Introduction: A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years before. Because of their hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Friday, and his wife was flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel, and unlike years ago, there was a computer in his room, and he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without noticing his error, sent the email to the wrong address. Meanwhile…somewhere in Houston….a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory after suffering a fatal heart attack. The widow decided to check her email, expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and then fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and then glanced up and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I Have Arrived!
Dearest Love: I know you are surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now, and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I have just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow, and look forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was. PS…Sure is hot down here!!
I’m concluding a sermon series today entitled “Imperfect love.” We’ve talked about divorce, a bad beginning and incompatibility. Today I want to address the subject of what to do when a loved one dies. I know that if you’re the one who has suffered the loss, it’s no joking matter. C.S. Lewis wrote in “A Grief Observed”: “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.” Most of us today know what it feels like to lose a family member to death. And some of you today know what it feels like to lose a spouse. I have not known that particular sorrow but, in his Word, God has given us many examples of those who have. And no two of those examples are exactly the same. In fact, the accounts of Jacob’s marriage to Leah and Abigail’s marriage to Nabal both involve the death of a spouse, but with dramatically different emotions, reactions and conclusions. It’s important to acknowledge the individuality of every person and the uniqueness of every relationship which makes generalizations so difficult and risky. I want to draw some lessons today about how to move forward when my loved one dies, but I want to qualify these lessons by noting that there are exceptions. This may not apply to every person in every stage of grief. That’s why God reveals to us so many different struggling people in the Bible. If one doesn’t speak to our need, another one will.
Ruth and Naomi are two women who become widows and their story helps us see a way of moving forward. This is God’s plan for life after A death.
