Tim Gee Funeral

When Bethany asked me if I would do this service, I thought, what will I say

I haven’t seen or talked to Tim in 25 years (outside of the last few weeks)

It’a misleading and foolish to tell you that Tim lived a wonderful life and made the best decisions (He did not)

But regardless of the path Tim chose, WE ALL LOVED HIM

And that has been so evident over the past few weeks

I am amazed at how God’s grace has worked in Tim’s life over the past few weeks

I went to visit Tim a few weeks ago and he was ready to die

He had no hope

He had no will to live

He had no care for life whatsoever that I could tell

But then Bethany and Lola went to see him and things began to change

He began to smile and his whole countenance changed

Tim no longer wanted to die, but wanted to live

Relationships that had been broken for years were being rekindled and that is nothing short of a miracle

And I thank God that he made that possible

Tim was a big part of our family growing up

He is the one who introduced me to jug fishing which I have grown to love and teaching to my children

I remember Tim and I going out in the woods behind Dad’s house with shotguns hunting together

Tim spun a donut right in the middle of the intersection of East 9th and Belmont in that old white Nova that we talked about for weeks

Tim rebuilt the transmission in my first truck (Only lasted two weeks but we were pretty impressed until then)

Tim was a great brother-in-law and we will surely miss him

I want to share three things that I essentially shared with Tim the last time I spoke with him. I do not know what took place in Tim’s heart, no one does, but these are not for Tim any longer they are for you. And they have the power to give life.

1) GOD OFTEN USES DEATH TO STIMULATE BELIEF

In the Gospel of John, Jesus experiences the death of His great friend Lazarus

Now Lazarus has two sisters Mary and Martha

And Lazarus became sick, and that illness eventually took His life

And when Jesus heard that His friend was sick, He delayed coming to aid until after he had died

John 11:5-7 “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.””

What kind of sense does it make for Jesus to hear the news of his friend being sick and waiting two days to go see him?

Verse 5 says He did this because he loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

This doesn’t sound like an act of love until we read the reason in verse 15, “and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.”

It was the death of Lazarus that God used to stimulate belief in those around him

When we lose people we are reminded that our lives are temporary

We are also reminded that our souls are eternal

The Bible says, “God has put eternity in every man’s heart”

And time after time it is great loss and tragedy that God uses to open the eyes and hearts of people to HIM

God not put eternity in our hearts, to scare us, BUT TO DRAW US

And God did not give us His Word to confuse us, BUT TO INFORM US

And God did not send us His Son to condemn us, BUT TO SAVE US

Death should affect us this way

It is not natural

It was not this way from the beginning

And it reminds us of our desperate need of God

I want you to listen to what Jesus told Martha. This is one of the most comforting statements in the Bible

Jesus arrives there and greeted by Martha and then Mary. And she tells Jesus, If you had been here, my brother would not have died!

AND LISTEN TO WHAT JESUS SAYS TO HER:

John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

2) THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS WILL INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE WHEN THEY DIE

This is the good news

God did not create man without hope

Nor did God create man to die forever

There is in FACT LIFE AFTER DEATH

There is no sickness in heaven

No more pain

No more sorrow

Now more worries

And forever in the presence of God

We are all going to experience death one day

Some sooner than others

But that reality remains true for each of us

Many people try to ignore it

But death is impossible to ignore

Jesus said, “he who believe in Me will live even if He dies

Notice that only those who believe in Jesus will live

But what does it mean to believe in Jesus?

It means much more than believing that there is a God

Most of the world believes that there is a God

Its not hard to look at Creation and conclude there must be a God

BUT most the world does not follow Him

Jesus said, “Why do you call ME ‘Lord’, ‘Lord’, and not do what I say”

To believe In Jesus means to surrender one’s WHOLE life to Him, to trust Him which results in following Him

Just like Peter, James, John, Paul and others followed Him

Jesus wanted Martha and Mary to see that they could rely on Him even in the face of death

It is impossible for someone to truly believe in Christ and not have their desires, passions, and life radically changed.

My prayer for you before I came here today is that you will believe

That you will turn your eyes upon Jesus, and follow Him

That you will see Him as Lord of ALL

AND THEN JESUS SAYS THIS TO MARTHA:

John 11:26 “and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die”

The miracle that the people saw that day was extraordinary

Lazarus had been dead four days by the time Jesus arrived

And with a simple command, He called him by name to come forth, and brought Him back to life

But know this: Lazarus would die again

That is because every physical healing is only temporary

It is only when one is healed spiritually that death no longer has power over us

“everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die”

The death Jesus is speaking about is spiritual death

It is the second death

The death which affects the soul

This is the death which is far more important than our very lives even if we cannot fully grasp it

And then Jesus asks Martha this: “Do you believe this?”

And that question is the same question Jesus is asking us

Do you believe in Jesus?

Have you surrendered your life to Jesus?

You can pray and ask Him to save you right now

You can give your heart, soul, and mind to Him today and be assured that you will have eternal life

~PRAYER~