Funeral Sermon for Keith Garland

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-The purpose of the Eulogy…

...Is to honor the dead

(I think Danny has done a fantastic job doing that!)

But, the purpose of the sermon that follows...

…is to exhort the living.

Now, don’t get me wrong...

Keith was good to me… (really good to me)...

In fact, All of you, have been:

So good,

So kind to me..

...For more than twenty years now!

Some of you for longer than that!

I am indebted to all of you...

And, I am profoundly indebted to Keith.

Naturally speaking, I owe much of my own temporal happiness to:

The wife he gave me

To the children that I have because of her.

Keith showed me respect as a husband and father to them

(that he didn’t owe me, I didn’t deserve, and hadn’t earned)

He never tried to interfere with my duties:

To his own daughter

To his grandchildren

I’ve come to realize that, that’s a pretty rare thing...

And I am very appreciative of it.

And for these things, as well as many others...

…I too, desire to speak “good words” over my father-in-law.

-But, there are some dangers (potential) that come with a good eulogy...

…that I feel constrained to warn you about.

One Danger is for us to hear about all of the good qualities...

…and come away thinking:

He sure was a good man...

…and I know he’ll be in heaven BECAUSE of that.

And that is a very dangerous thing for us to do.

-The fact that Keith is lying before us today...

…makes it painfully obvious...

…that He was NOT (in and of himself) good!

Now, please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, here.

I’m NOT AT ALL saying that:

Keith was bad

I am good.

Any of you are good.

What I’m saying is what the Apostle Paul said in Romans Chapter 3

Romans 3:10–12 (ESV)

10 . . . “None is righteous, no, not one...

12 All have turned aside . . . no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

23...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

…And that:

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

23 ...the wages of (that) sin is death...

I’m saying that we will all eventually die...

…because of the reality that NOT ONE of us is GOOD!

-Funerals remind us of this in a most painful way.

They force us to come to consider:

Our own mortality

The condition of our own souls

And:

The certainty of our own judgment.

-Now, let me warn you of another danger.

There is a very:

easy,

common,

but very dangerous...

...mistake that we also tend to make...

…in a situation like this.

And that is, for us to make the deceased (in our case, Keith)...

…the standard against which we assess our own righteousness.

Here’s what I mean.

It’s easy to look at other fallen sinners...

…and compare ourselves to them...

…and walk away feeling pretty good about ourselves.

In our hearts, we say thing like:

“at least I don’t do this… (fill in the blank)”

or

“at least I wasn’t like that… (fill in the blank)”

-If we use other people as our standard, then...

(given our own native pride and self-conceit)

…we’re most likely going to become confident in...

...and satisfied with:

Our own goodness

Our own performance

Our own righteousness.

And that would be an eternally fatal mistake for us to make.

-What did the passage say that we read before?

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

23...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

It’s so important that we understand what that means.

It means that God HIMSELF...

…is the ultimate, absolute, and only objective standard...

of right and wrong

ethics and morality.

It is His nature that determines:

what is right or wrong for us...

what is the acceptable standard that must be met...

...to be in a right relationship with Him.

These moral perfections are summarized in the Ten Commandments

They show us what it looks like to:

Love God

Love our neighbor…

…as we ought.

But, to what degree must they be kept...

…in order for us to be right with God?

Well, Jesus said:

Matthew 5:48 (ESV)

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

You see, the goodness of God is a great problem for us.

It’s a problem for us, because we are NOT GOOD.

-When God revealed His Goodness to Moses...

… On Mount Sinai, He said that He was:

Exodus 34:5–7 (ESV)

6 . . . a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,

No problem for us there, right?

But, then He says this;

but who will by no means clear the guilty, ...

-Do you see the problem?

You and I (and Keith) are all guilty!

So, If God is good...

What does he do with us?

This is the greatest problem in all of the Bible.

How can God:

Show Mercy...

If He’s Just?

Forgive...

If He’s righteous?

Love you (or me)...

If we’re full of iniquity...

And He is Holy?

His Holiness demands absolute perfection.

And, He doesn’t grade on a curve.

The Law said “Do this (obey perfectly) and you’ll live”

And they all died!

Why?

Because they didn’t do it

-And neither did Keith!

-And neither have you!

-And neither have I?

(And those of you who know me well...

…and have known me for a long time...

…Know that what I’m saying is true)

-So, where does that leave us?

Are we without hope?

Must we just resign ourselves to the certainty...

...of our much-deserved condemnation?

No!

Praise God, the answer is no!

But, it does leave us looking for a righteousness...

…that is outside of ourselves.

It leaves us looking to God in faith...

…to provide for us what we are unable to provide for ourselves.

-Paul said this in:

Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)

3 ...God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do (elaborate). By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

In other words, God the eternal Son...

…condescended to become a man...

…and as a man

…and on the behalf of men

…did all that was required of them (by the Law)

...in order for them to be right with God!

Or, as Paul goes on to say:

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us...

This is the Gospel, family...

This is the good news, that...

Jesus Christ, lived a life of perfect obedience...

In YOUR place!

(Provided your trust is in Him)

Jesus (as a man) satisfied...

…every single moral obligation of the Law...

On YOUR behalf!

(Provided your confidence is in Him)

Jesus accomplished absolute perfection...

For You...

That He is the End of the Law for righteousness...

For you!

(Provided you are believing upon Him)

-But that’s only one side of the gospel coin.

...After living and fulfilling every duty...

...that was required of the people...

...for whom He lived...

He died for them as well.

He, as the only man to ever not deserve the judgment of God...

Hung on the Cross

Suffered the Pain and Shame of earth,

Endured the wrath of Heaven,

And willingly gave himself over to a death he didn’t deserve.

But, He died YOUR death!

And, He paid YOUR debt!

And, He received the wages of YOUR sin!

And, He drank YOUR hell!

(Provided He is indeed your Savior and Lord)

And to prove that He was innocent...

…And that He wasn’t dying for sins of His own...

The Father raised Him from the dead...

…never again to die!

This is how God can be Good...

...And justify those who are NOT good.

Not by winking at their sin like a senile grandfather...

But by meting out their punishment...

...on His Only Begotten Son!

Some call this “The Great Exchange”

Our Sin...

For His Righteousness.

Our Transgression...

For His obedience!

However you describe it...

…It is the Grace of God.

And it is our ONLY hope.

But, it is a sure hope.

And, it is a certain hope.

-Please don’t look to something:

That You did one time (in the past)...

Even a prayer you prayed

Or an emotion that you felt

Don’t rest your hope in what YOU have done.

Look (Here and Now)...

…and rest your hope...

…in what Christ has done for you!

Look to Him... in faith!

Trust in His righteousness!

Turn away from the masters that you formerly served:

Sin

Self

Satan...

And bow the knee before Him (in your heart) as your only:

Savior

Lord...

...And He will save you!

And that Saving Grace will continue to work in your life...

And over time, as you serve Him...

…He will transform you...

…More and More...

…Into His own image and likeness.

And when your time comes to die...

…You'll be enabled to face it with:

Confidence

Hope

I’ll leave you with these words from Paul:

2 Corinthians 5:20–6:1 (ESV)

20 ...We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1...we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Let’s Pray.

22 minutes before prayer.