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We had a mid week worship service this week.

One of the ladies in our church put it together. She wanted to have a time of celebration, joy and thanksgiving. She wanted it to be bright and cheery, and so decorated the place with bright flowers and balloons. Plus there was food and lots of of it.

The music she chose was old, but it was her favourite stuff. It was sung beautifully and was scattered between testimonies from a number of people she had lined up before hand. There was lots of laughter, clapping and joy.

But there was still a hint of sadness. For the lady that had organised this service had died just four days before.

This service was her funeral - a time of thanksgiving for her life.

About twelve months ago I sat with this woman as she told me that she had decided not to have medical treatment, favouring quality of life over length of life. At the time we thought she had eighteen months to live, but in the end it was not much more than twelve.

She told me that she didn’t want it to be a sad occasion. She had been ill for years, and so death for her would be a release into a life that was everything she had ever hoped for. Her funeral was to be a time of joy, so those that shared told of the times when this woman had brought fun and laughter into their part of the world.

My message talked about how joy is one of the main characteristics of heaven. A quote from CS Lewis says:

Dance and games are frivolous and unimportant down here; for down here is not their natural place. In this world, they are a moment’s rest from the life we were placed here to live. But in this world, everything is upside down. That which, if it could be prolonged here, would be a truancy, is most like that which in a better country is the End of ends. Joy is the serious business of heaven.

Yes, it was a time of mourning. We will miss our friend in many ways. But through her death, I think she gave us a glimpse at what life could be, should be and one day will be.

Thanks Judith. We’ll see you in heaven.