And thank you, that as we return to mom’s grave together again today, it will not be a day of grieving as those who have no hope, but as those with a living hope and an unspeakable joy. I treasure knowing dad and mom are with you.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:55-58

Dear Jesus, on the calendar, Thanksgiving has just passed and Advent has just begun. But in my heart, it’s the day I’ll bury my dad… with multiplied reasons to give thanks, and with the great hope of your first and second Advents. The promise of sufficient grace is one I’ll selfishly grab all this day long.

Jesus, even as I enjoy fellowship with you this morning, I’m sitting in dad’s ole favorite chair… the one in which he worked thousands of crossword puzzles to keep that keen mind you gave him quick, sharp and subtle. The same chair from which he began to look at me with confusion, until the day he simply couldn’t connect my face and name any longer.

But Jesus, O, how I praise you, that though we may forget one another’s names… even your Name, you’ll never forget us, NEVER. Alzheimer’s robbed dad of a lot, but, with forte and finality, you robbed the grave of its fear-holding heart-ripping victory. You’ve turned death’s sting into a harmless noodle… a fangless threat… even a portal to heaven. Your death on the cross was the death of death. Though we await for our resurrection, because of yours, Jesus… “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” The comfort and joy I have knowing dad is with you is simply immeasurable.

But I also have great comfort and joy in remembering what took place before you took dad home. Jesus, even as we’ll plant dad’s body next to mom’s today, I praise you for working in our relationship way beyond what I could’ve asked or imagined. Dad referred to the day mom died, nearly 50 years ago, as the day “the life when out of all of us.” For decades we lived more defined by her tragic death than by your powerful gospel.

Jesus, thank you for bringing incredible healing to that wound before dad disappeared into Alzheimer’s. Thank you that dad and I were finally able to weep together over the loss that ripped our hearts and ripped us apart. Thank you that we were finally we able to return to her grave together ten years ago for the first time. Thank you that your name is Redeemer, not only of the grave and before the grave.

And thank you, that as we return to mom’s grave together again today, it will not be a day of grieving as those who have no hope, but as those with a living hope and an unspeakable joy. I treasure knowing dad and mom are with you. And it’s way more than cool to know they are with you together. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a salvation! So very Amen, I pray, in your gracious name…with wet eyes and a full heart.

Scotty Smith is the founding pastor of Christ Community Church (PCA) in Franklin, TN. He now serves as Pastor of Preaching, Teaching and Worship. Additionally he serves as an adjunct professor at Covenant Theological Seminary and teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. This article, posted on Monday, November 29, is taken from his blog, Heavenward

, and is used with his permission.