And the Darkness Did Not Overcome It

“WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS THROUGH”
Luke 2:1-20
Faith United
Christmas Eve, 2007


I have a confession to make
I don’t like Christmas
Wait a minute, let me rephrase that
I don’t like the Christmas SEASON
Maybe part of it is because I’m a pastor
and before that I was a pastor’s kid
so all my life Christmas has been one of the most
insane times of the year in our family
the most stressful
the time when we see each other in the family the LEAST
because everyone is running in opposite directions
I don’t like what happens to people,
they get crazy
they get rude and obnoxious
and they cut you off on the road
as if I’m in New Jersey
they look miserable and burdened
stretched beyond their limit
and over and over again I hear frazzled people say,
“I’m not ready!”
as if there’s some big boss in the sky
who will reign down fire and brimstone
if we don’t have our tree up
if we haven’t bought that gift for that cousin
we never did like anyway
or if our house doesn’t look like a Hallmark card
I find myself in the middle of WalMart
suddenly wanting to turn into John the Baptist
in the wilderness and just start screaming
“What are we doing?? What do you want??
Why are we doing this???”
Maybe I’ve been a preacher too long…
Fortunately, I’ve suppressed the urge so far
People have been asking me for weeks,
“are you ready?”
And always my answer seems to be
an amused kind of snort
and a “no, I’m not”
And I’m still not
yet here we are, ready or not
In 1993, Larry and I decided that it was time
to have a baby
I was in my very first full time church appointment
and I just couldn’t wait any longer for a more practical time
to have a child
So we got pregnant
A lot can change in 9 months
My first church appointment turned out to be somewhat
of a disaster
and by the spring it was clear we had to move
But it was ok
Sarah was due to arrive in the world in late June
in plenty of time for us to be in our new home
We were moving to Tilden, Nebraska that summer
and so we went to Norfolk to make arrangements with the hospital there
My parents came out to help with the move
and to be supportive
We had everything in Superior ready to go
while Larry went to Annual Conference without me that year
One day, he came home from Conference earlier than usual
and suggested we drive to Grand Island to treat my parents
to a real Nebraska steak dinner
It was about an hour and half drive or more
for a very pregnant woman who had to make some
occasional stops along the way
We went to Dreisbach’s
and my father was appalled that anyone would drive
for 90 minutes just to get something to eat
so, in his own words, by the time we got there, he was “famished”
We ordered our meals
I still remember seeing the waitress come through the kitchen door
carrying our salads
my father already had his fork in hand
ready to launch in
but before the woman got to the table
I experienced something I’d never experienced before
my water broke
My father had salad on his fork, midway to his mouth
when he stopped and looked at me and said,
“are you alright?”
When I told him I think my water broke,
he said kind of painfully, “are you sure?”
My Dad is pretty out of touch with the ways of women….
I was pretty sure
Everything went into pure chaos just then
My mother took me to the restroom
Larry informed the waitress that we would have to leave
because his wife’s water just broke
and on hearing that,
she dropped an entire basket of dinner rolls
and started pushing Larry towards the door
while he’s trying to explain that his wife was still in the restroom
We made it all the way back to Superior to the hospital there
and it wasn’t till morning
that Sarah made her entrance into the world
Three days later, we moved to Tilden
on a day that was 98 degrees
with high humidity
and we drove 80-some miles to our new home
We weren’t ready
but Sarah arrived anyway
It was a very inconvenient time for her to arrive
but she came

We seem to have an idea
that that first Christmas
was a tranquil, lovely scene
We assume the whole world stopped and heard the angels
saw the star
and knew that heaven had come down to earth
But I don’t think that night was any less stressful
and except for the clothing and other details
I think that first Christmas
was just as hectic and stressful
Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem
when she was nine months pregnant
just because the government decided
it was a good time to take a census
And the census was for tax purposes
so they were doing this so they could be taxed
It took about 5 days for Mary and Joseph to travel
to Joseph’s home town
Bethlehem was a small, insignificant town
that didn’t impress anybody
My father would call it Po-dunk
or some other derogatory name
depicting a town where nobody wants to live
But that night, the place was bustling with people
everywhere
it was like WalMart on a Saturday during the Christmas season
only a grander scale
Mobs of people
all kinds of people
Not friendly, Midwestern types, necessarily
who will stop and talk to you whether they know you or not
People shoving, cursing, scrambling
People in the marketplace bargaining over deals
all the hotels were full
Ellsworth Kalas, a Christian writer and preacher
suggests that there was most likely a lot of seedy stuff
going on at the hotels
People doing what people sometimes do at hotels
having a party
having an affair
even prostitutes offering their services
loud, raucous people
keeping their TVs on too loud
or stumbling in at all hours of the morning
People far from where they live
maybe doing things they wouldn’t normally do at home
Nobody was happy to be there
they were forced to be there by some ludicrous government decree
Military officers passing through were given free room and board
at any hotel
so the innkeeper didn’t make money off of everybody that night
The innkeeper has always been depicted as a bad guy
an insensitive buffoon
who SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that this woman
was carrying the Savior of the World
I mean, what was his problem??
But I don’t think he was any different than you or me
The man’s hotel was full
He saw this desperately poor couple
the woman obviously uncomfortable
I like to think he really wanted to give them a room
but he was full
he couldn’t kick anybody out
and ever hope to stay in business
There really was no room
And how could he know who they were?
How could he possibly know?
He was just doing his job, trying to stay in business
trying to keep the crowds from destroying his hotel
he was frazzled, he was pushed beyond his limit
he was angry and frustrated
like everyone else was, at some of the actions of the government
Maybe he felt bad,
when he looked at the obviously pregnant Mary
and said, “I’m sorry, there’s no rooms available.”
Apparently the man did had some amount of compassion
that he feebly offered them the stable out back
offered to have some of his workers
clear a space for them
gather some hay together for a bed
and bring them some extra blankets
It was something….
You can’t blame him, his life was full
and I look around me at this Christmas season
where I go to WalMart and hope that nobody’s carrying a weapon
where you see plenty of unhappy, stressed people
who are trying to fulfill some expectations
as if the wrath of God will come down on them
if they don’t have the perfect Christmas
I don’t think it was so different the first time
People pushed beyond their limits
going to places they didn’t really want to go
Going through motions
and not always knowing why they’re doing it
People’s lives were hard, the government was oppressive
put undue stress on a lot of people
in various ways
People didn’t have any hope
they saw a lot of injustice, senseless violence
and lonely people
It was a very dark time
it was a very stressful time
life was hard, and sometimes it only seemed to get harder
We’re not so different from that innkeeper
we can’t help ourselves
we’re full, our lives are full, sometimes to bursting
Sometimes we are so stressed that we can’t breathe
we get to feeling pushed and shoved around
feeling as if our lives are not our own
We have 24-hour news coverage to remind us
that the world is very dark and often frightening
A lot of people are spending Christmas this year
missing someone that died
maybe a little afraid of the future
But that first night,
in the midst of cow manure and sticky hay
a terrified, lonely, clueless teenager
gave birth to a little boy
Most of the world at that time
had no idea that a miracle had just occurred
that the world had changed with a baby’s first cry
that light had come through the darkness
People still stumbled in the hotel drunk that night
there was still injustice and cruelty in the streets
The government was still corrupt
but in one little corner
a bunch of smelly shepherds awkwardly entered a stable
and stuttered and and wrung their dirty hands
as they told the impossible story of the angels lighting up the sky
singing, and telling them to stop being afraid
that the hope of the world had just arrived
Nobody was ready for Jesus to be born
least of all, Mary
but he was born anyway
The world wasn’t ready for him
but he came anyway
He was born in the midst of human stresses,
human insanity, cruelty, fear and injustice
even violence
It was a dark time, but the light of Christ broke through
a lot of people missed it
the miracle that was right under their noses
The innkeeper missed it because he was full
he couldn’t help it
you can’t blame him
Don’t our lives get too full?
Too full of activities, THINGS, obligations, jobs,
expectations that we have to fill?
Are we too full to receive the light of Christ?
Do we have room in our lives for the mystery?
the inexplicable joy?
Or are we too full?
You can’t blame us
we have jobs, we have families
we have kids with all kinds of activities
we have relatives that have expectations
we’re pushed beyond our limits
we don’t have room for one more thing
much less a miracle
I didn’t want Christmas to come this year
Especially after the two funerals we had in November
too much pain,
too much darkness
too MUCH
But last week I had to do the nursing home service
and I brought my guitar
For a half an hour, I sang Christmas hymns to those that gathered
Most of them looked like they were asleep
none of them seemed to be moved by my music
and yet somehow in the midst of that simple setting
playing guitar and singing Christmas hymns
to a dozen nursing home residents
well, the light seemed to break through to me
and in those moments it was Christmas
Or yesterday in church, when three little girls
just couldn’t contain themselves
the music that we were singing just got into their bodies
and wouldn’t let them go
and so they DANCED
danced out of simple joy, not caring what anybody else did or thought
just dancing, and giggling and swirling their skirts
and in that moment, the light broke through again
and I realized,
we don’t have to be ready
we don’t have to be feeling good or cheerful
we don’t have to have everything in place
for the light to come
for Christmas to come
we don’t have to be ready, actually, we never are
Christmas comes, JESUS comes
whether we’re ready or not
whether we’re laughing or crying
whether we’re with a group of happy family members
or feeling lonely in a crowd
Not everyone can see it
Not everyone heard the angels sing that night
in fact, I’d suspect the majority of people in town that night
missed the glory
missed the music
missed the Light
but a bunch of homeless shepherds who didn’t bathe often
were invited to stand in the Light
God’s creatures were gathered around the miracle
mooing and baaing and whatever they do
God’s creatures made room where there was no room
while the rest of the world carried on in its oblivious insanity
and for centuries since,
the light goes on, permeating the world
visible only to those who are ready to see it
visible to those who make room in their lives
for the light to come
I don’t like the Christmas season
but I love Christmas Eve
because it comes, whether I’m ready or not
and it comes to us in whatever shape we happen to be in
tears on our faces,
or so full of joy we can’t stand ourselves
As it was then, so it is now
a very dark, confused world
Just the details are different
Tonight is a night for dreaming
a night for hoping
a night for suspending cyncism just enough
to step into the starlight
A night when the membrane between heaven and earth
is very thin
and you can almost hear the angels singing
a night when we light a candle in the dark
because we believe that the darkness cannot overcome that light
When we light our candles tonight
we may remember someone who is on the other side
of that veil between heaven and earth
someone we miss very much
or we may remember all the pain of the world
countries at war, families separated
senseless violence breaking into our everyday lives
and we light a flame and hold it out into the dark
to say with trembling hands
we are not afraid
because we know that the light of the world has come
and that light keeps on coming
and someday, as promised,
that light will light up every dark corner of our world
and there will be no separation between heaven and earth
And whenever you’re afraid
or burdened by grief or fear
or just plain emptiness
light a candle in the dark
and remember that all the hopes and fears of all the years
are met through the coming of Christ once again
don’t let the flame go out
but always, always, look for the Light of Christ breaking through...

In the Meantime

I've been singing Christmas hymns all my life, but never until this year did I notice how many references to DEATH or hardship are in them. How did I miss this? Here I thought we were singing about starlights and angel songs, and yet among those phrases are references to death and dying. Go read your hymnal.

I notice any reference to death right now, since just 3 weeks and 1 day ago, I sat with a friend while she died. I was sure that moment would be much more frightening than it actually was. As a pastor, I've been there with many people who were dying, I've showed up at the last minute, or I've been there right after the death. It's not that I'm unfamiliar with death. But this time was different. I knew Karen as very much alive. I knew her for 2 years as a very much alive, active, joyful, funny, beautiful person. Karen's presence always filled a room. If Karen was there, there was no way to miss her. I knew her when she found out she had a mass on her pancreas. I knew her when she heard it was Stage 4. Still, through all of that, she was still Karen, my friend, and there was a bit of unreality to it all. I saw her in the hospital, before and after surgery, and I saw her swift decline over two months. In the midst of all that, we had such wonderful talks. We laughed, we cried, we talked about our pasts, our histories, we prayed, and we were more honest than most people get normally. During that time, I sensed that our friendship was deepening rapidly, even as I anticipated losing her. How agonizing!

C.S. Lewis wrote in A Grief Observed, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.... only a real risk tests the reality of a belief." (p. 25) I've been preaching for 17 years, and have presided over hundreds of funerals during that time. Easter is my favorite time of year. But it wasn't until Karen's illness and death when the rubber really hit the road, so to speak. Suddenly my beliefs about eternity became a matter of life and death, not just good fodder for a sermon. Suddenly what I believe about life and death matters more than ever.

Scriptures are frustratingly vague on the subject, but what else could they be? How could we possibly understand? I do believe that whatever eternity is, it is beyond human language; not easily reduced to fine print. That's comforting, yes, but on the other hand, I want to KNOW. I want DETAILS. We confuse sentimental hymns or songs with Christian theology or Scriptures. We muddy some boundaries with new agey-type testimonies of bright lights and tunnels. Jesus says in the Gospel According to John, that he is going to prepare a place for us, that he will not leave us orphaned, that he is coming to us. He tells his disciples that they weep now, but then they will rejoice! "Peace I leave with you," he said, "I do not give to you as the world gives, do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

Well, I was afraid. We don't talk about death much in our culture, in fact, we act like it doesn't exist, despite all the death in our entertainment. Death somehow becomes benign through overexposure, or falsely sentimental. But I was afraid. I was afraid to trust my friend to the Unknown. I was afraid to let her go-- not that I had a choice-- without knowing what exactly I was letting her go to, and whether or not I'd ever see her again. I was afraid, watching her struggle to breathe sometimes, or wince in pain, or miserably throw up when there was nothing left to throw up. What a helpless feeling, to watch someone you love suffer. If I'd had a choice, I would have brought my sleeping bag into her sun room and laid down by her hospital bed-- lived there, just to be there.

Her death was surprisingly peaceful, after long weeks of hurting and struggling and being sick. At one point, her gasping slowed down, and she seemed to pass into a calm, relaxed state, like catching her breath after a long, hard marathon run. Her husband Jim and I talked to her, told her it was ok to let go, to stop fighting, that she deserved a break. I prayed. We cried. Her breathing just slowed until with one long sigh, she stopped breathing. It was so quiet that it was a few minutes before we were sure she was actually gone. It wasn't scary. It was probably the least scary moment since this cancer-journey began. For that fleeting, Emmaus-like moment, I knew she was free. I was certain she was ok, that the battle was over for her. And I am still hushed at the honor of being there to see her off.

So what is the proverbial rope that I cling to? What is the knot that I hang onto, to keep from falling into abject despair over such a great loss? I believe she's ok. I don't know the details. We experienced such profound holy moments together in those last days, that I can't believe that that's it. Jesus never said exactly how it works. He never said that if the place he prepares for us is on the same street as all the people we can't wait to see again. But he did talk about banquets and feasts in regard to the Kingdom of God. Jesus always talked in communal terms. And if God allows us such holy, other-worldly, downright sacred and holy connections to other souls here on earth, than I have to believe that those connections are just foretastes of the Heavenly Feast. Appetizers, if you will. If our friendship was that profound on this limited, sometimes heart-breaking earth, than how much more profound and joyful will it be in God's eternity?? God has given me too many glimpses of heaven on earth to let me think that this is all there is. I feel like I stood on the edge of life with Karen and reluctantly let her hand slip out of mine, trusting that I will feel that hand in mine again someday, and that we'll laugh our fool heads off in joy.

I won't know anything, really, until I get there. All I can do in the meantime is trust, wonder, and hope. Sometimes I hate that. In my good moments, I actually feel like my love for Karen and our connection is so much bigger than it was when she was here. Because she's in a place/dimension, call it what you will, where life and love is so much more vast and large and unfathomable. I don't know if she can see me or hear me. I hope so. I saw the love born of 42 years with her husband, Jim, and it only makes sense to me that a love and connection of hearts and souls like they had DOES last for eternity, because God's really into that sort of thing.

Since Jesus was so vague on it, I do rely a lot on great country songs, or popular songs and hymns to comfort me in the meantime. I know that they are only songs, and they aren't THE Gospel, but they help my heart reach a little further toward the Gospel. The truth. Now I only see in a mirror dimly, but then I know I will see face to face. That IS Scripture. And I have to believe it. Or I'd go insane.

I miss you, dear Karen. I love you. I'll see you later.

Heavenly Bread

“HEAVENLY APPETIZERS”
John 6:25-35
Faith United
November 25, 2007


Where do you get your bread?
I like bread
I know it has a lot of carbohydrates in it
that we’re told to avoid
especially if we want to lose weight
but I’d rather give up brownies
than a good piece of bread
I love the smell of bread baking
I haven’t baked a lot of bread myself
but I love that smell
It’s the kind of smell that makes your stomach hurt
with a wonderful aching kind of hurt
the kind of hurt that anticipates biting into
a warm piece of bread
with lots of butter on it
I like good bread
I like the kind of bread that Lee and Vicki make us
for communion
it’s got substance, you can chew it,
and it tastes good… tastes like good bread
At different times, we’ve had the low fat bread
at our house,
and it’s like eating nothing at all
I like soft bread that I can chew
You already know that if I ever take communion
at a church where they give me only one of those
pitiful tiny squares of bread
or even worse, one of those Styrofoam tasting discs
that melt in your mouth
I’m left feeling unsatisfied and empty
When I come to communion,
I am hungry, and I want food
don’t just give me a little square piece of bread
that I can swallow with my shot glass full of juice
without chewing
I need FOOD
Where do you get your bread?
Do you know where to find bread when you need it?
When you’re desperately hungry
and you just need something to fill you
or to just give you a little sustenance
to get you through the day,
where do you get your bread?
My father used to have this weird habit
of taking half a bagel upstairs with him
when he went to bed
Just in case he got hungry in the middle of the night
it would be right there
Now, unfortunately, my mother gets on his case
about how many carbs he ingests
so the bagel habit has stopped
I know for a fact, though,
that he still sneaks into the kitchen
in the middle of the night
to toast a piece of bread
or get a banana
when my mother is sound asleep

Sometimes my father just needs a little bread
to help him make it through the night

At Subway of course
you have your choice of many kinds of bread
on which to have your sandwich
but I’m usually a purist
I usually stick to the plain Italian white bread
I don’t need anything fancy
One thing I do miss about the East Coast
is the sub sandwiches that you get
in a pizzeria or Italian restaurant
because there’s a lot of Italians in New Jersey
It’s hard to explain
but the sandwiches are made on a hard
Italian bread
that crunches and cracks
when you bite into it
I haven’t been able to find anything like it out here
The kind of bread that showers your lap
with crumbs from the cracking crust
when you take your first bite
It’s not neat, but it tastes really good
and you usually get to eat it
while still smelling the bread that is baking in the oven
in the back
Sarah experiments with garlic bread
and each time she’s in charge of toasting the bread
in the oven
when we have spaghetti or lasagna
Each time she tries some different combinations
of spices to go along with the garlic
and butter
trying for just the right taste
It’s a little different every time

When I was visiting my dear friend Karen yesterday
I was thinking about bread
She can’t eat anymore
She has a bite or two of a popsicle
or a sip here and there of water
Yesterday I thought about bread
as I gently fed her a couple of bites
of jello
and watched her work it in her mouth
It wasn’t much
but there’s something about the act of feeding
that is tender and holy
Jello and water have become her daily bread

What is your daily bread?
What feeds you or helps ease the hunger pangs in you?
Does someone else give it to you?
Or do you feed it to yourself?
I love communion
I love coming to you, as you kneel at the rail
I especially love seeing the little children
with their hands dutifully cupped in expectation
and I love leaning over and putting
a good chunk of bread in those empty hands
as those eyes look up at me with trust
and sometimes one of you will whisper, “Thank you.”
And that is bread to me
To feed people I love
Jesus had just fed five thousand plus people
on the hillside
people that had come to hear him speak
but also a lot of hungry people
maybe not even knowing what they were hungry for
Miraculously, they were all fed
and there was plenty of fragments left over
It was exhausting, I imagine,
to feed five thousand men plus their families
Especially when it was all over
and all the people came after him
with their hands all open
reaching for more
All had been filled that day
but they all wanted more…
So Jesus left, went up the mountain to get away
The next day, when he and his disciples
were on the other side of the sea
the crowds followed them there
like adoring fans, wanting a piece of his clothing
or a hankerchief with his sweat on it
They were confused,
because the disciples had left in the boat without Jesus
and yet here Jesus was with them….
how did he get there?
They’d been looking for him all night
how did he sneak past them?
And a very tired Jesus, I imagine,
tired because he’d had to save his disciples from that storm
on the sea
and deal with their reactions to him walking on water
a tired Jesus says to them,
“I know why you’re looking for me.
You want more bread. You’re not here
because you saw the miracle of thousands of people fed
you’re here because you’re still hungry
and you will never be satisfied….”
and he sighed
“don’t bother with the food that perishes,
but work for food that endures for eternal life
which the Son of Man will give you….”
And they get excited…
great! Eternal bread!!
How do we get it? What do we have to do?
And Jesus is exasperating
he won’t just hand it over
You have to believe in the works of God
you have to believe, he said, that such bread
comes from the hand of God….
Ok, great, they said,
what will you do now to show us?
What magic trick will you do
to convince us so that we can believe what you say?
Show us, do a trick, they said.
God did a trick for the Israelites,
by raining down bread from heaven every day

And Jesus, I bet, rolled his eyes
“That bread didn’t come from Moses
he was just the one who served it.
but it’s God in heaven that gives you that bread
that gave THEM that bread in the wilderness
when they were starving
For God’s bread is the kind that comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
And they come, all of them, with their hands open,
not reverent on their knees like little children
in anticipation
but with greedy hands open, reaching, grasping
for more….
“give us this bread always!!”
And Jesus says something they can’t possibly understand
“I am the bread of life,” he says
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…”
Well, you can bet
that he got into real hot water for that one
the church leaders were furious
who is HE to say that HE is the bread from heaven?
We know him, he’s just Mary and Joseph’s son…. nothing special
So they harassed him further
and the people stayed hungry
and they didn’t know why

Where do you get your daily bread?
Who do you go to when you can’t seem to feed yourself?
Who do you trust to give you a piece of bread?
The kind that fills and satisfies
and chases away those hunger pains
at least for the day?
We pray in the Lord’s Prayer
give us this day our daily bread
give us what we need today
to get through this day, to do what we need to do
to face what we need to face
Just for today
Sometimes I just don’t have enough in me
to worry about tomorrow
just today
where can I get my bread today?
The good bread, not the cheap kind
the bread that crunches when you eat it
that you can chew on, and savor
the kind of bread that fills the emptiness
the kind of bread that’ll get you through the night
Jesus said to those multitudes
you have seen wonderful things,
you have seen the works and the miracles of God
and yet you’re only concerned with your stomachs
You’re only interested in the food
that’ll satisfy you right now
but is gone tomorrow, forgotten
Work for the food that lasts forever, Jesus says
How does this fit when we start the Christmas rush?
How does this fit when we’re bombarded with commercials
that harass us to get to the store
at 4 a.m. to fill our carts with as much as we can?
I don’t know about you,
but as I head into the Advent and Christmas season
that kind of stuff leaves me empty
Especially as I remember quiet moments
of feeding jello to my friend
and wiping her mouth
a friend that has fed me a lot
and for whom it is frustrating to be on the receiving end
without being able to give back
because she so loved to feed people
in so many ways
But I get bread in a couple of bites of jello
in feeding my friend
who is anticipating a heavenly feast
that’ll be more satisfying than our human minds can fathom

I get bread by feeding
We feed each other the bread of life
we need each other
Sometimes I’ve had to learn the hard way
where to get my bread
because being human, so many times
we look for bread in places that don’t have it
A friend of mine often tells me,
you can’t get your bread at the hardware store
We know where to get our bread
the kind that fills and satisfies and gives us life and sustenance
we get that bread here
and we feed each other with it
sometimes some of us need to be fed
and sometimes we do the feeding
but God provides the bread
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life…”
and it would take centuries for any of us
to even begin to understand what that means
They couldn’t have known back then
but someday they would
Rich Mullins, a Christian musician
has a song called “Hold me Jesus,”
and in it, he sings, “Surrender don’t come natural to me
I’d rather fight you for something I don’t really want
than take what you give that I need…”
and I get that
God longs to feed us all
and we can only get little appetizers here
that make us hungry for more
that make us hungry for things we can only imagine
for a life that is incomprehensible to our human brains
but we still hunger for it
and God gives us little tastes of it here and there
with each other, with the holy bread we share here
and through loving each other
knowing that someday we’ll all get to sit down together
at that heavenly banquet
and feast on the good things God has for us
for eternity….
Isn’t that delicious promise?