'Heaven Holds All To Me'

A sermon that had a particular impact on me in "my youth" was a sermon I heard about a decade ago. My mentor, Jack, preached it at my home church on the annual Homecoming Service in June. The title of the sermon was "Heaven Holds All To Me." There's also a hymn in many of our song books by the same title. The premise of Jack's sermon followed Matthew 6:

¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jack's dad, Howard, was a minister for 50 years. In his sermon, Jack talks about how his dad came into the office to visit with him on that particular week leading up to preaching this sermon. Apparently, this was a rare occurrence. Howard asked Jack, "Whatcha preaching this Sunday?"

Jack simply told him, "Heaven Holds All to Me."

Jack says in his sermon that Howard just went into preacher mode. He said, "Ya know, Jack, Heaven holds a lot more to me now than it did when I was your age."

Jack said, "Well what do you mean, Pop?"

Howard said, "Well, heaven holds my Mama & my Daddy. Heaven holds my sisters. Heaven holds my brothers. Heaven holds quite a few of my life-long friends."

I've always remembered that. Brother Howard passed away himself about a year after that sermon was preached, and everyone dearly misses him. But now that my Mom has passed, I understand a little bit more about what he meant.

Also, I have a new-found respect for my elders. People who are 60 and older have probably gone through this taxing process of grief a few more times than I have. They have a strength & perspective that I can learn from on this subject.