Proceedings 211th 2008 J. John Jones - Grand Chapter State of ...

God of Jacob. Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one. Better
is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk
is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. Here ends the reading
of God’s holy Word for us this day.
Most Excellent Grand High Priest, Most Worshipful Grand Master, Distinguished East,
and Companions all: we pause for a moment today day in memory of the 126 companions,
whose journey here on earth has ended. These companions were fellow sojourners in promoting
Royal Arch masonry in their Chapters, the State, and even beyond. To some which
had gained much was the elevation to the rank and title of Excellent or Right Excellent or
even Most Excellent. Yet in their own way they exhibited the fraternal bond of friendship
and brotherly love. This day we remember one of the permanent members of this Grand
Chapter who has joined that home. We remember Most Excellent and Most Illustrious John
A. Sainz. Not distinguishing him out among the other one hundred and twenty-six companions
that have passed away, but as one who typifies Capitular Masonry for us all as the
other one hundred and twenty-five did. We give thanks for his life and for the gifts he has
given through that life to this fraternity. My companions we don’t often think of how precious
and special each one of us is in the eyes of God. Yet our Scripture lessons indicate
today how God looks upon us and will give us a home. A promised land an idea of the welcome
into the next life. Life is a journey, a journey from birth to death. The greatest journey
in the Old Testament was a journey from Egypt to the promised land, the land of
Canaan. For us our promised land he is not on this earth. Our promised land is where milk
and honey flow in heaven. The journey to the promised land in the Old Testament is a symbol
of the journey each of us makes to God as we go through this life. And between our birth
and our death we are pilgrims that road to the Almighty. We are but travelers on that journey,
journeying together arm in arm with the love of brotherhood. Because we are travelers
and pilgrims on our travels through life, we know that our final destiny is with God and
we should keep our sites always fix, not just on the appearance of that life, but on the fact
that we were created by God, that we cannot be truly happy unless we live as God wishes
us to live. And of course God wants only what is good for us. We should keep our eyes
fixed on the fact that God’s destiny is eternal life and not just death. The whole psalm of
eighty-four is about our longing for God. My soul is longing and yearning for the dwelling
to be with God. One day within your dwelling is better than a thousand elsewhere the
psalmist said. The longing for God is longing in the heart of all of us. We all have a desire
for home do we not. We are created by God and will not be fully happy until we are at peace
with God in heaven. Any happiness we have here on earth is really a very small portaste of
the joy of being with God in heaven. People of faith know this instinctively but with someone
without faith they might try to satisfy their longing for God in so many ways that would
never really satisfy or bring lasting peace or happiness or fulfillment or satisfaction. So
much of our troubles in life could have been avoided by living a life of faith. By knowing
from one’s faith that nothing will fully satisfy us except God himself. It is a mistake if we
think we could achieve a perfect utopia here on earth without God. An early church father
by the name of St. Augustin once said “you have made us for yourself O Lord, and our
hearts are restless until they rest in You”. The psalmist said “One day in your dwelling is
better than a thousand elsewhere”. The threshold of the house of God I prefer to the
dwellings of the wicked. Living with God, walking with God, living the life of faith is the
way to peace. I can say from those Companions who have joined that eternal home, who I
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