Once again, R.C. Sproul’s series on the life of Joseph has inspired some fresh insights in my heart and mind. Hope they are helpful to some of you out there in the “real world.”
His lesson this morning concerning the reunion of Joseph with his father Jacob reminded me of how precious the relationships in our lives remain even after they’ve been broken for a number of years. And how great the joy can be, and will be, one day when those broken relationships are healed, re-established or reunited.
As I think back over the years, so many people come to mind that I’ve shared cherished friendships with, or family closeness, but have since lost touch with either by death, or by distance, or even by disagreements that cannot be reconciled. Although I still have wonderful relationships with many friends and family members in the present, I can’t help but think of my departed Mom and Dad, for example, who always were there for me, cheering me on in my endeavors, my successes and defeats. The joy we shared together is all the more precious even as a fond memory after their death. And, like Jacob and Joseph, our reunion in Heaven will be a time of unspeakable ecstasy as well.
There are friends from my school days that were as close to me as family, but are gone as well, such as my pal David Wade, a fellow I witnessed to and prayed for constantly, but never knew whether or not the Lord saved him before he passed away. There is a couple that Linda and I got to know at one of the many churches I directed music for. They befriended us in an especially beautiful way, and especially appreciated the poems I shared with them. I don’t even recall their names, but they brought an abundance of joy and encouragement into my soul without even knowing it at the time.
Glen Rosenberger is another friend of immensely joyful memory who has passed on. He counseled Linda and me during a very challenging “rough patch” in the beginning phase of our marriage. I’ll never forget his useful metaphor of loving servanthood: being willing to be “the Lord’s donkey” rather than a heroic stallion! Glen poured his time and prayer so selflessly into our lives at that time, as did many other teachers and pastors down through the years!
I just recently got back in touch with a pastor’s wife we had a strong personal friendship with years ago while the children were little and our family was traveling around doing concerts. What a special joy it has been to share with her, now that her husband is in a nursing home facing some awesome challenges. It was so good to find out that their memories of Linda and me are equally precious to them!
Toward the end of the book of Genesis, when Joseph’s brothers return home and tell Jacob their father the good news that his favorite son still lives and is Prime Minister in Egypt, he first finds it hard to believe. He has spent several decades pining away and mourning the loss of Joseph, believing him to be the fatal victim of ravenous beasts.
Finally, when their father chooses to believe their astonishing report, he exclaims: “It is enough. I will go down to Egypt and see Joseph before I die.” Like the old saint Simeon, who held the baby Jesus in the Jerusalem temple, father Jacob was faced with the fulfillment of a long lost hope: to somehow be reunited with Joseph after many years (and tears!) of separation. After nearing the very edge of despair, as if truly believing “everything is against me!”, this venerable patriarch was as “surprised by joy” as anyone in biblical history.
At their actual meeting down in Egypt, Joseph showed an equal level of joy at their reunion by falling on his father’s neck and he “wept on his neck a good while” (Genesis 46:29). Tears of joy will certainly flow that day when all the relationships we’ve cherished and lost are brought back together. Like the overjoyed father of the prodigal son, we will rejoice that lost, seemingly dead, relationships are “alive again!”
Treasuring and cherishing the people in our life ought to be near the top of our list of priorities. Filling those relationships with times of deep, lasting, truth-filled enjoyment, centered on our shared love for our Lord and Savior, will make our memories of one another worthwhile, even when distance, disagreement, or even death itself, comes between us.
And, then, Lord willing, “When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!”
MNA
10/24/2020
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