Funeral - Zeke Suarez

Matt Prine

Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

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Transcript

Prelude

Quiet, reflective music as guests arrive

Family will choose music to fill this portion

Cory Asbury

Anne Wilson

Mercy Me

Welcome

Greet the guests, thank them for coming and supporting the family.

We are here to remember and celebrate the life of Ezekiel Suarez, who passed away on June 7th.

Please be in prayer for the Suarez and Bertrand family as they mourn the loss of a son, a brother, and an uncle.

For those that do not know me, I am friends with Desiree and Joe.

We all attended college together at A&M Galveston and years later they ended up as members of the church where I was pastoring in Richmond, TX.

The Bertrand family is dear to me and so when I got the call from Desiree that Zeke had passed, my heart broke for her.

I lost my own brother in 2013 very suddenly and much too young.

I was honored to be asked, and of course wanted to do everything I could to be here for the whole family.

Mr. and Mrs. Suarez, I am so terribly sorry for your loss.

There are no words that I can say that will assuage the pain you feel right now so I will not attempt to do that.

This is not the natural order of things…

Your children are supposed to bury you one day, not the other way around.

Desiree - I am so terribly sorry that you are walking this path.

The only thing that I can say to you right now is that I am sorry; I am praying; and Jesus is still on the throne.

Opening Prayer

Father, we are asking for your peace this afternoon as we celebrate the life of Zeke. Lord, we don’t know why things like this happen other than the fact that this is a fallen and broken world. Because of sin, we have all been touched by death - and it hurts when that moment comes. The emotions that come with this can be powerful and ebb between deep sorrow and anger… between denial and acceptance.

Lord, I pray today that you would bring the supernatural peace of Christ to this family as they grieve… as they cry… as they wrestle with all the “what if’s” and the “if only’s.”

Father, set our hearts and minds on you, and help us to find you in the fog of loss.

We ask in Jesus’ name.

Reading of the Obituary

Read by Joe Bertrand

Eulogies / Reflections

Allow ample time for people to share their stories of Zeke.

Prayer

Read by Desiree

Sermon

The pain of losing someone so suddenly is brutal - and no one can prepare you for that.

The flood of emotions comes fast and hard, and I will tell you this…

There is hope in the middle of your grief.

His name is Jesus

Over the past several days, I have been talking with Desiree to learn a bit about Zeke.

I never got the chance to know him - but after talking to Dez, I think that Zeke and I would have some shared interests that we could have enjoyed talking about during a back yard BBQ - like our love of heavy metal music, some of which is reflected in the music choices today.

He was also a huge movie buff and some of his favorites were from the Marvel cinematic universe.

So much so, that he got a tattoo of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy tattooed on his calf.

Perhaps he identified with Groot in some respect…

If you have seen the movies, Groots only line is “I am Groot” which can mean a variety of things depending on the context.

Zeke was a man of few words, but when he had something to say, there was purpose behind it.

Dez told me that often he would spit out something witty or profound that would really make you think.

Zeke cared for other people.

I laughed as Desiree told me about how Zeke would often, at family gatherings where there was food, make a plate to take to someone.

He looked for opportunities to spread the culinary wealth with others in his life.

Zeke died young… “before his time” as we might say.

But, what we have to remember is that none of us is guaranteed another day on this earth.

So, while we are here, we cherish the gift of life - both our own, and the lives of those around us.

But when the pain of death washes onto our shores and assaults our lives, we look to Jesus for guidance to help us process that loss.

We look to Jesus who is our ultimate source of peace in the middle of the chaos.

We look to Jesus who catches every one of our tears and who weeps alongside us in our time of grief.

What compounds our grief are the unknowns that we face.

From what caused Zeke’s death to what his final hours were like, but also what is happening for Zeke right now.

Desiree told me that Zeke didn’t pursue faith in Christ - at least publicly.

But she also told me that Mrs. Suarez had spent ample time trying to guide Zeke to Jesus and that he had shown some signs of warming to the Lord.

The Thief on the Cross

In light of this, I want to seek solace in the story of a man whose “death bed” confessional was recorded in the book of Luke.

In the 23rd chapter, we find the story of Jesus’ crucifixion.

He is forced to carry his cross up to the top of the Place of the Skull - Golgotha - where He would be very publicly executed like a common criminal.

But he wasn’t the only one on that hill to be killed that day.

There were two other men - thieves - who were to be crucified as well.

It’s not written in Luke, but in the book of Mark, we are told that these two men reviled Jesus.

As they are hanging on their own crosses, they were cursing Jesus.

But then something happened - something miraculous.

In the last few moments of one of these thieves’ lives, a change occurred.

In Luke 23:42 - we find quite a different tone from one of these men…

Luke 23:42–43 “42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

We are not told how old this man was, but we are told that he was a thief - a criminal.

He had devoted perhaps the entirety of his adult life to crime and ripping people off.

His crimes were so great that they had reserved the most heinous of punishments for him.

Yet, here we find a man praying a simple prayer…

Jesus remember me.

Don’t forget me!

This man, facing the certainty of his death, cried out to Jesus to save him.

What a simple glimmer of faith in the One who could do something about his situation.

Somehow, he had gone from a life of godless pursuit to pursuit of the God who created his life.

Even in a matter of moments, going from reviling Christ to asking Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom.

I think for many of us, our sense of justice might kick in - this guy has done NOTHING worthy of being given anything, much less the gift of eternal life with God.

He had done NOTHING deserving salvation

He had not been faithful to the Lord and His life added no value to those around him.

He was not a regular church attender

He had not been baptized

He probably could not quote the Bible

He didn’t give any of his money to the church or the poor.

He didn’t spend any of his life honoring or glorifying Jesus…

He did just the opposite - he made other people’s lives worse.

You might think that Jesus would look at a man like that and tell him to take a hike.

That is what makes this perhaps the most miraculous thing about this story…

That’s NOT what Jesus said to him.

In fact, quite the opposite.

In v. 43, we read these shocking words:

Luke 23:43 “43 And he [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

Today - YOU (the thief) will be with me in paradise.

Jesus had seen this man’s repentance and met his infantile faith with something that all of us want - and that is Mercy and Grace.

This man was rightfully hanging on his cross…

He deserved punishment

He deserved wrath

In response to this newly contrite heart, Jesus extended mercy

He would not be given the punishment that he deserved - which is to be separated from Jesus in hell.

In response to this glimmer of faith, Jesus extended grace

He would give this man what he did not deserve - an eternal home in paradise - heaven.

We already talked about the fact that Zeke didn’t have a life marked by a deep and abiding trust in Jesus.

And so for some of us, there may be a pit in our stomach wondering what has become of him.

Here is what I will tell you - in light of the unknown.

We cannot know how Zeke dealt with the living God in the last few moments of his life.

Perhaps he cried out to the Lord in those final moments.

Perhaps the Lord had been stirring something in his soul in the weeks and months leading up to his death.

We simply don’t know, so we dare not pass final judgement on his soul.

But, I pray that you place your faith in a God who is perfectly holy, perfectly just, and perfectly merciful.

You can rest knowing that the judge of all the earth always gets it right - and Zeke knows that more fully and more clearly than any of us right now.

Comfort for the living

For you, Zeke’s family and friends, set your eyes on Jesus as you mourn the loss of your son… of your brother… of your uncle… of your friend…

There is a day coming when we will followers of Jesus will no longer be plagued by death and loss.

Revelation 21:3–4 shows us a picture of our future if we are in Christ:

“…“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

The tears that you cry today are going to be wiped away by our heavenly Father

The death that so brutally assaults us in this life will be no more

Our mourning will be a thing of the past

Our crying will cease

And our pain will be gone.

In Christ - all of these things are burned away and we are left with Jesus in paradise to worship Him in heaven for the rest of eternity.

If you do not yet follow Jesus as Lord, I ask that you do so today, so that your future can be set in Revelation 21 as well…

Repent of your sins, confess Jesus as Lord over your life, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.

Then pursue Christ with a community of believers who will walk with you when life gets hard, who will encourage you when doubts prevail, and who will be there for you in times of need.

Zeke, I pray that your soul has found rest brother…

And for today “we are Groot”

Close sermon in prayer

Congregational Worship Songs

One of the best responses that we can have to grief in our lives is to worship God.

When King David’s infant son died, David stood up and worshipped God - because He was the only one who could bring comfort to David in the middle of his loss.

So, we are going to respond to spend a few moments singing praise to Jesus this afternoon - asking Him to comfort us in the middle of our loss.

I invite you to stand and sing with us, following along to the lyrics on the screen.

Brandon Lake - Gratitude

Matt Maher - Lord I need you