God has also been reminding me of the simplicity in expressing the Gospel message. How often do we tie ourselves up in knots arguing over the nuances of what we think is required for someone’s salvation, or perhaps thinking that if someone believes this or that he or she can’t be a Christian?
June 2nd (several years ago) my mom died. She was 89. Two days earlier she was outside her home in England washing the windows. She had the typical ‘English constitution’. Although she went to church in her later years, growing up as children we only attended church at Christmas and Easter. If one could talk to my mom about religious matters, her theology was that if you were a ‘good person’ you can get into Heaven. One could say she lived her life as a ‘good person’.
When my younger sister called to let me know my mom had gone I said to God, “If she’s in Heaven I wouldn’t mind knowing, but if she’s not then I just don’t want to know.”
The following morning I received an e-mail from a very dear friend who shared that while reading her devotional taken from Psalm 139, she felt God was telling her, “David’s mom is OK.”
When we went to England for the memorial service my sisters had pulled out some of the papers my mom had kept over the years, the letter I wrote my parents when I informed them that I had become a Christian, a letter letting them know I had met “a very special person named Wendy” and two priceless items; my mom’s exercise book from her confirmation classes she took as a teen and a seemingly well worn piece of paper with a printed prayer of commitment. Not just a simple commitment, either, but a ‘take my life’ covenant (reproduced below). My mom may have had a lot of her theology all mixed up but at the end of the day did that really matter?
For years I had dreaded what I could say at her funeral when the time came. But when I did get to speak I had the extreme and unexpected joy of talking about my mom’s faith.
Reminder to self: there are two imperatives in Psalm 46:10—Be still and know that I am God.
A Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
Put me to doing, put me to suffering;
Let me be employed or laid aside for you;
Exalted for you or brought low for you;
Let me be full, let me be empty;
Let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and whole-heartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit,
You are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant made on earth, let it be ratified in Heaven. Amen.
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