Sunday, November 21, 2004
 

"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

John 11:21, New International Version

    If you have ever stood at the grave side of a loved one, this thought probably crossed your mind, too -- if you had only been here, Lord! Where is Jesus when we hurt? Why couldn't he be here to help us? There are some crucial answers to remember. First, Jesus is with us in our moments of loss and grief. The Church is Jesus' Body and every act of kindness, support, comfort, and help is Jesus working to alleviate our grief. Second, the indwelling Spirit will provide God's comfort if we will let him. Third, while God may not have kept our loved one from passing from this life to the next, he has been the abiding and unbroken presence for each Christian who has died physically. Paul reminds us that when a Christian dies, he or she goes to be with Christ (2 Cor. 5:6-7; Phil. 1:21-23) and God's loving presence is never lost to him or her (Rom. 8:35-39)!