Services for Luis Diaz

Welcome

Good Mourning

My name is Pastor Josh Burgess.

I am the Pastor here at Feedom Church.

On Behalf of the church here I would like to extend our deepest sympothys to your family.

Please know we have been praying for you for the last week and are here if we can be of any assitance to you as you walk through difficult journey.

Aware

I am painfully aware that we can’t even begin to comprehend what you are going through right now.

The pain, the sorrow, the difficulty...

not just of this day and moment but of this new permanant season in your life.

Normally

this is not an ordinary funeral.

Normally, a pastor like myself can stand behind a pulpit such as this and uligize an expereinced life lived on this earth

We can share memories and stories about the different experiences people walked through and thier ups and downs.

And we normally find solice and some comfort in the thought that people have expereinced and lived life to the fullest..

Different

But today is different..

Today, we mourn and grieve for luis’s Diaz..

an innocent life

a life that was tragically and violently taken from him..

with blatent disgregard for what life even means.

A smile, that was erased forever

A life that never got to experience the many joys of what it means to live..

today is different

Days like today should not even exist..

and yet they do..

Here we are expereincing great sorrow and pain.

And that makes this so much more difficult..

Because in this situation, words and sentiments fall short or any attempt to provide solice and comfort.

David

im reminded of king david today.

who lost many of his children to various circumstances.

From The death of his infant son.

To the death of his adult son absolom who was trying to take davids life and kingdom when he died.

And im reminded that he was unconsolable about each of them for a while.

For a time he greive greatly

and through his writings you can tell that he never seemed to fully move on..

Because he found out that days like today are difficult.

And the new seasons and new normals of life are sometime excruciating..

But in the end David Realizes that God has not forsaken him..

he Realizes the words of paul, that will be penned well after his life in 2 corinthians 1:3-5

2 Corinthians 1:3–5 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

And he finds the strength to continue living

to continue walking.

Today

theres not much that can be said from an earthly perspective comfort the heart on days like this

and today, I dont want to pretend that we can say anything that will fix this situation..

because we cant.

But rather I would like to offer you some biblical wisdom as to how you might possibly begin to keep walking.

Just like David did.

Because tomorrow, next week, and next year are coming faster than we can imagine.

And now we have to find out how we continue to live.

So I would like to offer you four brief peices of advice that I find in scripture, but that I have also watched many who have endured great loss live out.

We are not alone

1.The first things I want to remind you this morning is that your not alone in this walk.

It can be tempting to feel like we are, when our world has crashed down around us..

But The very presence of many of the people in this room make itt evident that were not alone.

Paul

Paul instructed us in galatians that we are to

Galatians 6:2

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

In difficult season of life, we have to come together.

Seasons like this, are times to put asside petty fights and differences..

times to lay down arms and hurts..

and simply be there for each other..

be the shoulder to cry on..

Be the sounding board to listen..

Be the encourager to help each other keep walking and going.

We are to be here for each other.

We were created for relationship with each other.

and we have a responsibility, especially in seasons like this, to help each other.

each of us in this room shoulder that responsibility for this family as well.

Christ is present

Additioinally, and more importantly..

The bible says, that even when our brothers and sisters are not there for us..

Christ wants to be there for us..

He is present.

Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

John 16:33

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Christ is present..

And I encourage you to call on him during this time..

To give your burdens to him..

To give your cares to him..

Big enough

one thing I have learned as I have navigated the various difficulties and tragities of this life..

is that His shoulders are big enough for our emotions..

If its anger..

anguish..

sorrow..

pain..

bitterness..

or more..

He wants to shoulder the burden for us and help us to continue to walk..

Peace

The second thing I want to remind you this morning is that there is hope for peace yet..

In matthew chapter 4 the disicples are with christ in the middle of the sea

and out of no where a violent storm arrises..

The disicples think that its going to over take them..

but then they call out to Jesus

And Jesus rises up, and speaks peace be still over the storm..

and the waves and winds cease..

Today

christ is still speaking peace to the violent and unpredictable storms that we face in our lives.

We simple need to call on him..

to invite him into the situation and ask for his help..

Phillipians 4:7 calls is a peace that surpasses all understanding

its a peace that is nor circumstancial..

but rather a peace that come soley from christ into our hearts.

I encourage you this mourning to seek that peace in him.

and receive that peace from him in this extremely difficult time..

Forgive

3. The third thing I want to encourage you to do this morning is to forgive…

And you might be saying pastor..

Dont you know what happened here?

Oh no I do..

We all do..

Ive seen the news..

Ive heard the stories..

What happened was unthinkable..

It was an unspeakable evil..

an act that had no respect for life..

Honest

And To be honest..

as a family..

you have every earthly right to harbor life long feelings of bitterness, anger and hatred towards the poeple who did this..

But..

But Forgiveness is not about the peopel who did this.. ..

Forgiveness is not for them..

Forgiveness is for you..

Whoever did this..

they dont care how you feel about them..

They dont care if you hate them..

We are the ones who suffer when we choose to hang on to hurts..

Forgiving does not say that what has been done is right..

Forgiving does not let the other person off the hook for thier actions..

Forgiving helps our heart begin to heal..

Jesus

jesus demonstrated this for us on the cross..

When he was being crucified after being found inocent of any wrong doing..

he prayed over his murders while hanging on the cross in luke 23:34

Luke 23:34 (ESV)

That didnt stop the crucifiction..

but it kept his heart free and clear to accomplish his work…

I encourage you, during this jounry to find forgivness

be free from the anger and bitterness

so you can live free and live life..

Timing

And I do understand that it may take signifigant time for us to come to that point in our life..

but I encourage you to make the choice..

So that you can begin to heal emotionally..

Grief

Finally, I would encourage you to let your self grieve.

This is not the time to be strong..

to hold everything together..

Its the time to let it all out..

We cant pretend that this is not an absolutly tragic day..

A young life, full of potential, full of joy, full of life gone..

We have to allow ourselves to grieve..

Grief

In John 11:35 the bible tells us Jesus came to the grave of lazarous who had died well before his time of illness..

And the bible says he was moved..

Because He loved him..

And he wept..

encourage

I would encourage you this mournging..

To let your self mourn and grief..

we were made to hurt when we lose those we love..

Lean into grief and let it run as it should..

Its the beginging of the long and difficult healing process.

Poem

I would like to leave you with a poem today.

I read it at every funeral I do becuase I believe its speaks volumes about the grieving process.

Its author is unknown.

But its words ring very true during times such as this and the times that will follow this day.

Grief

As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it’s some physical thing. Maybe it’s a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it’s a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.

In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don’t even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you’ll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what’s going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything…and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

Somewhere down the line, and it’s different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O’Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you’ll come out.Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don’t really want them to. But you learn that you’ll survive them. And other waves will come. And you’ll survive them too.

Ending

Celine Callahan is coming at this time to share some memories.