"THE COMFORTER" By Reverand Keliihananui Makalani ~KAHUNAGURU~

"THE COMFORTER" By Reverand Keliihananui Makalani ~KAHUNAGURU~ Today at 6:03am
November 1, 2009

"Comforted "


Matthew 5:4

Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! Those seven, simple words are God's gracious truth which moves Believers from Hell to Heaven. They provide hope to those who are dying and comfort to those who mourn. Because Jesus Christ lives, we shall live also. God grant such a confession of faith to us all. Amen.

It has been many years since the event I am about to relate took place. Although other events and experiences have faded from my memory, this one remains . I think it will always remain as clear to me as the day it happened. I was a rookie preacher I called upon some parents. The father was a member of my parish and, as far as I knew, the mother had no faith in anything or anyone. That made my job doubly difficult. Not only was I inexperienced, I had been called to visit with them about the imminent death of their son........

We were in the hospital room and the doctor had just told them the boy's end was near. Choosing those words carefully, I said, "It's a blessing to know, even though the doctors say the medical outlook is bad, there is hope for your son. After your son leaves us, he will be healthy and whole. The sickness and sufferings of his last two years will be at an end. He'll be well, and he'll be happy, and he'll be living forever with our Saviour in Heaven."

When I finished talking about the Saviour's comfort and the glories of Heaven, I looked up and saw the red-eyed father nodding his head in sorrowful agreement. But the mother, the parent who had no faith, with an agonizing slowness, said, "If I could only believe that." She repeated those words again, "If I could only believe that." Then, more to herself than to anyone else, she added, "But I don't believe that...... When my son dies, I will cover him with dirt and spend the rest of my life trying to forget I ever had him......." Please understand, she was not a hard-hearted person. She was a loving lady, a good mother, but she was a mother who had no faith; and because she had no faith, she had no hope.

Which is why, on this Sunday All Saints' Day, as the church stops to remember the cloud of witnesses, the multitudes of our brothers and sisters who have died with faith in the forgiveness and salvation which has been given to us all by the crucified and living Lord, this message speaks to those whose lives have been touched by the death of someone whom they love, someone who was close to them. And if you are among those select few who have never had to make funeral arrangements, who have never had to go to a cemetery to say a final, earthly farewell, let me say: if death has never come to the special people in your life, please enjoy them while you can. Do not let the days, the moments, the opportunities with them go unappreciated or unused. If you have a broken fence, mend it; if you have said harsh words, call them back, cover them up, offer an apology; if you have let these precious people simply slip out of sight, remember them, reclaim them. To be surrounded by all your loved ones is a precious gift from God; a gift which should not be squandered or taken for granted. As the rest of the world will tell you, this gift will not last forever. The truth is, if you live long enough, death will come calling on them; one after another death will come calling and you will be made into a mourner.

Rich or poor, famous or forgotten, long or short-lived, respected, revered, or reviled, your life's situation makes no difference. Death is not a respecter of persons and it will come for everyone you love. Death will come and it will bring, in varying proportions, a mixture of sadness and sorrow, loneliness and relief, emptiness, anger, joy, and loss. It will not arrive at a time of your private choosing or personal convenience. It will not select its victims according to logic, or love, or fairness. All that can be said with certainty is this: death is coming.

Now if it sounds as if I am unnecessarily belaboring an obvious point, I'm sorry. The coming of death should be apparent, but it's not. Far too many of us live our days as if we have some unique, one-of-a-kind immunity from the repercussions of death. We are like William Saroyan, a well-known writer of plays and short stories. From his deathbed he contacted the Associated Press and said, (we all know) "Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case." In spite of an overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary, many people seem to think death will come for billions of strangers, but it will leave untouched those whom they love and will never claim those for whom they care. If that is what you believe, let me lay it on the line: every human being has sinned and the penalty for sin is death. Because of sin you will not be untouched by death's cold hand.

Because we have rebelled against God and His perfection, rejected the life He wished to give, the day most certainly will come when you must say an earthly farewell to a friend or family member. On that day as you walk away from the gravesite, you will leave behind a part of yourself and your life will never again be the same. You will find friends feel uncomfortable talking to you about, you know, death. You will be forced to make decisions for which you feel ill-equipped and unready. When you are sure you have mastered your grief and cried your tears, out of nowhere, a song will play on the radio, a familiar smell, some food, a perfume, a cologne, some old clothes will trigger a memory and your feelings of loss will come flooding back. Your mind will be filled with things which once were but will never be again. On that day you will know what it is to mourn.

Sad, too sad. But it is a sadness which has a solution. Once, long ago, Jesus Christ said, "mourners can be comforted." No, that's not quite right. He said it far more forcefully than that. Jesus removed all doubt and powerfully, positively declared, "mourners will be comforted." In Jesus' words there was no fear of contradiction; there was no hint of supposition or speculation in what He said. Mourners will be comforted. To His statement, no doubt many of you will feel compelled to respond: "Fake! Fraud! Foolishness! I know a lot of people who have gone uncomforted. I've seen the evening news. I've watched the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children who are mourning the death of someone they loved and cared about. Jesus' statement is, at best, wishful thinking, and at worst, it offers a false hope as it misleads many millions."

I can understand why you feel that way, I truly do. You have been raised in a time and place where nothing is sure and everything uncertain. You have been taught that religion is fiction and all faiths are cut from the same foolish bolt of cloth. You have learned to distrust, disbelieve, and disregard anything which smacks of the spiritual. If that accurately explains your position, let me tell you a story, a true story, a story which took place years ago when a great parliament of the world's religions was being held in Chicago. Practically every known religion and belief was represented at that event and many were the learned papers which were delivered by brilliant minds. Every religion seemed to bring something to the table, and it would take a most perceptive man or woman to discern which faith, if any, was right or best.

As the event was starting to wind down, the planners of the symposium felt relief there had been no serious fights between the faiths. Many of the leaders who had attended were pleased to have discovered points on which they agreed. Most religions found themselves in harmony over matters humanitarian. Most agreed people should be nice to each other; those who had should provide for those who had not. Still there were some folks who seemed disappointed. These were the people who were looking for ultimate answers to life's ultimate questions. Many of them felt as if they would leave the convention just as unsure and uncertain as when they had come.

It was then; a pastor stood up and offered a very simple challenge. Although I could quote him, time limitations force me to paraphrase. He said, "Honored representatives of the world's religions, today I bring before you a husband and a wife who have committed murder. There are bloodstains on their hands and nothing seems able to remove that blood. They are desperate. Let me ask, is there anything in your religion which will remove that sin and absolutely assure them of God's forgiveness and eternal life?" He challenged the unbelieving world and asked the same question of skeptics. Then, disregarding political correctness, he spoke to Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Brahmanism. To each and all he held up the challenge: "Can your religion guarantee forgiveness and salvation?"

His challenge went unanswered. That's because skeptics can offer sympathy and some may extend empathy to a murderer, but they do not have the belief system which can promise salvation. Buddhism can encourage, 'Change your state of mind and you may be lifted up', but that doesn't seem too solid. Islam can say, "Fulfill the five pillars and that will help you escape your sin.' It will help, but does it make any absolute guarantees? The Hindu faith provides many mental and physical exercises to help a sinner, but those who fall short find they are condemned to try and try again. Science, advocating the idea that we are human animals, argues against the condemnation of the conscience, even as it questions the concepts of sin, heaven, and hell. Now you understand why this question was met with silence.

In truth, Christianity, and Christianity alone, is able to say - and DOES say: "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." Christianity and Christianity alone and Saviour." Christianity was and is the only faith which can state, "By God-given grace we are saved. We are not saved by what we do or don't do. Nobody, not even the most loving, dedicated, self-denying, self-sacrificing saint can get into heaven on his own. Forgiveness and salvation are gifts which comes from God and are not, cannot be produced by our own works."

In contrast to every other faith, every other religion, Christianity alone can promise that when a sinner is given a penitent heart and a faith to acknowledge Jesus as God's Son and Saviour, he will be completely, totally forgiven. Christianity can make that promise because Jesus has saved us from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus, the promised Messiah entered this world to offer His perfect life for our sinful existence. He died the death our sins had deserved; He paid the punishment price our disobedience demanded. With His suffering and death, Jesus took our place, destroyed our sins, and saved our souls. Only Christianity can say, as St. Paul so wonderfully wrote, "I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Did you get that? Nothing in all creation can conquer the love of God given to those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Did you hear? Not even death can separate believers from the love of God which comes to them through Jesus Christ their sacrificial Substitute. And if you wonder, if you demand to know, "What proof can be offered to confirm such an exceptional, such an extraordinary, and yes, I must confess it, such an unbelievable claim?" I will tell you: "Search the Scriptures." There you will see how Jesus comforted those who mourned. When He encountered a funeral procession coming out of the city of Nain, He stopped those mourners and restored life to a young man. On that day, those who mourned were comforted. When His presence was requested at the house of a man named Jairus, He told the weeping, wailing crowd that the dead girl was only sleeping. Then, with the power which God's Son alone can command, He raised her from the dead and comforted a mourning family. Once, Jesus was asked to help His friend Lazarus who was dying. By the time Jesus arrived, the man had been dead for three days and his sisters were in deep mourning. Their mourning was short-lived. Jesus, standing before Lazarus' tomb, commanded: "Lazarus, come out!" That day, when Lazarus walked out of his tomb, comfort was given to mourners and hope was given to a dying world.

Today's Christian mourners are similarly comforted because they know Jesus Who died to take away their sins will defeat their death; They know the same power which brought Lazarus out of his grave, will someday do the same for them and all who believe. They know. They know their friends will come out; their spouses will come; their parents, their grandparents, their children will come out of their graves. Even more, all those who have been given faith, will come out to be given a glorified body, a body which will live forever in joy. Christians know the only difference between today's deaths and those from centuries ago is timing. Back then Jesus worked quickly, immediately, and for us there is a little wait- but that little wait is the only difference. Christians know, someday, maybe many times over, they will become mourners, but because of Jesus, they will be mourners who are comforted. That is why every message begins with the victorious resurrection call, "Christ is risen." It is the victory shout which changes everything.

Of course, I know many of you who have said an earthly "farewell" to loved ones may not feel victorious or completely comforted. To you death still may seem final, frightening, and cold. If so, let me finish with a story I heard a mother tell her son. The boy's beloved Grandpa had just died and he wanted to know more about death. The mother explained, "Honey, do you remember, when you were a very little boy, how you used to play hard all day?" Yes, he remembered that. "And, do you remember that when night came, you were too tired even to get undressed? Do you remember how you would just lay down wherever you were and fall asleep?" He remembered doing that, too. "And do you remember," mother asked, "how, in the morning, much to your surprise, you woke up and found yourself in your own bed in your own room, where you belonged?" The boy nodded and said, "I used to fall asleep in front of the TV." "Yes, you did," mother said, "but in front of the TV is not where you belonged. You know, when you fell asleep, daddy came and with his big, strong arms, he picked you up and tucked you into bed. Death is like that. We're tired and we fall asleep, just like Grandpa did. When we do, Jesus comes and He picks us up and takes us to where we belong. We fall asleep and we wake up in heaven. Jesus does that, because He loves us."

I don't know if that little boy understood everything mother said to him that day; I don't know if he remembered; but I did. I pray you remember, too. I pray that those of you who mourn remember that when Christians fall asleep, Jesus, with His nail-pierced hands, comes and takes us to where we belong. I pray all of you believe it, because, by the time All Saints' Day comes a year from now, some of you who are listening today will have died; others of you who are hearing this message will be in mourning. Because that is so, I place before you the Saviour. Believe on Him who by His life, suffering, death, and resurrection has conquered death. Believe on the living Saviour. That way, if you die, you will wake up where you belong -- and if you mourn, He will, most certainly, comfort you.

PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR,
Rev. Keliihananui Makalani ~KAHUNAGURU~