Wow! What a Ride!

[This message was shared with those gathered at a memorial service for Sharry, who died this past week. She was the mother of a member of our congregation. The service happened earlier this evening.]

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a ride!’”

This anonymous saying was Sharry’s philosophy for living. And while God, of course, means for us to rest along life’s way, I think it’s a pretty good expression of what life with God is meant to be like.

Jesus once told the parable of a Master who went away on a business trip, leaving three different servants with three different amounts of money to manage. Putting it in our own terms, to one servant the Master gave $10,000.00 to manage, to the next: $5,000.00, and to the last: $1000.00. When he got back, this boss was glad to learn that the first two servants had doubled the funds he’d entrusted to them. He was displeased to find out that the third guy, concerned that the Master was harsh and exacting, played it safe. He buried the $1000.00 in the ground and then, when he saw that the Master was back at home, hurriedly dug it back up and handed it over to the boss.

One translation renders the last part of Jesus’ telling of the parable in this way:

"The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.”

This isn’t a story about playing the market or setting up savings accounts. (Although even our capacity for earning money is a gift from God which we're use wisely and well.) The topic of the story, though, is much broader than that. It's about living, a very good topic to consider as we celebrate Sharry’s life, mourn her passing, and celebrate her resurrection.

God has a lot more than a measly thousand bucks invested in you and me. He has invested Himself in us.

He did that first when He made us. The Old Testament book of Genesis tells us that when God made our ancient ancestor, Adam, God breathed the breath of life into Him. Imagine that: We’re filled with the life of God! God has given some of Himself to us. That must be partly what the Bible means when it says that we were created “in the image of God.”

But even after it seemed that God’s investment had gone bad with sin, God didn’t give up on us. He came into our world in the Person of Jesus Christ to die and rise for us. Jesus invested His life on a cross in order to give us the forgiveness that brings all who follow Him new leases on this life and the certainty of eternity with God! It’s that certainty in which Sharry is living today in the very presence of the Savior Jesus in Whom she believed!

Jesus’ investment in us gives all who follow Him the freedom to live life to the max, to dance and revel in the joys of life, to bear the difficulties of life with faith and hope, and to dare to live and love no matter what our circumstances.

Today, as Sharry's family and friends celebrate her life and mourn her passing, there is no better piece of advice I can give you today than that which I derive from Jesus’ parable and Sharry’s faith and motto: Gratefully take the gifts of life, forgiveness, hope, love, and new life that Jesus Christ invests in those who believe in Him and live with God boldly, joyfully, and thankfully to the fullest!

Take the free gifts God has granted you in Christ and be the person God made you to be. If you and I will do that, I think we have every reason to expect that as we enter heaven, we will hear our Lord say, as I’m sure He said to Sharry a few days ago, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”