The View from Mt. Pisgah

Today, as part of dedicating this building to the worship of God, I want us to focus on the name of this cemetery. It is called Mt. Pisgah.

Now, ideally, I would want all of you to recognize this name. I would go so far as to say that when our city fathers named this cemetery at its establishment in the early 1890s, every resident of Campbell County would have known the reference and thought it fitting. Today, I fear that very few people in Gillette know where the name of our cemetery comes from. It comes, of course, from the text that we have just read describing the death of Moses. This place is called Mt Pisgah because though it is outside the promised land, you can see the promised land from here. In other words, as our Biblically-literate forefathers interpreted it, the cemetery is the last stop before heaven. This is a high place from which we the living can look out and see our heavenly home on the horizon. The cemetery director was telling me that from one of the district's other properties, you can look out and see the Big Horn mountains on a clear day. That's cool. I have nothing against the Big Horns. But I'd a thousand times rather be on Pisgah and see the promised land, which is heaven.

God has led us to Pisgah, just as He led Moses to Pisgah over 3,000 years ago. This is God's chosen site for our church. He has put roadblocks in the way of countless other properties; if you want a rundown, you can ask one of the deacons. But He cleared the way for us to be here. We need to embrace this setting. God wants us on Mt Pisgah. Moses saw the promised land from here, and we will too.