Sermon for the Funeral of Donald Long
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ!
Near the end of his life St. Paul wrote at
least two letters to one of his understudies—a man named Timothy. The second is
a farewell letter in which the apostle warns the young pastor of false teachers
and exhorts his charge to carry on his preaching of the Gospel even as he has
begun. In the last section, chapter 4, verses 6-18, Paul begs Timothy to come
to him as soon as possible, for he knows his time on earth is short. This will
be the basis for my sermon this afternoon:
“For I
am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure
has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me
but also to all who have loved His appearing.
“Do your best to
come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me
and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke
alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me
for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak
that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according
to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At
my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be
charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that
through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might
hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from
every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the
glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:6–18).
There he was: an old man whose life’s journeys
were now drawing to a close. His travels were now measured in terms of feet and
yards, as opposed to the miles that he had once been able to journey. The years
had taken their toll and he was tired clear down to his bones. Indeed, his
movements were restricted by his physical condition. In fact, he knew that the
end of his life was at hand and he looked forward to the time when the Lord
would call him home to the glory that awaited him. His desire was to depart and
to be with Christ which would be far better.
At this point in his life, his needs were few
and they were very simple. In his present condition, only the basics of
physical and spiritual life were important to him. One of his blessings was to
have the medical care that was required. Luxuries, accumulation of material
possessions, prestige, and past accomplishment were unimportant at this stage
of his life.
His restrictions in movement also came from his
surroundings. He could only move about when others allowed it. He was not free
to go wherever he wanted, in fact, he was confined. Indeed, when he wrote to
Timothy, Paul was a prisoner in Rome awaiting his execution for being a
Christian.
As we think about what Paul’s needs were, we
can readily see that Don’s were similar. In his letter, the apostle included
the request that Timothy bring his cloak. The combination of age, the winter,
and the chill of his dungeon left Paul desiring to be kept warm. So also with Don.
The man who had always been so active, pursuing his interests collecting coins
and guns, hunting and fishing, flying and bird watching—the man who just two summers
ago bicycled over 400 miles on the paths around Pipestone was confined—first indoors
because of health issues, then toward the last, imprisoned in his own mind. There
was the need for the immediate physical necessities—warmth, food, shelter,
clothing, and medical care.
But there was also the self-recognition that he
needed spiritual care as well. One of the marks of faith is to recognize the
need to take care of one’s soul. Men like Paul and Don confessed their sin and
looked to God for forgiveness and salvation and eternal life. Whenever they
were able, they worshiped their Lord. They were not like those who were once
members of the church, but who, like the man named Demas, “was in love with
this present world,” and who deserted the faith and had no place for God any
longer. No indeed, they acknowledged that they were sinful in thought, word,
and deed. They knew that Christ had died for their sins, taking the penalty of
their guilt upon Himself on the cross.
Their hope was in the Lord Jesus who rose again
from the dead to ensure victory over death; and that they had if only because
of God’s grace. Christ was their confession of faith, the only One in whom
there is hope for life in the face of death—the only one each of us will face.
For each one of us will come to the end of this life here on earth.
Paul knew that his death would come at any
moment at the hands of the Romans. Don did not know when the good and gracious
will of the Lord would be done—when the Almighty would call him into eternal
glory. But both were ready. Both could say: “I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Are you ready? Could you say the same thing?
Just as surely as the mortal remains of Don are before us today, so also will
it be for each of us here, unless the Lord should return first. When will your
end come—will it be today on the way home, suddenly and unexpected, or will you
live to be 94 years old like Don did?
Perhaps the most important question is “Will
you be ready?” What are you going to
do with this Jesus? For those of you who have neglected your spiritual welfare
or that of your family, let both the words of Paul and the reality of Don’s
passing demonstrate your need for a faithful relationship with the Lord.
Paul stated the truth that those who have no
such trust in and worship of the Lord will not partake in the joys and blessings
of heaven, but that those who do fear, love, and trust in God can have the
greatest confidence when he wrote: “Henceforth
there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to
all who have loved His appearing.”
That same hope was
Don’s and it can be yours, too, for the sake of Christ. We are always in the
shadow of death in this sinful world, and we don’t know how much time we have
left here. But we can say with confidence, “Henceforth there is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to
me on that day.” No matter what lies ahead, you always have more life to look
forward to—eternal life.
Remember that, and
remember that it is all for the sake of Christ. See, you might feel very
certain of your salvation now, but uncertainty becomes the devil’s haunting
weapon of terror when death draws near.
For now, you
continue to fight; and it’s a good fight because you’re a child of God, because
the Holy Spirit sanctifies your life for the sake of Jesus. But it’s a fight
all the same, as the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh work hard to
make you feel miserable for being a Christian. For now you run the race, and
it’s a good race, too. Your pace might be faster or slower, but the finish line
means eternity with the Lord, not the end. Keep your eyes on the prize—Christ and
His crown of righteousness. Keep in the means of grace—God’s Word and Sacrament.
When Paul was no longer able to go about freely
and be with the congregation for worship, his desire was still to have the Word
of God brought to him. He asked Timothy to bring the books and the parchments
to him—to have the Word of God brought to him in his prison cell.
When Don was no longer able to come to church,
his desire was to have the Word of the Lord brought to him. From the monthly
times when he received the Lord’s Supper and heard Bible readings to the times groups
would sing to him and other residents of the nursing home, he was kept close to
his Lord.
I might add at this point that all of us, but
especially you children, need to take a lesson from Don with respect to
memorizing the Bible passages, hymn verses, and the liturgy. When his eyes
became such that he could no longer read and when no one was there to read to
him, he had the Scriptures because he knew many verses from memory.
Paul wrote that he wanted Timothy and Mark to
come to be with him. He needed to have people around him. The same was true
with Don. All of the visits by family, friends, and members of the congregation
were greatly appreciated. Even when Don was no longer able to speak, he would
still smile and hold on tight to your hand as you said good-bye.
Therefore, I am confident that his parting
words for you who have come here to remember his life and to pay your last
respects, he would say: “Thank you for coming today.” And for those of you who
are Christians and who will see Him in heaven one day, he would probably say something
like this: “God be with you until we meet again.” Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding
guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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