Harry Osborne's Funeral

Introduction

When I was an infant, my mom’s dad died of an asthma attack so I only really had one grandpa growing up, and that was Harry. He was strong, always kind and a bit of a gentle giant in my childish eyes growing up, and I am proud to be his grandson. Now, 27 years later, I’ve lost my him; we all lost him. He meant many things to many of us, but we all loved him.

He was a hard working man, I remember him lending his help on my father’s many construction projects. He worked hard, by the sweat of his brow, and it is a great grief to us that this hard truth is now apparent before us: we were taken out of dust and to dust we shall return.

Thinking of Death

It is a fitting day to mourn on a day like today. Sometimes we try to suppress grief, but tears are good for us today. I think it is very fitting that we should mourn Harry’s passing on this day of all days, for on the Christian calendar we are right between Good Friday and Easter. It is a day of sadness, a dark day, a day when we must contend with humanity’s old adversary: death.

There are also many reason to celebrate life today. After all, it is part of what we are here to do. We are celebrating the life of one who brought us much joy and love. But it is also good to think on death, because no one escapes it. The ancient stoics remind us that it is wise to reflect on death. It is true for all of us that we labour in this world, we eat, we have good times and bad times, and then our soul is made to leave our bodies and face our God.

Brevity of Life

First, we are caused to think of the brevity of life. Harry lived a full life to an age some of us may not see, but at the same time life is short. We don’t know our day of death, and that makes everything we do in this life much more meaningful. Certainly, we aren’t here to watch life go by, we are to make much of it. Fill it with what is meaningful so that when we come to die we will leave no regrets. Today, we are asked the question: what is my life about? What am I filling it with? Will I be ready when my time is up?

Reality of Our Sin

Second, we are reminded of the cause of death: our sin. This text from Genesis 3 is a curse in response to Adam’s decision to leave God’s way and choose our own. This, the Bible tells us, is what brings death. Adam had previously had a tree of life, how we wish such a thing were possible today, but our own actions as human beings have disconnected us from God, and thus from life. We have left God’s path, and chosen our own. If we are to have life, we must deal with the fact that our actions against God are what block us from it.

Eternity

Third, we are reminded to think of eternity. Beyond death there is an existence where we will be brought before God to answer for what we did in this life. Life is indeed a gift, but not one we are allowed to waste. We will give an account of our lives to God. Now, when I look at my own life I know I see many things that make this an uncomfortable, fearful thought. There is no better time than now to ask, where will I spend eternity? The bad news is that we all have sinned, we have all mistreated life and though we may think we are mostly good by our standards, God is a holy God, a righteous God, a completely and purely good God. I mentioned Good Friday, and what makes it so good is that it is the day that God reckoned with our sin by sending his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die and take the penalty for our sin. When we look at the cross, we need to realize above all that this is how God views our sin. It took God becoming man and dying a cruel death to pay for it. That’s how bad my sin is; that’s how bad your sin is. Without Jesus, where does that leave us in eternity?

Thinking of Life

But as we look back on Good Friday and the death that occurred that dark day, we may also turn our attention to Easter Sunday and the hope that it brings. There is good news, a good reason why we may celebrate life today and not be overcome by the darkness of death and the guilty of our sin.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This transforms our view of death from gloom and sadness to joy and life. When Jesus died, it was a victory and not a defeat. In his resurrection we see death overcome and new life given to those who believe on his name.

Romans 5:17 ESV

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Today is a sad day, but it does not need to be a hopeless day. There is life in Christ, death no longer needs to be our enemy because Christ has suffered death in our place and promised a resurrection to those who are in him. For a follower of Jesus, death is no enemy, it is merely a gateway to eternal life with a beautifully loving Saviour.

But how can we have this life? The Apostle Paul was once asked how to be saved and his answer was simple: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

Conclusion

So I conclude with this simple message of life: believe on Jesus. Cast yourself on him. Look to the one whose death will bring you life. He forgives all sin if we come to him believing that he has done so. In this world we have the unfortunate experience of death as a result of our sins against God, but in Christ there is forgiveness and with that forgiveness there is life.

Today, I want to look to the risen Saviour, for only he can give me that hope. Will you look with me? A loving God asks you to follow him and he will give you life. That is the hope we may have today, and every day, and in that hope we, in our grief, can find rest in the face of death.

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I hope today will inspire you to see your life in a new way. Will you live in the hopelessness of following yourself, or in the hopeful life of following Jesus?

We all loved Harry and will miss him dearly. I cried much longer than I thought I would when I received the news. Today, let us continue to mourn, but not without hope. If we look to Christ in faith, death is not a hopeless end, but the hopeful beginning of true life.