Bill Salter Funeral

Good afternoon and thank you for coming. We’ve come to share in the loss of Bill. We’ve come to weep, to feel, and to wonder in anguish. We don’t come today with any glib answers. Let’s face it. This is tough stuff. We’re hurting. We don’t understand.

It might be difficult to believe, but the Bible says that it’s actually good for us to be here today. In Ecclesiastes 7:2, God says this: It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every person; the living should take this to heart.

In other words, God says that it’s better to go to a funeral than to a party. It’s better to be in a cemetery than at a football game. I think there are at least three reasons for this.

First, this is a time for us to celebrate the life that God gave to Bill. We’re sad but we also want to remember Bop’s uniqueness.

Talking with Debra, I heard of some great memories:

From Working on Shrimp Boats in Louisiana as a young man

To his love for Wrestling

He loved to be outdoors, (Fishing, mowing, even flying Kites on the beach i’ve been told.)

And my personal favorite, just catching up while sitting on the porch.

And so, this is a time for us to remember.

Second, it’s a time for us to say good-bye to Bill. As hard as it is, this service will help us begin the process of letting go.

And, third, it’s a time for us to take a look at our own lives. We are all going to die someday. It’s a great time to ask some tough questions. Questions like, “Am I ready to die?” and “Where will I go when my life is over?” When it comes right down to it, this service is more for us who are living than for the person who has died.

And so, we’re going to remember, we’re going to say good-bye, and we’re going to reflect on our own lives.

Prayer

Message

Some of you are searching for answers this afternoon. I want you to know that it’s OK to ask those questions. It’s natural to wonder why this had to happen.

There’s a story in the Bible that addresses some of the same things that most of us are feeling today. It’s found in the Gospel of John, in the 11th chapter. Here we read of a funeral that involved hard questions, deep feelings, and budding hope.

The deceased is a man named Lazarus. He comes from a very close family -- among them are two sisters -- Mary and Martha. Like Bill, he came from a good family and had a bunch of friends – and one of his best friends was Jesus.

Jesus arrives four days after Lazarus dies, and as he approaches the house full of people crying, both sisters run out to Him at separate times and say: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

I suspect some of you are asking “If” questions as well. “If only I had spent more time with him.” “If only I had been nicer.” “If only I had done this – or that.” These kinds of “If” questions are normal.

but Don’t blame yourself – it’s not healthy, and it’s not right.

Well, if we’re not supposed to blame ourselves, then maybe God is to blame for this. That’s precisely the implication both Mary and Martha make when they are grieving over the death of their brother: Lord if YOU had been here, my brother would not have died.

I learned long ago that it’s really senseless to either accuse God or to try to defend Him. But neither is it sinful to question Him. Some of you are wondering why God would allow this to happen. It’s OK for you to ask these kinds of questions. Jesus does not scold these sisters for suggesting that perhaps their brother’s death was His fault.

You shouldn’t feel guilty for wondering if there was something that God could have done. God could have kept Bill from dying. But, for some reason, He didn’t.

It Was his Time

Ecclesiastes 3:2 reminds us that there is a Time to be born and a Time to die. While we don’t understand why Bill died, we do know it was his time to die.

As we continue with the story, we find the shortest verse in the entire Bible. Surrounded by family and friends, Jesus is deeply moved and asks where the body of Lazarus is. When he views Lazarus, he could have said something extremely profound. Instead, John 11:35 tells us what Jesus did -- “he wept.”

Here is Jesus of Nazareth, the world’s most complete, most perfect man, attending the funeral of a friend and openly weeping, without embarrassment, without apology. In fact, those watching him said, “See how much he loved him!”

If you feel like crying today, don’t hold back. If it was OK for Jesus to cry, it’s OK for you to cry. God feels your pain -- he wants you to let it out -- and to let Him in on your feelings. He wants to help you work through everything you’re feeling. He wants to be a part of your life. God knows what it’s like to hurt. One day He lost a family member too, His one and only son.

Where Will You Go?

That lead’s me to my question for you today. Where will you go when it’s your time to die?

In this passage, Jesus said to Mary and Martha in verses 25-26: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. Do you believe this?”

Jesus didn’t merely say that there is a resurrection. He claimed that HE IS the resurrection. The fact that He would rise from the dead was the guarantee that others would too. We often think that this is the land of the living, and that when we die we go the land of the dead. The opposite is really true – this is the land of the dying, when our life here is over, we are transferred into the land of the living – either to a place of eternal joy or to a place of eternal torment. There are really only two possible destinations.

There’s only one requirement for entrance into resurrection life -- it’s not a matter of trying to be good or even going to church -- the only requirement is that you personally believe that Jesus exchanged his life for yours by absorbing your sins on a cross and that He rose again so that at the moment of your death you will rise too.

Are you ready to do some spiritual business with God today? You can leave this place the same way you came. Or you can leave it trying to be a good, religious person with vague hopes of heaven. Or, you can leave here in full assurance that you will go there when you die. The choice is up to you.

Determine today to put your faith and trust in Jesus as the Savior and Leader of your life. This is real stuff, isn’t it?

James 4:14 says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Bill was not planning to die when he did – but since life is like a vapor that appears for a little while and then passes away – it was his time to go. Friends, none of us know what will happen to us either. Our lives are very fragile, aren’t they?

Proverbs 27:1 reminds us to not boast about tomorrow because we don’t know what a day will bring forth. Some people are always bragging about what they’re going to do and they never do anything. “One of these days I’m going to do this.” “I’ll tackle that later.” But, later may never come.

This passage gives us two very significant reasons why we should never presume upon the future:

Life is unpredictable. We don’t even know what will happen tonight, much less next week or next year. The truth is that no one can predict the future.

Life is brief. Our lives are like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. The Greek word here is the word atmos, from which we get the word “atmosphere,” which is that invisible layer of water vapor that encircles our planet. Our lives are like a mist in the grand scheme of things.

Friends, life is too unpredictable and too brief to live it without God at the center. We count our lives in years but God tells us in Psalm 90:12 to number our days. The truth of the matter is that all of us are just one heartbeat away from eternity. In 1 Samuel 20:3, David said, “Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

Our lives are like a vapor – here one minute and gone the next. Don’t put off this decision. Decide today to give your life to Jesus.

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies.” Do you believe this? If not, don’t waste another minute of the only life you have. Right now, right here, decide to pin all your hopes on Jesus Christ, and him alone, who exchanged his life for yours, and who, in the next life, will greet you on the other side -- if you receive Him into your life now.

Gospel Presentation

A – Admit

B – Believe

C – Commit

Graveside

Psalm 23 KJV 1900

A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth 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 thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth 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 for ever.

Prayer

Committal