u201cfruits of the spirit\u201d come in the life of a born-again believer. But Nancy preached about the nature of those \u201cfruits,\u201d what the next steps were after one\u2019s spiritual<\/em> heart was transplanted.<\/p>\n The heart, even more important than the mind, is the first change in the life of new-born believers. An ancient German hymn is titled, \u201cHeart and Mouth and Deeds and Life.\u201d Tending to those things is not only a road-map for Christians, but wisdom for the lives of every person. In all aspects and ramifications. <\/p>\n Nancy tended to those matters in life, and was an example. Christ\u2019s example, of course; the light unto our paths.<\/p>\n Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a cantata, number 147, based on those words. It is one of his most profound, and contains several passages that are commonly heard today. \u201cJesu, Joy of Man\u2019s Desiring,\u201d for instance, is the 10th movement Chorale:<\/p>\n Jesus remains my joy, Let us remember, from the Beatitudes of Jesus: \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.\u201d<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n
\nmy heart’s comfort and essence,
\nJesus resists all suffering,
\nHe is my life’s strength,
\nmy eye’s desire and sun,
\nmy soul’s love and joy;
\nso will I not leave Jesus
\nout of heart and face.<\/em><\/p>\n