In My Father’s House

John 14:1-4

Oct. 24, 2010

How do you think you would have reacted if you came to church this

morning and saw this in the sanctuary?

My guess is you would have been

confused – what is that doing here?

Maybe you would have been concerned –

Oh my gosh who died? Another reaction

might even be consternation – why didn’t

I get informed about this death!

I think you all would agree having a

casket in church would cause a reaction?

For the past couple months I have been

working with the worship planning team around the concept of multi-

sensory worship. Basically it is using a variety of mediums to convey a

theme or concept.

Whether it is a scene from a movie, pictures on the screen, items around the

altar, or props outside the sanctuary, you elicit curiosity, you illustrate a

point, you reinforce a theme. Another component of this worship

philosophy is helping worshippers use there eyes, their noses maybe even

their bodies in the worship experience. When we make the worship service

multi-sensory it becomes more meaningful and memorable.

As I thought about my theme this morning I did consider bringing in a

coffin. When I shared that idea with the Berkley worship planning team

they quickly said no. How about a

hearse parked outside? Though a

good idea, most funeral homes no

longer own their own hearse. When

one is needed for a funeral, they

contract for one through a business

that maintains a fleet of hearses.

But why a coffin, why a hearse?

What was the scripture lesson for

this morning? John 14:1-4. “Let

not your hearts be troubled; 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 when 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.” Where are you most likely to hear those words? At a

funeral service

In the multi-sensory approach, having items associated with a funeral will

help us connect with times we have been to a funeral and the comfort those

words from John brought.

For the past couple of weeks I have been preaching on some of my favorite

bible verses. Last week it was Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things in him

who strengthens me” I didn’t mention it last week but if you go on

Facebook, the social networking website, you will see “I can do all things in

him who strengthens me” has its own Facebook page.

My family and I were at the Groves High School football game on Friday

night. We noticed someone wearing a Groves Letter Jacket. There

embroidered on the back was Phil. 4:13 and the verse.

This morning we are going to spend a few minutes looking at this verse from

John. Because it is used so often at funerals it is one of the most familiar of

all bible verses. Ask people to end the sentence “In my father’s house”,

many people would say “there are many rooms”.

Be it ever so humble – what “there’s no place like home”. To get from OZ

to Kansas Dorothy had to tap here

heels together 3 times and say

“There’s no place like home”.

Simon and Garfunkel sang: Homeward bound I wish I was Homeward bound Home, where my thought's escaping Home, where my music's playing Home, where my love lies waiting Silently for me More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon+and+garfunkel/#share

Home is a special place. For Jesus to say there is a home for us when we die

what comfort does that bring! It’s interesting that when people think about

home, that imagine varies from person to person. Even the physical look of

a home changes depending on who you are talking to. A home in Japan

looks different than one in the bush in Kenya.

For me right now this is home.

As homes go around the world

this is a big home. If you were

brought up on the King James

version of the Bible, then you

would know that verse 2 in John

14 reads “In my Father’s house

are many mansions.” My

parsonage with it’s four

bedrooms, 2 and a half baths,

would be considered a mansion

by many in the world.

I want to show you several rooms

in the parsonage. I do this in

order to illustrate how I have used

this favorite verse from John to

help grieving families remember

their loved one.

Here is the living room. When

you think about your loved one,

can you picture him or her in their

favorite chair visiting with you or

maybe watching their Tigers on the TV? We all have our favorite place to

sit don’t we?

Maybe the dining room reminds

us of our loved one. We

remember all those special meals

we shared around the table.

Birthdays, Christmas,

Thanksgiving were just some of

the celebrations we enjoyed at the

table.

Another room we might connect

with a loved one is the kitchen

table. Rather than the big meals,

it is the causal meals, everyday

breakfast, lunch and dinner, that we remember someone by.

For some it is the kitchen that

brings back memories. There

she was always in the kitchen,

making those famous “blanks”.

We can’t picture so and so

without seeing her in her

kitchen.

Our earthly homes are so

precious to us. It is within those

homes we live and love and

create memories. No matter what our

homes are made of they will not last

forever. This is also true for our bodies.

We will all die. Our time on earth is

temporary. Because of God’s love for us

however our death does not end our

journey.

That is the affirmation of our scripture

lesson. God has prepared a place for us

and will come and get us. When a loved

one dies, we may grieve the loss, we may be heartbroken that that person is

no longer with us, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that he or she is

now with God.

The Apostle Paul uses the same

image when he wrote to the

Corinthians that “when this earthly

tent we live in is destroyed, we

have a building from God, a house

not made with hands, eternal in the

heavens.” Those are comforting

words.

Going home! In my 23 years on ministry I have been with many members

that were dying. Even though they were near death, so many of these dear

Christians were at peace. Because of their faith they are not afraid to die.

They didn’t want to leave their family, but they knew God had a place just

for them.

For the past two weeks I

have mentioned one bible

verse that is etched on so

many minds: John 3:16. To

be consistent I will lift it up

one more time. “For God

so loved the world that he

gave His only Son that

whoever believes in him

should not perish but have

eternal life.”

How do we assure ourselves eternal life with our creator? How do we make

sure we are with our loved ones forever? We commit ourselves to God by

accepting Christ as our Savior.

On Friday I was driving with Alma. As we went by the Word of Faith

Church on 9 mile and Evergreen she told me about a funeral service she

attended there. At the end of the pastor’s message he had an altar call.

Alma said it went on for a while. At one point Alma said the pastor

reminded the congregation that sister Blank, the woman that had died, was

looking down on them from heaven. She wants all her family and friends to

be with her in heaven. In order to get to heaven they must commit

themselves to Christ. So if they had not done that already that, today should

be the day.

I believe Christ is the way, the truth and the life. I believe Christ has

prepared a place for us. Whether Christ will only take those that officially

give their lives to him, I don’t know. I will let God decide who is in and

who is out. All I know that is that when we do give our lives to God, we can

gain confidence and strength. Having Christ as our Savior eliminates any

doubt as to what will happen to us when we die.

“In my father’s

house there are

many rooms” Let

us be assured that

one of those

rooms has our

name on it. I am

not going to do an

altar call like my

colleague from

Word of Faith,

instead I am

going to ask us to

pray. In that

prayer I am going

to ask us to dedicate ourselves to God. Whether you have walked with the

Lord for many years or you are new to the faith, I will lead you in a prayer

of commitment..

Let us pray.

We are awed by your love for us. You have made it possible for us

to spend all eternity with you. Just as Jesus offered the invitation

long ago, so you are making the same invitation, “come and follow

me.” When we make that decision the gift of salvation, that is,

freedom from sin and death is ours.

So, whether it is our first time or not, we give our lives to you

almighty God. No matter our past, no matter what we might have

done, you promise to forgive our sins and make us whole.

As we follow you we will do the best we can to live our lives like

Jesus.

On our journey God will be with us, in our homes, schools,

workplaces, everywhere.

And when our time comes to an end here on this earth, we will take

our place in that home that you have prepared for us.

Thank you for all you have done for us.

Amen.