+ Lawrence J. "Larry" Wooldridge +

Dear Jan, Dean and family, and all the loved ones and friends of our beloved Brother in Christ Larry Wooldridge: Grace and peace be to you as we commemorate the homecoming of our departed Brother in Christ to the place prepared for him in the Father’s house.

There is a story about the hoops an engaged couple of ancient times goes through when they plan to be married.

The Bridegroom leaves his bride to prepare a place — a home — for her. Once he builds a home for his bride and its done, He rushes back to get her and brings her home.

The problem is, the Bridegrooms Father is the foreman of the project. I imagine the Bridegroom is anxious to get the job done and rush back for his bride. I can just picture it . . . slapping a boards together, looking for the easiest route just to get the job done. When He thinks he’s done, his Dad comes along — the foreman — to inspect the work. He tells his son to fix this or that. Put another coat of paint here. Replace that molding because the cuts don’t match perfectly. The Bridegroom tries to get it done as fast as he can, looking to his Dad — “Can I go get her now?”

Finally, when this new home for His bride passes the Father’s inspection he tells His Son, “Go get your bride.”

Isn’t that a great story? But it is not just a story, it really is our story; and it is Larry’s story.

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places . . . and I go to prepare a place for you . . . and I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am” (John 14:3).

The Bible calls Jesus the Bridegroom and the Church (the Christian) His bride.

And not only is Jesus preparing a place for us, He also tells us that only the Father knows the time of His return — no one knows: Jesus doesn’t, not even the angels in heaven — only the Father know.

But make no mistake about it, friends, when the place that Jesus is preparing for us is complete, He is coming to get us — like an anxious Bridegroom long ready for his bride.

And who is His bride? "Whoever believe and is baptized will be saved” Mark 16:16, says our Lord Jesus, which describes Larry.

Now, look at the same, but from a different vantage point:

A few minutes ago you heard the reading from the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John the apostle. Jesus revealed, and St. John looked, and what did he see? “Behold,” a blessed vision, a great multitude that no one could number, a crowd so wondrously big, clothed in white robes, standing before the throne and the Lamb. What a blessed scene.

And so the question is asked: — who are these people, this great multitude?

They are those who have come out of the great tribulation—that is, out of the sufferings of this life, through the valley of the shadow of death.

They are those who have passed through and are now on the other side. Picture a coin, if you will. One coin, two sides. We can see only side of the coin at a time. Alive in this world we only see one side of the coin.

But, those who have died — fallen asleep in Christ — are now on the other side, and from that vantage point they are finally able to see what is on the other side of this “coin”. They are in a different realm. We cannot see them, but through the apostle John, God has given us a glimpse of their joyful glory.

So, what enables this multitude to stand in the unveiled presence of God? Those who enter before the throne “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14).

They have been washed in Baptism.

That washing applies to them the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

They have been given faith by the power of the Holy Spirit poured out on them, and with that faith they have received the forgiveness of sins earned by Jesus on the cross for all humankind.

They have received the Savior and his new resurrection life.

Larry has laid aside the burdens and battles, the stresses and strains of this life and our Lord has finally brought him home; he is now part of that great multitude in the throne room of heaven.

If there were a window where we could see into heaven, I’d bet we’d see Larry, with his dear wife, Arlene, standing there among the white—robed saints.

Larry believed in his Lord Jesus, the only Savior from sin. As a result, his robe is washed in the blood of Jesus. And upon his death, he came out of the valley of tribulation into eternal life and the place that his Lord was preparing for him — a good land, a rich land, with incredible soil!

And if we would would just peer a little longer into this window we would also see the white-robed saints singing with special, sevenfold exhilaration: “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

They sing because the Lamb at the center of the throne is the Lord Jesus Christ. He leads them to springs of living water. He wipes away every tear from their eyes.

They sing because they have been freed from all pain and sorrow. Their place in glory is secure forever.

And dear family and friends — we can join them in singing.

For those who believe and are baptized, our destination is with the white-robed saints.

We are confident in God’s promise that soon all his saints on earth will join all of God’s saints in glory, and remain with them forever and ever.

So, we look to Jesus who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. His position is before the throne of his Father as our advocate, our mediator. He pleads for us. He has prepared a place for us among the throng gathered before the Father.

The Good Life

In our modern era we speak of people who have died as, “They had a good life.” The only problem is our understanding of a good life is at best inadequate, compared to God’s understanding of what constitutes a good life.

Now there could be several similarities. A person who has a good, God-pleasing life might be blessed with a loving and caring spouse, loving and respectful children, a job or vocation that brought meaning and fulfillment to his or her life, enjoyable hobbies and interests such as golf, cribbage, not to mention more than adequate material blessings — speaking of cribbage, Larry enjoyed it so much that I’m told he even kept a cribbage board in his car. By those definitions, I think we could say that Larry had a good life.

From God’s perspective however, there are even more important ingredients that make a life good and pleasing to him.

Christians look to the goodness, kindness, and compassion of the Lord for the key to a truly good life.

To begin with, Christians give God the credit, honor, and glory for all of the good gifts and blessings we enjoy.

By faith in Christ, we can say with the psalmist in today’s appointed Psalm — which, by the way, Larry picked out for our time together — “The Lord is gracious and righteous, and our God is compassionate. . . . [And] he saves me” Psalm 116:5-6.

Christians know that there is no higher calling in life than to walk in step with the Lord and his purposes, following him and serving him all the days of our life. And this describes Larry.

You see, he faithfully served this congregation as our eldest Elder. He tried to resign months ago, but we told him at a luncheon in his honor, that it was a lifelong appointment. He was part of our Willing Workers, who faithfully keep this physical campus in good order; when he wasn’t able to “DO” much, he assumed a supervisory role, as He shared with me. But I think the thing he loved most of all was mowing the grass.

Larry knew, along with every other Christian, that true meaning and fulfillment in life is found not in money or the things that we accumulate, but rather in the love, kindness, and forgiveness that our Lord moves us to share with others, in the midst of our daily life and daily relationships.

Christians know that the motivation for our life of Christian love and service to others comes from the love of Christ living in us. As the Bible tells us, “We love because [God] first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19).

LETTER — Dean found on the table in Larry’s home.

Christians also know from faith and life experience that when we are confronted with struggles, sickness, and sorrow—which are an inevitable part of life in this world—we have a sure source of comfort, strength, and hope in Jesus Christ, his Word, and his promises. Promises of our heavenly home; the Promised Land.

You see, when we live by faith in Christ our Savior, we know that he will lead us through all the trials and tribulations of life, until that blessed day comes for us, his bride, and welcomes us to our eternal home in heaven.

Then we will finally grasp the full meaning of the words in todays Psalm, “Precious in the eye of the LORD is the death of his saints [or “favored ones” as today’s translation rendered it Psalm 116:15

Living with Christ and for Christ, living each day in his love and the forgiveness he earned for us on the cross, sharing his grace and mercy with those around us every chance we get, and living always with the assurance that nothing in this life, not even death, “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39).

What matters most of all is to be able to live—and to die—with the sure confidence that when our Lord calls his people to their eternal home, Christ Jesus Himself “will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:17).

Living and Dying in Faith in Christ Jesus—That Is the Truly Good Life.

And, that is the sure and certain faith by which Larry lived—and in which he died. “Therefore,” as St. Paul encourages us, “comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:18 RSV).