The funeral was for a young man I'd never met, but his story was a testimony of God's grace, touching all those who knew him or his family. Last Saturday, after a ten year battle with cancer, he went home to heaven at the age of 17. He had been in home hospital care since March, waiting for the end of the sickness that had plagued his body since the age of 7. In those last few months, his visitors were struck by the peace with which he and his family faced their situation. I am told that his French teacher, an atheist, visited every week, drawn by the incredible sense of peace he felt there and nowhere else.
It was a privilege to commemorate his life today alongside the rest of his community. Nearly 400 people attended the memorial service and burial, hearing the words of truth and hope that he professed. Church family, friends from scouts, from school, from English camp, parents of other children at the hospital where he was treated--all came together to celebrate his arrival home.
Requiescet in pace, David
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
[1 Corinthians]
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