Bea
Frisch loved her home. And she loved to
have other people in her home too! Bea
and her late husband Bob had hundreds of people in their home and at their
ranch over the decades. And almost every
time I visited Bea she would tell me about a group of boys that had stayed
there or a young couple on their honeymoon or a single traveler that would come
back year after year. And she loved
every second of it! She loved
entertaining people in her home; she loved feeding people in her home; she
loved just talking to people in her home.
And I am sure that many of you who had the privilege of being in her
home would agree that when you were in the home of Bea Frisch, she made you
feel right at home right away.
But no
matter how much Bea loved her home, no matter how much she cherished that house
on Transfer Rd., there was a house she loved even more. And that was the house of the Lord. Bea longed to be here. She longed to be with God’s people. She longed to be in God’s house worshiping
him in song and in prayer and in praise.
And especially after this new building was constructed her desire to be
in God’s house was stronger than ever!
For this last year and a half she would tell me how she wanted to be in
God’s house so badly. She wanted to see what
the inside looked like. She wanted to
see all of the new people. But mostly
she just wanted to be where God’s Word was preached, where God’s Word was
taught, and where God’s Word was worked in the hearts of his people. Bea wanted to be in God’s house all of the
time. And if she didn’t know Psalm 27:4,
she certainly exemplified the attitude of the author Kind David: “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is
what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life.” If there was anything Bea
wanted, she wanted to be here. But she
never made it. Not to this house of God
anyway.
She
couldn’t drive herself here, of course.
In fact, as she got older she could barely walk from one room to
another. And even though I would offer
to have someone pick her up if she wanted, she was scared of falling or
hesitant that she wouldn’t be able to be ready in time or nervous that it would
be too much of a hassle for someone else to get her here and back. “Maybe I can be a little stronger next month
so that I can make it to church,” she would say. “I’m really hoping that I can walk a little
better someday soon so that I can be there with everyone else.” “I think I’ll be healthier in a few weeks and
these shingles will go away and my legs will be more stable and then I can make
it there.” And she did eventually make
it there. She did make it to the house
of God. But not this house. That
house. The real house of God, the
eternal house of God in which God himself lives. She always wanted to “dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of her life,” and now she finally gets to do
it.
But how
did she make there? How did she make it
from her home here to the home of God there?
Because the same problem she had getting to this earthly house of God
was the same problem she had getting to the heavenly house of God: she couldn’t
do it herself! She had no way to get
there on her own. She wasn’t strong
enough, she wasn’t stable enough, she wasn’t healthy enough. And no matter how hard she would have tried, she
wouldn’t have been able to try hard enough and she wouldn’t have been able to
work long enough and she wouldn’t have been able to be nice enough to get there
either. Because entrance into heaven
isn’t based on behavior.
Which is
a good thing, isn’t it? It’s a good
thing that acceptance into heaven isn’t based on behavior because who of us
here could claim that we have been good enough our entire lives to make the
cut? After all, God doesn’t just take
the top 50%. He doesn’t simply give us
an “A” for effort or grade on a curve. Our
perfect God demands perfection from us - and nothing less. And so unless you are perfect in every way,
then you aren’t good enough or nice enough or worthy enough - and neither was
Bea.
And I’m
not saying anything about Bea that she hasn’t said herself. In fact, she told me that time and time again. She understood that she could not get to
heaven on her own. I would sit with her
in her home and I would always bring with me some wine and some wafers for the
Lord’s Supper. And like I do with every one
of the members of Living Word that I visit, before giving her the Lord’s Supper
I would ask her: “Do you believe that you have sinned against God in your
thoughts, words, and actions?” And Bea
would say, “Oh, yes! I know I have
sinned against God!” She knew that she
wasn’t good enough to get to God’s house on her own. But then I would ask her, “Do you believe
that he forgives you all your sins?”
“Yes,” she would say. “I
believe.” Bea believed that Jesus had
died on the cross for her sins. Bea
believed that Jesus took the punishment for her sins on himself. Bea believed that Jesus was the substitute
that she so desperately needed. And so
through faith in Jesus as her Savior she was taken home. She couldn’t get there by herself and so her
Savior took her there in his arms. And
she is arm and arm with her Savior as we speak.
Are you
going to make there? Are you going to
make it to God’s heavenly household to see Bea once again? You can’t make it there on your own either. You can’t be good enough and you can’t try
hard enough and you can’t be nice enough.
But the same Jesus that poured out his blood for Bea on the cross poured
out his blood for you. The same Jesus
that rose from the dead for Bea conquered death for you. The same Jesus that now reigns in heaven and had
prepared a place for Bea Frisch to live now sits on the throne for you. And he promises that “Whoever believes in me
will be saved.” That’s it. No strings.
No exceptions. No
qualifications. Christ did everything;
he left nothing up to you; and he has guaranteed heaven to all who
believe. So can you be sure? Can you be absolutely 100% sure that you will
be in heaven when you die? Yes you
can. Because a place in God’s house is
not based on what you do; it’s based on what Christ has done. And he has done everything.
The last
time I saw Bea on this earth, she was sitting in a nursing home. And, understandably, she wanted to go
home. She missed her home and she looked
forward to going home as soon as possible.
And since she was supposed to be sent home in just a couple days I told
her to call me when she got in. Well,
needless to say, she never called because she never got home. And I truthfully, I couldn’t be happier. I’m happy that she didn’t make it home
because that means she made it “home.” I’m
happy that she is pain-free. I’m happy
that she is tear-free. I’m happy that
she’s worry-free. I’m happy that the
Lord not only worked faith in her heart through the Word of God but also
preserved her faith through that same Word for 92 years. I’m happy that she’s home, that she finally
made it to the house of her God. And I
can’t wait to meet her there.
Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment