Faithful Servants

Matt 25:21

'Well done , good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

This time of year has always been difficult for me. I have suffered many losses. My Father passed in Oct of '96 and my Mom in Dec of '04. This year we lost two good friends in Colin Niven and Dick Phillips.

All of them had one thing in common. They called Jesus their Lord and Savior. They all spent their lives living out their witness and touched countless lives.

In each case they received their welcome in heaven with the Father saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

In the case of my "Mami" (in Spanish), she lived to be 94 and hers was a long journey. She was born into a Catholic family in Puerto Rico in 1910. She saw many changes come over that little Island in her time. Her father sent her to Syracuse University so that she could become a nurse. Such was her upbringing that she was not allowed to live on campus. Instead, she stayed at a nearby convent. Still, my mother managed her own little bit of rebellion by studying to be an educator instead. After college she came back to Puerto Rico and became a teacher. Her father was not any too happy. Things went from bad to worse when she fell in love with tall policeman who also happened to be protestant.

Nevertheless, they married even as they were ostracized by the rest of the family. Growing up, I never remember my Mom's family coming to visit us. It always seemed as though any time we saw them we would go visit them.

My Father had many discussions with her about faith. Finally, he got her to go to her priest and ask permission to read the Bible. (Back then only priests were allowed to read the Bible) The result was that she became an agnostic for awhile because she was so upset at the Catholic Church for all the things she didn't find in the Bible and worse yet, for the things the Bible addressed and they did the exact opposite. I won't get into those things at this time because this is not meant to be an attack on the Catholic Church, rather a description of her faith journey. In the end, my Father was able to get a missionary by the name of Daisy Buby to walk through the Bible with her and helped her to understand what it meant to have a relationship with God through the atoning grace of Jesus Christ.

They were living in Chicago in the dead of winter when my Mother decided that she wanted to be baptized by immersion as an outward sign of an inner change. My Father drove her to a Baptist Church and, after much discussion, he convinced the minister to chip away at the ice in the baptismal (the boiler was broken) so that she could be baptized. With much trepidation, the minister baptized her. When she came out of the water the Holy Spirit fell on her and she began to speak in tongues.  (Remember this was a Baptist Church) My Father was screaming at the minister to get her out of the freezing water but he answered that he dare not touch her while she was under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So great was God's presence that the choir was practicing in a different part of the building and they ran down to see what was going on. Powerful stuff.

She dedicated the rest of her life to serving the Lord. My Father had left the police force and was putting himself through Moody Bible Institute in order to become a Pastor himself.

Together they planted many Churches and established at least two Bible Institutes that I am aware of. There are thousands of people that can trace their spiritual journey back to my parents.

Colin, Dick, Jose and Gloria did not live for themselves. They were always pouring themselves out as a love offering to the Lord. They were always pouring themselves into people in need. They were all God's vessels on this earth.

They are no longer with us in body, but they have left a rich legacy behind them.

Well done, good and faithful servants!