1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”

I know that all of you who knew Terry remember him often. This text reminds me of brother Terry.

Our Lord is in the middle of spiritual warfare; he knows he’s going to his death. Yet, he is composed and in total control. And what, in the midst of this trial, is at the forefront of his mind? It is not himself, nor merely the Father: it is his disciples that he had with him. He was going to prepare a place for them, so that Father, Son, and the disciples could all be united once again under one ‘roof’, so to speak. Such selfless love! He was going into his Father’s house (the heavenly temple) to prepare a priestly room for his own priestly brothers. He did that for me! Do not be troubled, he declared. Thomas was befuddled, but our Lord directed him to the one answer: himself!

My remembrance of Terry was of such a loving brother, a fierce defender of God’s holy word, a lover of God’s people, his brothers. I phoned him not long before he passed. He told me he was very concerned for his son. He had very little thought for himself! There was no panic, no terror. He didn’t need to state where he was going, and to whom he was going. You all witnessed his decorum and control in bidding us farewell here on Porch. He personally advocated for me to others, which was very touching to me. He knew his Lord, his destiny, his future. His heart was not troubled!

Amen