Hank Bakker Funeral

Dear Tetty, Darrell & Shannon, Charlena & Pete, Anissa & Kevin, Deanna & Pete, Brad & Amanda,

Dear grandchildren, great grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and friends,

Reading I Cor. 13, (charity or) love sounds amazing, doesn’t it?

(The Greek word is agape. Charity was a good translation 200, 300, 400 years ago, but English has changed. “Love” is a broad word, but today, it’s the best translation of agape.)

The agape-love described in this chapter is precious, but also rare. No wonder it’s one of your grandpa’s favorite passages.

To tell the truth, people ask for I Cor. 13 at weddings more than at funerals. Today is the first time I’ve read this chapter at a funeral. It suggests to me that the love described here is aspirational: something we strive for at the start of a journey; a goal, instead of an accomplishment.

Did you notice love in the Bible is active? It’s not airy-fairy, “my love is like a red, red rose.” No, the love in I Cor. 13 is active: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” More practical, less warm-fuzzies. Yet love is more than action. Action w/o love gains nothing.

That rings true w/ Jesus’ teaching about love: love for God and neighbour. When Jesus was asked to clarify which neighbours need to be loved, he told a story. It’s recorded in Luke 10.

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. Luke 10:30b (NIV)

A Priest passed by, then a Levite. Both religious leaders kept their distance, kept their hands clean, kept their schedule, and it kept them from doing anything kind or helpful.

When the Samaritan arrived, he “took pity on him.” Not concern nor outrage, the Good Samaritan demonstrated active love for his neighbour:

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:34 (NIV)

My experience w/ your dad, your grandpa was that he aspired to live this way. He admitted that he didn’t always succeed, but generous love and kindness was his goal.

Falling short of our goal to love words and deeds is a major problem in life. Even when I work hard at it, I can’t love God and neighbour up to God’s standards – can you relate?

As a result of our shortcomings, our lack of love for God and neighbour cuts us off from God and breaks up our relationships w/ those around us. We’re stuck, far from God and estranged from people. If not for God’s love for the world, his love for us, we’d be left alone and lonely.

In the gospel of John, Jesus taught, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” John 15:13 (NIV). Now it’s one thing to talk about great love, it’s another thing to live up to it. You’ve watched enough Disney movies to know that even the most poetic statements of love ring hollow if not matched with loving deeds. And the gospel gives a better demonstration of love than Disney does: Jesus lived out his love for you and the rest of humankind by laying down his life.

Over the last 2 years, I saw your dad most often when we celebrated the LS. Every-other month or so we sat in his living room. With an elder and others, we broke bread and remembered how Jesus took our guilt and shame and sin upon himself at the cross. We drank the cup and remembered how the cup is a new covenant in Jesus’ blood, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus shed his blood to wash you clean and heal all your hurts and diseases.

Jesus’ love is not empty words, but powerful deeds motivated by loving-kindness to rescue us from sin and death. Jesus’ resurrection makes us alive, truly alive, to live safely and eternally w/ God and to break down barriers b/t people so we can love family, coworkers, and neighbours w/ powerful loving-kindness.

The last time I celebrated the LS w/ your grandpa, we spoke of the day when we would no longer “see only a reflection as in a mirror.” He was looking ahead to the day when “we shall see face to face.” We acknowledged that in this life we know in part, but when Christ returns or calls us home, “we shall know fully, even as we are fully known.”

As we talked of the life to come, he straightened up in his chair and a gleam shone in his eye. He got excited at the prospect of celebrating the wedding feast in which Jesus is the groom and the church is his bride. The day is coming when the church will be united with Christ forever! Jesus and his bride will literally live happily ever after.

Hank knows that he is included in Jesus’ love. He believed he would receive everything God has promised in the Bible. He believed he was going to live with the Lord forever. It made death a less frightening for him.

Yet his death is still tough. Death is an enemy. It cuts deeply.

You will miss your husband, dad, and grandfather b/c you love him. Although he did not want to leave you either, he was looking forward to seeing Jesus, his Saviour face-to-face. I am convinced that he is in the presence of our loving heavenly Father today.

What about you? Do you believe God’s promises are for you?

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Can you say w/ the 16th century reformers:

That I am not my own but belong, body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ?

If you believe, if you have any comfort from Jesus’ love, then you are invited “in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5 (NIV). It ought to inspire loving deeds in your households, your workplace, and your whole community. You’re not left to struggle alone. Jesus has strengthened you w/ the outpouring of the HS, to love God 100% and to love your neighbour as yourself.

You might not encounter a man on the side of the road who has been beaten and robbed, but you’ll have opportunity to show pity, compassion, and love to each person you encounter. It might be as simple as sitting beside someone as they grieve and handing them a Kleenex at just the right time.

‘Cause that’s what love looks like. This is the love we aspire to:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4–8a (NIV)