Bob Carter

In 1 Thessalonians Paul wrote to encourage those who had loved ones that had died.

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

This morning we don’t gather as those without hope. We have hope that this life is not all there is. We have hope that there is life beyond the grave. We have hope because of the promises God has made that Jesus, who was raised from the dead, will one day return and take us to be with him. And the promises God has made tell us that even now Bob is in God’s presence. And so this morning we gather to celebrate Bob’s life and his faith in God. Bob loved his Lord and Savior and will spend eternity with him.

I first met Bob almost thirty years ago in Boone when I was the youth minister at Foscoe Christian Church. Bob and Charlotte had just started attending there when I moved. About five years later we met again, this time in Elizabethton. Though I started as the youth minister at West Side, I preaching when Bob and Charlotte began attending. And it was then that I really got to know him.

One of the things I remember most about Bob is he was a hard worker. Whenever I went to visit he was busy doing something, whether in the yard or in the house. I think his last project was adding a closet to an upstairs room. I never asked him, though maybe I should have, for a tour of their house. I would love to see all the things he did to the house. I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded, but I never asked.

I remember his big smile and warm handshake. Bob was always glad to see me and I always felt welcome when I went to see Bob and Charlotte.

Bob loved his family. Whether it was at his house or at church when I saw him he’d often tell me about something a family member was doing. Bob especially loved Charlotte. You could see that in the way he took care of her. In those last years he would take her for a ride each day and closely watched over her.

And most of all Bob loved his Savior. I’m not sure how old he was when he made the decision to follow Christ, but he was in church and over the years served in many ways.

I’m not sure I could tell you my favorite verse, but David’s 23rd Psalm has to be in the list. And the more I read the more of a favorite it becomes. I know that it was a comfort to Bob as well. The 23rd Psalm reminds us that God provides for us. God knows what we need and he provides it. He gives us food and water and rest. Too many people are never satisfied, always wanting something else, something more. But David tells us that in God he has all he needs. He is satisfied. He eats, he drinks, he rests in God, and he is satisfied.

In the 23rd Psalm David reminds us that God is with us. God is with us in the good times and in the bad. God is with us in the easy times and the difficult. Whatever we face, wherever we go, God is there. God is there with his rod to protect us and his staff to discipline us and call us back to himself. God is with us now.

But the 23rd Psalm also reminds us that one day we will be with God. Biblical writers – and even Jesus – picture heaven with a great kitchen table filled with food. In this psalm David pictures a table prepared by God where even our enemies sit and eat with us; meaning that we will be at perfect peace even with those that for whatever reason we are not able to get along with now. But it also means that we who have sinned against God and are deserving of his punishment are welcomed into God’s home. God forgives us, anoints us, welcomes us to live with him forever, and we are at peace with him. The Lord desires to be our shepherd. He wants to bless us. He wants to care for us. David wrote:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23)

The story is told of a famous actor that was once the guest of honor at a social gathering where he received many requests to recite favorite excerpts from various literary works. An old preacher who happened to be there asked the actor to recite the 23rd Psalm. The actor agreed on the condition that the preacher would also recite it. The actor’s recitation was beautifully intoned with great dramatic emphasis for which he received lengthy applause. The preacher’s voice was rough and broken from many years of preaching, and his diction was anything but polished. But when he finished there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. When someone asked the actor what made the difference, he replied “I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.”

Knowing the Shepherd makes all the difference. David knew the Shepherd. And Bob knew the shepherd as well. My prayer is that you do as well.