Funeral for Billy Milliken

I had struggled with what text to preach for Billy’s funeral. Honestly, I think I was still a bit in denial. I don’t want to be preaching a funeral sermon for my brother today. I want to be having lunch with him at Subway. Building a relationship with him, talking about his passion for seeing how the Lord might use him. Hearing how God is working through his cancer, listening and marvelling as he talks about the hope and the peace that he has.

I could ask “why God”…why now? So many questions we could have. I talked about that with Billy at a lunch we had. “Do you ever ask, why, Billy?”

And he said, “Sure. I’ve had those moments. But right now I think I’m just asking, ‘why not’. Why not me? I’m not special. So, how can I somehow glorify God through this.”

Wow.

So, as I’m thinking about Billy, about his death, his life, the way he died—with such grace, and even about this day that we have here today…I believe the Lord gave me the passage to preach. Romans 6:1-14.

I think it’ll help answer our questions.

Before I read the text let me set it up for you a little as to what is going on here. In Romans this guy named Paul has been telling us all about Jesus and what His good news does for us.

Paul has said some really BIG things already in Romans...

Like, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God...”

He has put everyone…every human who has ever lived…into a courtroom and shown how God declares us, “guilty, guilty, guilty.”

But then…just as soon as he says that…he goes and says things like Romans 5:8,

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And he goes on to say, this “where sin increase, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, those are some big churchy words that we might not be familiar with. So what did I just say? Basically, this....

Your sin isn’t bigger than God’s grace. Grace conquers sin! It’s always bigger.

Now you say something like that and that makes me people squirm…well, if grace is always bigger then it doesn’t matter how we live…Why not just sin a bunch that way you get more grace?

Enter Romans 6:1-14

Romans 6:1–14 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Now you might be thinking…is this a funeral sermon or a Sunday morning sermon. What does this have to do with Billy. Let me show you...

First, it explains his death…at least in part.

Billy was a very good man. He was strong. He was courageous. I was shocked when I went to visit him the day he died—or maybe it was the day before—and I heard he wasn’t given much time…and he’s talking. Almost just like having lunch with him. What in the world?

Billy was a man of integrity. Deep integrity. A man of character. You got what you saw. He was honest with you. I appreciated that about him. So many can attest to His character. A good man, a good husband, a good father, a good friend, a good employee, a good deacon, a good church member, you name it…Billy was a good dude.

But our hope this morning is not in Billy’s character. Though it was exemplary. If all Billy has is his own goodness—no matter how good that is—it will fall short of the glory of God.

In fact, what we are witnessing here this morning is the gravity of sin. Sin carries with it the sentence of death. Billy was a great man but, as has been said before, even the best men are men at best.

The wages of sin is death.

But, oh, friends…death doesn’t get the last word. We see here in Romans 6 that it also explains Billy’s life. Why did you see the changes in Billy that you have? Why was he such a good husband? Such a good dad? Such a good friend? Such a good man?

Because Christ had changed him. As we see in Romans 6. That is part of what it means in Romans 6:4

Romans 6:4 ESV

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

That newness of life isn’t talking about eternity. It’s talking about here and now. Paul’s whole argument here is that the good news of Jesus changes you. When God gets a hold of your heart…when your heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh…when your eyes see the beauty of Jesus…it changes everything.

And that also explains how Billy was able to live as he did these last couple years battling cancer. Christ had changed him. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t questioning. He wasn’t using cancer as an excuse to get mad at God or others or despair or any of that. Nope. Jesus had changed his heart…he was walking in newness of life.

You want to know why Billy responded the way he did? It’s not because he was an exceptional person (though he was). It’s because He has an exceptional Savior. What we see in Romans 6 is evidenced in the life of Billy Milliken. Jesus Christ changes people.

“We know that the old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing...”

Do you realize what could have happened here? Do you realize that Billy before Christ might have gotten a cancer diagnosis and been absolutely horrible to live with? To be angry with others, bitter.

But he wasn’t…he dealt with this battle with cancer about as well as I’ve seen anyone battle cancer. How?

I had some conversations with Billy before he died. And he shared with me how he had some regrets about how at various point in his life he let anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, and such take away some years of his life. But he wasn’t going to wallow in that…he was just going to walk in the forgiveness of Christ....and give every bit of his remaining time to glorifying Christ however he could. He wasn’t going to take that path with cancer.

You know what was going on there? Romans 6. The life of Christ put to death the way of death in the life of Billy. I’ll say that again…The life of Christ put to death the way of death in the life of Billy.

And you want to know one of the things that Billy is really happy about right now…Romans 6:7. “For one who has died has been set free from sin....”

But there is another massive reason for hope and celebration today. Yes, this is a day with pain. It’s a day of mourning. And it’s okay to mourn. It’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to feel.

But we do so as those who have hope. And why do we have hope? Why is this a time of celebration? Because death doesn’t get the last word.

Romans 6:9–11 ESV

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Yes, that verse is mostly talking about the newness of life that we have in Christ in the here and now. In some ways the resurrection starts for us the moment we are united to Jesus.

But there is some precious truth in there and it’s why we celebrate today. Jesus is alive. And we are united with Him.

Romans 6:5 ESV

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We too will rise, just like Christ has risen. It is in this that we have hope today. Death is not final. For a couple years now we’ve been praying for Billy to be healed. Of course we wanted him to be healed this side of heaven. We wanted so much more time…but you know what…on Tuesday morning our prayers were answered. Our brother was healed…no more cancer. no more death. no more sin.

Oh, death where is your sting? It is swallowed up in victory.

There is no doubt that all of us here today would have loved more time with Billy. There is no doubt that we would not be grieving this morning if he were here. But if he could come back for one brief moment, I believe I know what he would tell us. Having seen what he has seen and experienced what he is experiencing, he would tell us: Be certain that you know Jesus. Put your faith and trust in Jesus and him alone, he is the only one that can pardon you and the only one that we can hope in. Do not leave this life without knowing the One who is Life Himself.

He would tell us with Paul in Romans 6 to “not let sin reign in your mortal bodies.” Don’t give a moment to the luster of it. Don’t give in to anger, bitterness, or any of those other joy robbers. Having now seen what he has seen and heard the things that he has heard—he would certainly tell us that what really matters is Jesus. He would let us know that our present suffering pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us.

Billy would say to those of us that are believers—it’s worth it. Keep pressing on, keep trusting Jesus, every ounce of pain and suffering is worth it. It only makes Christ all the more sweeter. And to those here that may not be trusting in Christ—I am confident that Billy would encourage you to trust in Jesus alone.

That was his desire. If one person can come to Jesus through this…then it’s worth it. If one person can grow in their relationship with Christ through my suffering, then it’s worth it.

In a moment we will sing

And I will rise when He calls my name No more sorrow, no more pain I will rise on eagles' wings Before my God fall on my knees And rise I will rise

Can you say that? If you are united to Christ, by grace and through faith, then you can say that. Billy will rise. Death doesn’t get the last word. Is that true of you and I? Only if we are united to Christ.