Pouring peace

If one wants to consider how one dies, one need look no farther than two recent funerals.

Oklahoma City Thunder Assistant Coach Monty Williams' wife Ingrid was killed in a car crash last week in Oklahoma City. In a eulogy at Ingrid's funeral on Feb. 18, Williams preached forgiveness for the driver of the car that killed her.

"Let us not forget that there were two people in this situation, and that family needs prayer as well," he said. "And we have no ill will toward that family.

"That family didn’t wake up wanting to hurt my wife. Life is hard. It is very hard, and that was tough, but we hold no ill will toward the Donaldson family," Monty continued. "And we, as a group, brothers united in unity, should be praying for that family because they grieve as well." 

In Washington, D.C., the Rev. Paul Scalia preached the funeral mass for his father, the late justice Antonin Scalia.

"We are gathered here because of one man, a man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to many more; a man loved by many, scorned by others; a man known for great controversy and for great compassion. … That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth," the Rev. Paul Scalia, told the attendees at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Feb. 20.

Thousands of mourners, including sitting justices of the Supreme Court, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, gathered in Washington, D.C. Saturday for Justice Antonin Scalia's funeral.

What can we learn from these two men's eulogy's for their loved ones?

I think we can take from these two men's wonderfully crafted and loving statements that with  Jesus of Nazareth there can be peace even under the most incredibly difficult times.

I'm reminded of what Jesus told his best friends the night before he was killed. He said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust in me. In my Father's house there are many rooms; If it were not so, I would have told you. I will comeback and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am."

These men knew, as did their departed loved ones, that to love Jesus is to change the way life is lived, but to love Jesus is also to change the way we die, and the way we live after death.

It's that simply and that challenging. The peace of God is given not because of what we do or don't do but because of who He is. How we approach death is just as much about who He is and how he approached death as it is anything we do or feel or act upon.

Martin Luther called this passage "the best and most comforting sermon that the Lord Christ delivered on earth, a treasure and a jewel not to be purchased with the world's goods." These verses become the foundation for comfort, not only for these disciples but also for us. If you ever get to the point in your life where you think you've run out of escapes and there aren't any more places where you can rest, you'll find a tremendously soft, downy pillow in John 14: 1-6.

Just pick up a Bible, and let it pour peace onto you.