Funeral--Traveling Home

Traveling Home

Psalm 121 GW

A song for going up to worship. I look up toward the mountains. Where can I find help? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let you fall. Your guardian will not fall asleep. Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps. The Lord is your guardian. The Lord is the shade over your right hand. The sun will not beat down on you during the day, nor will the moon at night. The Lord guards you from every evil. He guards your life. The Lord guards you as you come and go, now and forever.

Psalm 121

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ our Lord (+), and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Traveling is supposed to be relaxing, but there are times when it is not.

Like setting up how to go from here to there---

Do I need passports, shuttles? plane tickets, my car to drive?

It depends on where and how you like to travel.

Me I like to go to the beach and watch the waves coming in and going out.

That is part of the reason I like Ellen that you asked me to use for Skip after you told me of his love of traveling.

it has that line of God watching your going out and coming in.

The Psalm’s origin is to speak to the many pilgrims of the people of Israel

who like Jesus himself came in from the countryside to go up to the temple where of course God watches over your going out and your coming in to his house.

But it also has a very important message for us today because it can speak to us about life in general.

When we come into this world as an infant helpless, crying, needing someone to care for us. Our parents and God are there for us. Watching our coming in.

And when we go from this world as an adult, in pain, struggling for the last breath and need someone to care for us, our loved ones and God are there again to watch our going out.

Skip came in here last at Christmas, in distress and needing and wanting God to watch over him on last time. And as he went out the light of Christmas was there to shine forth into his life.

The translation I personally use for reading the Psalm is not exactly the one in the bulletin

It presents God as our Guardian, who guards us from harm.

And I like it because it also matches what is often heard on this 4th week of Easter

We hear about Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd guards the sheep from the wolf.

The Good Shepherd by his voice leads them into the safe sheepfold.

The Good Shepherd leads them to still waters.

And the Sheep know God.

Today as we gather to remember and mourn the death of Skip

let us think of him still on his travels. Going out and coming in but this time in the sheepfold with God. Who guards and protects him from all evil and gives Skip the gift of eternal life.

Because it is that protection and that gift of Eternal life that gives you and me the hope that we will join him on his travels and be with Jesus the Good Shepherd

“in the house of the Lord forever”