On Tuesday, Jesus Our Lord came and took Oom John Oey home.  He has now moved into his new and better home, prepared by Jesus Himself.  John 14:2-3 records His promise to us, His children, “There are many rooms in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you.  After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together.” Along with our brothers and sisters who have gone before us, Oom John Oey is now there, in the heavens of God.

About six weeks ago he began experiencing abdominal discomfort.  Three weeks ago, he was diagnosed with liver cancer and today he is no longer with us.  Relatively quick.  When I first met him after the diagnosis, he was naturally taken aback.  Feeling full and nauseated were not the kind of symptoms that would set off the alarm.  Slowly he began to accept his condition and we prayed together.  When I saw him last Saturday, he was already unresponsive; and three days later he slipped into eternity.  God’s will, God’s way, God’s time.

God has His will for us; God has His way for us; and God has His time for us.  None is a duplicate of another; each is uniquely crafted to fit His divine plan.  Regarding our homegoing, we don’t know what His will is, what His way is, and when His time will be.  But what matters is that, in the words of Dallas Willard, “Eternity is now in process.  Silently it moves along.” God is bringing us home; each day we live, we are getting nearer to that day and time.  When the time finally arrives, Jesus Himself will come and take us home.  We need not look for him; He will find us.  He knows us and will call us by name.

Eternity is now in process.  Silently it moves along.  C. S. Lewis sums it well, “. . . and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.”  We are standing in Heaven.

Pastor Paul