My pastor, Dr. Hershael York, had to bid his father farewell this past Sunday. Wallace York, a lifelong missionary and pastor, went to be with the Lord after a battle with a strange set of medical ailments. As I understand it, this was his first stay in a hospital. As I write this, Dr. York’s mother-in-law also hangs in the balance of life and death. The Executive Pastor of our church and a dear friend is visiting with his mother in Tennessee as she is being prepped to make a move to a University Hosptial in Virginia for surgery on two tumors.
My heart goes out to my friends who are suffering and mourning right now. And my hope lay in Christ, which is where they find their strength and comfort too. Death, as Dr. York puts it, is only a promotion. There is hope in the hurting and joy in the pain. Christ is coming to finally and ultimately defeat even this most horrible enemy.
There is a hymn that is perfect for the occasion of death. I’ve included the text for your reading and edification.
Abide with Me
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide: When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; change and decay in all around I see; O thou who changest not, abide with me. I need thy presence every passing hour; what but thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me. I fear no foe, with thee at hand bless: ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies: heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee: in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
