Meditation for Inna Mandagie's Memorial Service
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4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Pastor Sonny, Sharona and Alex, Melody, extended family and friends. My name is Pastor Andrew Beunk and I serve as the Lead Pastor of the New Westminster Christian Reformed Church. I count it a great priviledge to bring God’s Word to us this morning at this the Celebration of Life service of our dear sister Inna Mandagie.
New West CRC and House for All Nations church have shared this building for more than 8 years and over that period of time it has been a blessing as pastoral staff teams from both congregations to periodically meet for prayer, for lunches, and even for the occasional conference.
I truly feel honored to bring a word of comfort and encouragement from the Lord.
Young terrrbiake akan datongue
Let me say that again in case you missed it the first time:
Young terrrbiake akan datongue
IF you’re wondering what I just said (or at least what I hope I said!)....that’s Indonesian for:
“The best is yet to come.”
I’m guessing that at least in North America that saying was made most famous perhaps by the popular song that Frank Sinatra sang, with the same title.
“The best is yet to come, and won’t that be fine? You think you’ve seen the sun, but you ain’t seen it shine.” — Frank Sinatra
And of course there have been many people who have said the same kind of thing using different words.
“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” — C. S. Lewis
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.” — Zig Ziglar
Or this quote from Anne Frank, a German born Jew who hid from the Nazi’s in an Amsterdam attic during the second world war...
“What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t happened yet.” — Anne Frank
“The Best is yet to come.”
And yet here we are… here we are in this moment, when someone most all of us knew and loved dearly, has died. It can be very hard to believe those words when someone who has blessed us so much is gone.
Inna brought so much encouragement to so many people. To Pastor Sonny, her family, the HFAN community, the seniors that she cared for in her workplace, and many others, she was tour de force of encouragement and care. At one point later in her life she even learned some Cantonese so that she could talk to some of the seniors she cared for in her workplace.
No doubt all of us feel she died much too soon. “Lord, God, why did you allow cancer to rob us of a beloved wife, mother, sister, and friend.”
“Pastor,” some might say, “you saying that the best is yet to come, feels like little more than wishful thinking.”
Back in 1998 Barbara Brown Taylor wrote an article in Christianity Today called “The Day We Were Left Behind”. In it she writes: "On Sunday mornings, a great division takes place among people as some go to church and most stay home. Those who stay home are not taking a week off; church is simply not part of their lives. As far as they are concerned, houses of worship are little more than pretty antiques, fussed over by wishful thinkers who do not know when to admit they are wrong and go home.”
In fact there are many in our contemporary culture who, when they hear us say, “the best is yet to come”.....think we are just wishful thinkers who do not know when to admit that we are wrong and go home.”
And yet throughout the millenia of human history so many have lived with a deep sense that the best is yet to come. Put another way, “there is more to life than this”. Just the fact that we as human beings can think about life beyond this material existence, life beyond death, is at least some evidence that it’s true. We have no evidence that any other creature in the animal kingdom thinks about life beyond death; only humans do; could that be because we were made that way?
Where do we go with our deep sense of loss and sadness when someone we’ve loved so dearly has died? The Bible invites us to bring that sadness and loss to Jesus Christ.
I don’t know about you, but I’m so grateful that we can do that. We can bring our loss and sadness to the Lord God of heaven and earth. I’m reminded of what Peter says to Jesus at one point when he also felt a sense of heaviness and sadness, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Without question this is what our sister Inna believed, and friends, I hope that all of us here today can say the same words that the apostle Peter does, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
So what are those eternal words of life?
Truthfully, we find them all through the pages of the Bible. Consider the Psalm that was read earlier:
13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Or from the prophet Isaiah
17 “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
Those words from Isaiah find fulfillment in the book of Revelation where John is given this glorious vision after the second coming of our Lord Jesus:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
These are some of the words of eternal life that we find in the Bible.
How can we know that we too can have a place in this new heaven and renewed earth? We can only know that by listening to the words of one person, who has gone through death and come back to us, bringing the life and power of that new creation with him.
Listen to what the apostle Paul says about people who’s lives are united to Jesus:
2 Corinthians 5:17–19 (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of restoration / reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling/restoring the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
When Martha, the sister of Lazarus who had died, was talking to Jesus, wishing that he had come sooner so that perhaps he might have healed her brother, Jesus says to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Jesus, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” But what she didn’t realize is that Jesus himself is that resurrection life and power. He says to her:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Martha says something that sounds a lot like what Peter said to Jesus. Remember? He said, “Lord, we have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
And friends Jesus wants all of us here today to know that as well. In fact, Jesus calls us to be his ambassadors, that’s the language Paul uses,
2 Corinthians 5:20–21 (NIV)
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Even as we listen to those words from the Bible we quickly realize that that popular expression, “the best is yet to come”, captures a prominent Biblical theme.
In the Bible we often see God cultivating in the hearts and lives of his people a strong hope in a better future. Think about just a few stories or characters in the Bible. I could list dozens but here are just a few:
God’s call to Abram.... “Abram, leave what is certain and secure in your life, leave your home and go to the land I will show you....I will bless you and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations of the world.”
Or think of how God led his people Israel out of Egypt..... He promised to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey....but they could only get there through the dry and desolate wilderness.
Or remember the young David....so certain was he in God’s victory that he stared down a giant named Goliath and said, "You come against me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin but I come against you in the name of the Lord God Almighty."
And then of course, even for our Lord Jesus Christ.....when faced with the certainty of an agonizing immanent death, he simply prayer.....Father, not my will but your will be done.
Jesus knew that by completely trusting in the will of his Father in heaven, “the best is yet to come.”
Especially in the last year or so of Inna’s life, this Biblical truth took on a very special meaning for her. So much so that she re-created a four year old painting of a father and daughter walking into a brightly lit future…and on that recreated drawing she wrote “the best is yet to come”....that was in July of this past year. I think many of us have received a postcard version of that drawing.
“The best is yet to come”
This past week I had the opportunity to meet with Inna’s family and some of their dear friends. Since I didn’t know Inna well I wanted to hear from them about the kind of wife, and mother, and friend, Christ-follower she was.
One of the things that struck me was how Inna lived out the truth that the best is yet to come in her daily life. She was always caring for and encouraging others, helping them find strength and joy in knowing that they are loved and that the future is bright.
She had this beautiful phone ministry. Always on the phone connecting with people to see how they were doing. And often the Lord would cause those phone calls to happen at just the right time, such that the people receiving them couldn’t help but feel that the Lord had prompted Inna to call them. And indeed He did.
And one point Pastor Sonny shared with me that Inna truly lived an “other-centered” life. Happiness in Inna’s life came when she saw others get help and be blessed. I can’t help but feel that that captures the posture we have towards others, when we realize that the some of the best days of a person’s life hasn’t happened yet.
In the final months of her life she experienced quite literally what Paul writes in 2 Cor. 4.
2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NIV)
16 ...Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17
No longer could she swallow food. It became increasingly difficult for her to talk. Outwardly she was wasting away. But the Lord was drawing her towards an eternal glory.
I feel like Inna left us a powerful invitation through the drawing that she created of the Father and daughter walking through the garden. Notice how they are walking hand-in-hand towards a future unseen?
I believe that captures what Paul says in one of the verses that we read:
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Inna’s artwork invites us to reach out to our Father in heaven, in faith. To put our hand in his knowing He will shepherd us towards a future that we cannot see with our physical eyes, but one we can begin to see with the eyes of faith.
And the eyes of faith open us up to the beauty of Rev. 21. “God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. I am making everything new.”
A number of years ago I came across this story which I want to leave with us as I conclude.
A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and asked him to come to her house to discuss some of her final wishes.
She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral service, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. She requested to be buried with her favorite Bible.
As the pastor prepared to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something else. "There's one more thing," she said excitedly.
"What's that?" said the pastor.
"This is important," the woman said. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.
The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew something better was coming like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie, or even better....pisang goreng
"So, when people see me in that casket with a fork in my hand and they ask, 'What's with the fork?' I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork. The best is yet to come!'"
Jesus says to us this morning,
John 14:2–6 (NIV)
2 ... I am going ... to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 One of Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Lord, .... how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
These words my friends, are not wishful thinking...... they are words of eternal life spoken by the Holy One of God..... our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus says, “come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest....the best is yet to come!”
Closing prayer.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.