The Funeral Services for David Klein
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Visitation: 12/15/2023: 12:00-1:00 PM (Thomas Funeral Home, P.A.)
Service: 12/15/2023: 1:00-2:00 PM (Thomas Funeral Home, P.A.)
Agenda of Main Funeral Service: (about 45 minutes)
1. Welcome & Prayer (Pastor Dick)
2. Obituary (Pastor Dick)
3. Song: “Beat You There” by Will Dempsey
4. First Scripture Reading (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) (Heather Powell)
5. Eulogy: (Friend/Family Member)
Troy Tyler (lifelong friend)
Valerie Snyder (daughter)
6. Second Scripture Reading :(John 14:1-6) (Heather Powell)
7. Message of Hope: (John 11: 17-27, Pastor Dick)
8. Song: “Scars in Heaven” by Casting Crowns
9. Closing Prayer & Benediction: (Pastor Dick)
Main Funeral Service Detail:
1. Welcome & Prayer (Pastor Dick)
2. Obituary:
David L. Klein, 62, of Millsboro, DE passed away on Friday, November 24, 2023 at his home. He was born in Beckley, West Virginia on December 6, 1960 to the late Harold E. Klein and Joyce Linkous Walter.
David graduated from Del Tech Community College with honors and continued his education at Salisbury University. On April 15, 2006, he married the former Judy Murphy. He worked at K&L Microwave and retired in January of 2023. David enjoyed fishing, boating, going to the beach, loved his dogs Opal and Gotti and going antiquing. He was also a diehard West Virginia Mountaineer and Miami Dolphin fan.
He is survived by his wife Judy Klein of Millsboro, a daughter Valerie Snyder and husband Daniel of Millsboro, several grandchildren and two great grandchildren, a stepdaughter Michele VanDyke of Selbyville and a stepson Henry VanDyke, Jr. and wife Jeannie of East New Market, a brother Ira Stephen Moore and wife Lynn and a sister Judith Ann Willey and husband Robert of Cambridge and three nieces. Besides his parents, David is preceded in death by his dog Roxie.
3. Song: “Beat You There” by Will Dempsey
4. First Scripture Reading:
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
5. Eulogy (Friend/Family Member)
Troy Tyler (lifelong friend)
Valerie Snyder (daughter)
6. Second Scripture Reading:
John 14:1–6 (ESV)
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
7. Message of Hope:
Title: Where’s Your Hope?
Text: John 11:17-27
Introduction
I too was touched by the life of David when one Sunday a few months ago, he was taken by the paramedics to the hospital unresponsive and was thought to have passed away. Which, praise the Lord, they were able to revive him, and I was able to visit him in the hospital the next day. David was rejoicing in the reality that the Lord had given him some extra days, and that he wanted to live those days for God’s glory. We saw David often in church after that, and each time he gave glory to the Lord for his life. I miss seeing him and fellowshipping with him but believe I shall see him again someday in heaven.
So, this afternoon, I want to give you a “Message of Hope” as I address the family and loved ones who have gathered to honor the life of their beloved David. But of all the tasks that I do as a pastor, this one is the most difficult. We have just heard from his lifelong friend Troy, and daughter Valerie who were both deeply touched by the life of their friend and father, along with his wife Judy who must now live life without him. What message of hope can I give to those who must now go on with the reality of their loss?
Our answer is found in the meaning of the word hope. Hope is the expectation of something different or better in the future that will make the present situation tolerable. Hope, however, is only as good as the object of our hope.
For instance, phrases like, “I hope I win the lottery…” or “I had hoped that the Eagles would have beaten the Cowboys this past Sunday…” These phrases are desires that we know are not certain, but wow, if only they would happen.
For the Christian however, hope means something entirely different. We have already heard what the apostle Paul said to the church of Thessalonica who was experiencing dismay over loved ones who had recently died…in verse 13 we again read this…
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
These early Christians had expected that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to return in their day and that they would see him and rise to meet him in the air. But, they thought, what about those who had already died? Where are they? Will they miss Christ’s return? Paul explains, don’t worry brothers, they are already with the Lord, and he will return with them and there will be a grand meeting in the air! Paul is claiming that this hope is so absolute that they can be encouraged as a sure thing! Why? Because the object of this hope is not based on any human frailty but on the eternal, all-powerful God himself who can make it happen! But how does God do this? How can we have…
Hope in the Midst of Grieving
With the remainder of this time, I want to take you to a real-life example of those who were grieving over the loss of a loved one and how comfort was provided through a message of hope. Our real-life example is found in John 11:17-27.
As a bit of background to these verses…Jesus and his disciples where on their way to Jerusalem…for Jesus, it would be the last time before his crucifixion. Bethany, which was only a couple of miles from Jerusalem, was the home of his dear friends Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus. While he was there, Lazarus became sick, and the sisters asked Jesus to come and heal him. They had witnessed many of Jesus healings before and so believed that he could do the same for their brother.
However, much to their disappointment, Jesus delayed and as a result, Lazarus died. This is where we pick up the story at verse 17…
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Can’t you just feel the pain…there, gathered around Mary and Martha were those who had come to console them, to offer words of comfort, yet feeling inadequate to make it all better. Then amid it all comes the one who could have made it all better…Jesus the great physician. The one who made the blind see and the lame walk. Can’t you see those longing eyes filled with tears searching for answers…why Jesus…why? Why didn’t you come when we asked you? If only you had, we would be rejoicing instead of weeping…
Maybe this morning you might be asking similar questions, why Jesus…why? Why did you take David home? Why didn’t you heal him? Why didn’t you just return and have us all go together to meet you in the air? Why did you delay and allow David to die?
Ah, but let’s read on…
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Here it is…the message of hope…Jesus was reveling to Martha something totally brand new. Her brother was alive now! Not as she had thought that he would come alive at the last day…but now! How is that possible?
Death stings us all because its sting is sin (1 Cor. 15:56). Sin was and is the problem. The bible tells us “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23 ESV). This sin, according to the bible, pays a wage, for we read, “…the wages of sin is death,” (Rom 6:23 ESV). Jesus was about to pay that wage with his own blood. By his death on the cross, he took our sin upon his sinless self. Paul describes this event in 2 Corinthians when he says…
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
But that’s not the end of the story, Jesus in explaining the process he would go through to his disciples said,
31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”
The death of Christ for our sins is only half the story, again Paul says in 1 Corinthians…
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Therefore, Lazarus was alive because the one who stood before Martha was the resurrection and the life itself; it’s author and creator. Not just the fixer of the old, but the creator of the new. Jesus Christ, God incarnate was claiming that at that very moment her brother was alive…more alive than he ever was. For though her brother died physically, all he did was shed his earthly shell but is still very much alive. David Klein, a child of God, a believer in Jesus Christ has shed his early shell, but oh dear ones, he is more alive than he has ever been! For him it is as Paul says again in 1 Corinthians…
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
What about you this morning? Where’s your hope? Does it lie in the desire for all the best things this life has to offer to come true for you? But what about when your body is lying in the casket? The bible tells us, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36 ESV) In other words if all that you hoped for in this life were to come true for you, are you still ready to die?
To forfeit your own soul means to be a part of the second death, the lake of fire, or hell. The bible says it like this…
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
How do you prepare for death? Let’s go back to our portion in John 11…notice verse 27…
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Martha believed that Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one who came into the world to die and rise again. Jesus words about her brother Lazarus being alive implied that Lazarus also believed. David Klein believed that Jesus was the Christ, the one who paid for his sins, and he believed to the point that his entire hope and trust was in him to save him, forgive him of his sins, and that he would be with him forever and ever.
If you are here this morning and you have placed your hope in anything else but the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your sins, I’m sad to say you are without hope! However, if you have trusted Jesus Christ to save you, this life is only a stopping off point from which you will pass and forever you will be with Jesus Christ, David and all those who have also trusted Christ.
Will you place your hope in him today? If you have, remember, lets celebrate the aliveness of David Klein as we close this service. Let’s pray.
8. Song: “Scars in Heaven” by Casting Crowns
9. Closing Prayer & Benediction: (Pastor Dick)
24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.