Monday, March 18, 2013

Rejoicing and Weeping

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. (King James Version of the Bible)

Yesterday we experienced a very meaningful but emotional church service. As I told you, we had a baptism. We rejoiced with a handsome boy. He came to church all dressed up in a suit, surrounded by relatives. It was a happy time. 

We rejoiced.



(photo from  free-extras.com
But we had a death in our church family Saturday evening. Many were just learning about this loss as they arrived. They weren't expecting it. We all felt rather numb and disbelieving I think. It seemed she should walk in and take her place, sit in her usual spot. People who loved her were in the pew, people who first came to our church because of her. She wasn't there.

Our Worship Team sang her favorite song, Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). We cried as we sang it to her family. We all knew she had some heavy chains in this life, shackles really. We all knew she was free now. We all knew she'd been ransomed and was experiencing Amazing Grace in a way we could only yet imagine.

But we saw a mother who had to see her daughter go before her. We saw a young son, a sister and many others who weren't ready for her to go so soon. We saw our friends in pain.

So we wept.

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