Harry Jeffery Memorial Service

Welcome

Good Afternoon. I’m pastor Ezra Dunn, and on behalf of Harry’s family, and on behalf of Harry’s church, it is my honor to welcome you to Harry Jeffery’s Celebration of Life.

But before we begin the service, I’d like to welcome __________________________________________________________ from the United States Air Force to conduct a flag folding ceremony in honor of Harry’s military service.

Service

Song: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Call to Worship

God is faithful. He’s faithful in every season of life. He’s faithful in the deepest tragedies and the highest joys, and he has faithfully brought Harry safely home to glory. And this is why we who are left behind to mourn Harry’s loss need not mourn without hope:

Psalm 126:6 ESV

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

[Prayer for God to help us mourn/weep with those who weep and trust and rejoice/rejoice with those who rejoice, at the life & salvation God gave Harry.]

Songs: In the Garden, Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Harry’s Life Story

Open Mic

Message

Intro

Why does it matter to say that Harry is with the Lord?

Or does it matter?

Maybe you hear words like this and you automatically consign them to the dustbin. Isn’t this just what people say when they’re trying to comfort themselves after someone dies? Surely there’s no real substance behind words like this. It’s all just a lot of religious talk.

=> Well, I think that a lot of folks actually do say those things as just a form of vague religious comfort—no real substance.

=> But that wasn’t Harry, and that’s not what we’re talking about today.

But maybe, in a different way, you hear people say that Harry is with the Lord, and you might even believe it in some sense, but it strikes you as boring. After all, what does it even mean? That he’s sitting up on a cloud somewhere strumming a harp? Or some other idea like that?

=> Well, if that was how it worked, I could certainly forgive you for finding it boring.

=> But that’s not what we’re talking about today either. That was not Harry’s hope as a Christian.

Harry’s hope—Harry’s confidence—was to be with the Lord. And that matters because that phrase, “with the Lord,” means something so profound, it’s difficult to describe with human language. But I’m going to try this afternoon for a few minutes. And I’m going to try by explaining to you this: It matters that Harry is with the Lord because it means he is seeing the Lord’s beauty.

The Quest for Beauty

One of the most noble things a human being can do is seek beauty. We’re wired to love beauty. Have you ever gone out at night, far from the city, up on a mountain peak or out in a field or on a beach, and just looked up? The sky is filled with stars and galaxies, and the beauty of it is almost too much to take in.

And there’s a thousand other places to find beauty as well: in the hands of a father, calloused and scarred with the work he does to feed his family; the shimmering wings of a dragonfly; the dangerous, white-capped waves of a rolling sea; the plot-twists of a story well-told… and we could go on and on.

But I trust you’ve experienced this: a moment when you saw something so beautiful that it spoke to your soul and made you stop, just so that you could soak it in.

And in that moment, your soul knows that beauty is not an accident. Beauty is not random or meaningless. No: beauty has a source, and that source is called, “God.” Psalm 19 says:

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens [meaning the sky] declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Do you see that? The beauty and the glory of the natural world is derived from the beauty of God himself.

As the Apostle Paul wrote: “From God and through God and to God are all things.” In other words, when you see beauty anywhere in all creation, you’re seeing a shadow of the fathomless beauty of God.

And that means that beauty matters. Our souls are wired to desire beauty, to enjoy the beauty we see around us, and to be pointed by that beauty to the infinite beauty it comes from: the beauty of God himself. And it is only the beauty of God himself which is able to satisfy our souls.

Now, why does that matter? And what does that have to do with Harry, and the fact that he is with the Lord? Again, it matters that Harry is with the Lord because it means that his soul is now being satisfied with the one thing that can satisfy the human soul: the beauty of God. It matters that Harry is with the Lord because it means that he is seeing the Lord’s beauty.

David’s Quest for Beauty

The ancient king—King David of Israel—described it this way. He said:

Psalm 27:4 ESV

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord...

King David wanted what? More than anything—as he said, the “one thing” he wanted—was this: to gaze upon the Lord’s beauty. He wanted to live his life seeing God’s beauty.

He wanted to see all the fathomless perfections of God. All the infinite goodness, the endless and self-sufficient life, the absolute power, the boundless mercy… the beauty of God.

And in King David’s day, the Tabernacle—the House of the Lord, as he called it—was the place where God’s people could go to meet with him.

But the Tabernacle—and after it, the temple in Jerusalem—were just shadows of a greater reality: that the Lord would some day dwell fully with his people, and that we would then be able to gaze upon his beauty with uninterrupted joy forever.

And as Harry is now with the Lord, gazing upon his beauty, he awaits the final day—the day when the Lord will make all things new, and we will all together gaze upon his beauty forever.

Preserved Through Death to See the Lord

But there is a problem in all of this—a monkey wrench—a wall which blocks us off from God’s beauty: our sin.

To begin with, our sinful hearts love our own destructive pleasures more than God’s beauty: whether those pleasures be drug addictions or pride or some other self-centered way of living, we turn away from God to them, and we refuse to let go of them. And so we are excluded from seeing the beauty of God.

And on top of that, those things—those sins—incur guilt with God. One of God’s beauties is his justice, which is perfect. And for sinners like us, that means that no sin gets swept under the rug. And in the beauty of God’s justice, he punishes our sin as it deserves.

And so you could sum up our problem like this: our corrupted hearts love twisted pleasures more than God’s beauty, and our guilty hearts are destined for God’s everlasting judgement. And both those things exclude us from seeing God’s beauty.

But God, in the most stunning display of his beauty ever given, provided a solution to our problem:

God the Father sent the Son to take the guilt of our sin on himself, that he might be condemned for it in our place, and so might turn and declare us innocent and restore us to the presence of God.

And when the Son brings his people back to God, he also restores our hearts—he opens our eyes, you could say—to finally desire what David desired, and what our souls need: to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

And the upshot for Harry is this: Because Harry belonged to Jesus, the guilt of his sin was removed and done away with. He was rescued from condemnation and brought back to God. And so, in this life, he was able to perceive the beauty of God from afar, by faith. But now, as he is with the Lord, he is seeing a far greater vision of the Divine Beauty, which vastly overflows the human heart with a joy unspeakable and full of glory.

It matters that Harry is with the Lord because it means he is seeing the Lord’s beauty.

Conclusion

And if you are someone who has turned from your sin and trusted in the Son of God for forgiveness, this is your destiny also. And if you are not, the weight of this truth would urge you to turn from your sin, trust in the forgiving mercies of Jesus, and set your hope on the glory of God’s beauty, to which all his people are destined forever.

[Prayer]

Song: A Mighty Fortress

Closing Prayer & Benediction

Friends, on behalf of Harry’s family and congregation, thank you so much for coming and helping us remember Harry. Before I pray and give the benediction, I’d like to warmly encourage you to stick around and enjoy lunch in Harry’s honor—a chance to eat, share memories, and have fellowship. But to do this, we’re going to need to transition the sanctuary into a dining space with tables and chairs. So to help us out, I have two requests:

All able bodied guys to help us move the tables and chairs and set them up…

Everyone else,

you can hang out in the sanctuary in here or the foyer…

just give us some room as we set up the tables and chairs…

we’ll announce shortly that the food is ready and it’s time to dig in…

[Prayer]

Benediction:

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.