Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Departure




This is something I’ve been meaning to write about for some time and tonight the Internet is down, so I’ll take the opportunity to write.  I’m going to revisit something that I touched on briefly in “Blessed Be The Name of the Lord” and that is the two songs that my son David and I played the night before he passed away.   I’ll quote from that blog entry:


As I sat there in the moonlight, my eyes fell on David's little electronic drum set, which he'd only had for a week. He had an excellent sense of time, though, and we played several times. On Sunday evening, Georgia and David started playing- her on bass and him on drums. I came in from chores, got my Telecaster, and joined them. We played several songs and then were sitting there when I started playing a certain song. We played that one for awhile and then G got up to leave. I said “Wait, let's try this one before you leave”, and we played another song for a bit. Georgia left and it was just David and me. David said “Let's play that one again. I want to make sure I have it.” So, I obliged. Afterward, I told him “You know, I've never played those songs with anyone before. I've only practiced them.” Sitting there on the couch, wondering about where David's spirit was, staring at his drum set, I suddenly recalled the last 2 songs we'd played. The next-to-last one was “Knockin' on Heaven's Door”. And the last one- the one he wanted to play again, to make sure he had it right-  was a Brad Paisley instrumental called “Departure”.
Out of all the songs I know, why those two titles in that order, at that time? This is beyond coincidence and I can only attribute it, along with Mario's e-mail, as an answer to my cries from God.

Fast forward about 8 months from that time.  I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep and the weight of David’s death was heavy on my heart.  I opened up my Bible (on David’s iPad) to read, thought for a moment, and then turned to Paul to read what he has to say about his upcoming death.  Here’s what I found:

2Ti 4:6-8 NKJV  For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 

He says “the time of my departure is at hand.”  I honestly did not know- at least not consciously- that Paul used that word there before I felt like I should read that passage.  Suddenly, the song David and I played together had even more significance.  But that’s not all....

As I lay in bed thinking about this passage, an event from several years ago popped into my head.  A guitar customer/friend, Scott, who was not a Christian when I first met him, sent me, out of the blue, an e-mail that said simply “Bryan, I have found the Lord.  More later.  Scott.”  And that’s all I heard from him until nearly 2 years later at Kaufman Kamp.  Four of us- Scott was one- were standing around in a circle talking.  iPods were new that year and the conversation was “What’s on your iPod?”  Two of the guys said this or that bluegrass group, blah, blah, blah.  Then they turned to Scott and said “What are you listening to?” and Scott said “Well, I’ve been working thru Vernon McGee’s ‘A Year Thru the Bible’”.  I smiled a big smile and asked if he’d listened to John Piper yet. 

So, there I was, years later, laying in bed thinking about David and thinking about Paul’s verse, and that conversation came back to me, and I realized I’d never really heard or read anything by Vernon McGee.  Using David’s iPad,  I surfed over to my Bible software’s download page and behold! There’s “Vernon McGee’s Commentary”.  I bought it, downloaded it, and immediately turned to his comments on Paul’s verses above.  Here’s what he had to say:
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Now let's return to his statement in verse 2Ti_4:6: "my departure is at hand." Departure is from a different Greek word than the one used in 1 Thessalonians for the departure of the church at the Rapture from this earth. Paul himself was going through a different doorway. Believers who are living when the Rapture takes place will not go through the doorway of death. "… We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye …" (1Co_15:51-52). The Greek word which Paul uses in speaking of his departure is analusis, an entirely different word. [which he uses ONCE in the entire New Testament- here] It is made up of two words, one of which is luo, which means "to untie or unloose." Analusis could be used to refer to untying anything, but basically it was a nautical term used for a ship which was tied up at the harbor, ready to put out to sea.

Paul had an altogether different conception than that which is popular today. I've heard this so often at funeral services: "Dear Brother So-and-So. He's come into the harbor at last. He's been out yonder on a pretty wild sea, but the voyage is over now, and he's come into the harbor." Paul is really saying just the opposite of this. He's saying, "I've been tied down to the harbor." And that is what life is—we haven't been anywhere yet; we've just been tied down to this little earth.
I know of only one writer from the past who has caught this meaning of Paul's. Tennyson wrote as the first verse of his poem, "Crossing the Bar":

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.

That's what death is for the child of God. It is a release for us.

Paul says, "Don't look at my execution and let blood make you sick. I'm like a ship that has been tied up at the harbor. When death comes, I'm really taking off to go and be with Christ, which will be far better."
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I can’t tell you what joy and peace this commentary gave me.  The thought of David’s earthly bounds and constraints being untied and him being freed to sail God’s seas (or knowing him, flying God’s skies!) made me smile.  Again, what are the chances of us playing- out all the tunes I know- two songs I’d never played with anyone, “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” and “Departure” the night before his totally unexpected passing?  And then to recall a many-years ago conversation with Scott which led me directly to Vernon McGee’s commentary on this verse?  You can call it coincidence if you want but it’s way beyond that for me; it’s the hand of God in action.

After reading the passage and the commentary, I closed my eyes and slept the best sleep I’d slept in months.

This scene from "Lord of the Rings" captures this concept so very well, I think.  Frodo at 4:14 really nails the feeling of "peace, finally".




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In other news, it’s been raining steadily since it started raining in early July.  Grass in some places is literally knee-high.  This is the best of the season I've maybe ever seen and it should definitely give us a good start for  next year.  I cannot believe how fast and how well the ground has recovered.  Places that were dry, dusty, and barren are now covered in seeded-out grama grass.  It truly is incredible and truly gives me hope that what is dead, God can make alive again (Ezekiel 37).

Fixing water gaps!

GRASS!!!

3 comments:

  1. We're going to have some good talks in Alamosa. I wept at your description of having trouble sleeping because of David's death weighing heavy on your heart. I have that problem often over my dear departed wife. I know where she is. I know I'll be joining her. But, still, my heart aches for her. I miss everything I could write about her. And, yes, I am truly grateful to God for him having brought her into my life and giving me nigh unto four decades with her. So, no bitterness; I just miss my sweetheart.

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  2. Bryan, you are truly blessed to have the awareness of God’s hand working in your life. Countless folks would have just attributed to happenstance. Savor the soul saturating peace that comes with the knowledge of being held in God’s hand.
    Your brother in Christ

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  3. I'm so glad you took the time to write that all down! It lifts me up, as well, and it also reminds me to continue to pray for you when I see your posts. God really gave you some special "rabbit trails" to show you that He can get you to the encouraging words He wants to give you. He's so cool that way.
    On the subject of J. Vernon McGee.... I listen to him several times a week. He has been in Heaven for many years now, but his teachings are just as timely as ever! I love his rough Texas accent. Find you a podcast and fall in love with his voice and colloquialisms! I've listened to him since the 70s... when he was totally uncool to those who didn't know any better. :-)

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