A Pilgrim Makes it Home

“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

As I was falling asleep last night, I got a phone call from my Mom informing me that Pastor Dan Cummings of Five Points Community Church (the church I attended most often during college and a church which has supported my family as missionaries to Papua New Guinea since 1989) in Auburn Hills, MI had just passed away, after 10 months of battling with cancer.

Pastor Dan was not an old guy. He was mid-40's and has 3 kids about ages 20, 18, and 15 (guessing.) He was a marathon runner. No one saw this coming. But God saw fit to allow Pastor Dan and his family to face this great trial, and to use it as the means of ushering Pastor Dan into his presence. And by the grace of God, Pastor Dan was a warrior. During the 10 months that he was undergoing cancer treatment (and experiencing all kinds of complications) God gave him the strength to preach more than 20 sermons.

Although I did not have an extremely close relationship with Pastor Dan and even had some frustrations with the church as a whole, Pastor Dan's ministry had an undeniable impact on me. He was the first pastor I'd ever met who viewed the communication of God's word as his full-time job, and would spend 30-40 hours a week preparing for his sermon! And it showed-- At a time when so many churches downplay preaching, turning sermons into theraputic pep-talks, Pastor Dan's messages were like a feast for my soul. My understanding of scripture and theology, and my awareness of my own sin and need for God's grace, went to a new, and much deeper level sitting under the preaching of this small, soft-spoken man. There is certainly more to ministry than preaching, but oh, how I wish pastors would take there job as seriously as Pastor Dan did.

While I was in Michigan over the holidays, I had the opportunity to hear him preach one last time. He looked older and weaker than the Pastor Dan I used to know. He wore a big baggy sweater so he could keep warm. In his message entitled "A World of Love" He spoke of the glories of heaven, yet was obviously torn between wanting to go there, and wanting to stick around and continue loving his family and his church. But it was very clear that his deepest desire was to glorify God, in life, or in death.

So I laid in bed last night, wondering what Pastor Dan's first few hours in heaven were like. I also thought about my Dad, who went to heaven 16 years ago (when I was 9). I realized how little I even think about heaven. How would my life be different if I consistently lived with heaven in view?

I wonder what happens when you close your eyes for the last time on earth, and then open them to a world of indescribable goodness. Do you find yourself at the gate of a great city? Do you walk in to the cheers of your closest friends and family members who have made it there before you? Or maybe you find yourself in a great and beautiful wilderness (has anyone read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis?), a wonderful place of joyous exploration. Or perhaps the first thing you see when you open your eyes is Jesus...and he is so glorious that you don't even care about anything else. Perhaps he invites you, like Thomas, to look at the scars in his hands and feet, to put your hand in his side. Perhaps he looks at you and says: "You're not dreaming, It's all real. You've made it. You're sins truly are forgiven. Yes, I really do love you. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, and enter my rest." As long as we're on this side of heaven, we can only speculate what these first moments will be like. But one thing we can count on if we are in Christ Jesus: They will be way better than anything we could ever imagine. Without minimizing his love for his family or for his church, I'm pretty confident that Pastor Dan is no longer torn about where he wants to be. I'm so thankful for the example of courage and reliance on God that he set during his final months.

Perhaps there are people that you have known who have set a similar example for you. I encourage you to thank God for them. There's a part in John Bunyan's spiritual allegory The Pilgrim's Progress where Christian (the main character in the allegory) is crossing a river in order to get to the City of God- the final obstacle he faces on his journey to heaven. The river represents death. As he go across he begins to deal with doubt and fear as he faces his death. He cries out in despair to his friend Hopeful, who replies: "Be of good cheer, my brother, I feel the bottom, and it is good." Those who have gone before us (The great cloud of witnesses, as Hebrews calls them) have persevered through life's trial and persecutions, have faced death with courage, and have opened their eyes to the everlasting love of Jesus. I think they would say to us in our struggles, and in that moment when we face death: "Be of good cheer...I feel the bottom, and it is good."

Posted alongside Pastor Dan's blog, in addition to the C.S. Lewis quote I put at the top of this post, was this quote by Jonathan Edwards:

"The enjoyment of [God] is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husband, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean."

Take a few minutes to let that sink in.

If you are interested in checking out some of Pastor Dan's sermons, you can do so at: http://68.250.205.21:9085/sermons.asp .

If you are interested in taking a look at his blog, you can find it at: http://5pointscc.org/dan/