Funeral for Dad

It is my profound honor to stand before you today and speak to you from God’s word on behalf of my dad. My task today is very simple. I want to share with you from God’s word the unfailing hope that my dad had in his life until the very end. We could stand up here for days and share all the wonderful memories that he left with us but our time is short. Instead, let me honor him most by sharing with you how he lived his adult life and how he was able to fight the fight of faith until the end.

Let me begin by telling you that my dad didn’t always believe in the Lord Jesus as you might have known him. He grew up religious but very far from a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, he was like so many people in this world who have participation in a religious culture in their family or in their community but do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. In other words, many know of Jesus or may randomly plead with Jesus but they are not his followers or his true disciples.

For a long time, my dad thought that by going to church on Sundays and participating in religious rituals that this was the way a person gets to heaven. I know he would want me to tell you HE WAS WRONG. But one glorious day, as my dad tells it, he went by invitation to a baptist church with friends. Back in the day, gospel singers would travel around and sing at churches. Dad was invited to go and after the singing, he heard the preacher stand up and share the good news of Jesus Christ. For the first time, my dad pondered what it meant to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Let me share with you now from God’s word the good news of what my dad heard as a young man. This is the hope that true Christians find their hope and comfort in days of joys and in days of trouble and sorrow.

Let me read from Matthew 27:46-54

Matthew 27:45–54 NASB95

45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 47 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Let me point out a couple truths from this passage that hammer home all that Jesus Christ did upon the cross.

Darkness- From 12pm (the sixth hour according to Jews) to the ninth hour( 3pm) when the sun is at its brightest in the day, the sun was covered. We must understand that THIS supernatural event that occured as Jesus was being crucified was not a normal cosmic event. The darkness had significant meaning as the crucifixion of the Son of God was occuring on the earth. Darkness on the earth always represents judgment in the bible. In the Old testament and the New, the great day of judgment of God will include the sun being blotted out and darkness fills the land. It is the earth responding to God’s judgment. But on the day that Jesus died, the darkness was not the judgment of all men for their sins, it was the judgment of one man, the sinless Son of God in order that the debt of sin could be paid for.

Isaiah 53:5–6 “5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

This is why Jesus cried out in v 46, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.” Jesus was facing the wrath and anger of God against sin when he was on the cross in order that sinners could be forgiven and freed from that bondage.

This is significant in my dad’s life and in the life of every Christian because so much of our lives are about working hard, doing our best, putting in our best effort. You and I knew my dad as one of the hardest workers we know. Dad could never work hard enough to earn salvation from sin…to earn grace from God. Grace is an unconditional gift that the Father provides through the Son for all who believe in Him.

My dad understood that the amount of sin in his life could NEVER BE PAID for by religious activity that he participated in. His religious activity was never good enough to earn forgiveness from sin. Only Jesus provided the necessary sacrifice when he gave his life on the cross.

2. “It is finished”- In John’s account of the crucifixion, he includes Jesus’ final words “It is finished.” There cannot be more clearer words ever to be uttered about the work of Jesus Christ on this earth than these words. He already told his disciples that He would complete all the work that the Father gave him to complete. But it was there as He hung on the cross that his work was completed when He died. Suffering with the agony and pain of crucifixion was not the payment that sin needed. Sin requires death!

Romans 6:23 “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Son of God gave up his life and died so that all that sin debt was paid in full. “It is finished” doesnt just mean that Jesus did a good job. It means that nothing else needs to be paid, nothing else needs to be done for forgiveness to be received. Dad grew up in a religious upbringing that taught the opposite. But when he heard the gospel that JESUS PAID IT ALL, he finally understood the sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover all our sins, all our mistakes, all our rebellions against God. It is finished meant to dad what it means to all of us. You and I cannot fix ourselves up in order to come to Jesus. When you got ready today, you probably took shower, fixed your hair, ironed your clothes. You prepared yourself. This doesn’t translate. With Jesus, come as you are stained and corrupted by sin and Jesus makes you clean. He doesn’t partially clean you so you can do the rest. When you believe in Him you are fully cleansed by his sacrifice on the cross.

3. “The Veil was torn in two”- The Jews worshipped in a Temple in Jerusalem. In that temple, there were sections where the common Jew worshipped and there were others that were off limits to the ever day Jew. In the focal point of the temple, was the area where presence of God would dwell. This was called the Holy of Holies and no common Jew could enter this area. It was off limits for a reason because the holiness of God requires a separation between God and man’s sin. God instructed the temple be built with a veil or curtain that separated this place from men to serve as a reminder of the nature of God’s purity and holiness and the stain of man’s sinfulness.

But on the day Jesus was crucified, when he breathed his last breath and the work of redemption was complete….God ripped that curtain from top to bottom right down the middle. That act means everything to the Christian. It means that because of Jesus…we can have access to God. When our sins seem overwhelming to us…we have access to God. When we lose our jobs and we do not know how we are going to provide for our needs…we have access to God. When a love one dies and our hearts are full of grief, we have access to God. Through his death, Jesus provided a way for sinners to have access to God.

Hebrews 4:14–16 “14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

I know my dad hoped in this promise when he got this diagnosis for three terminal diseases. What else can you do to endure such a trial in that moment but to go to God? How can we go into the presence of a holy God and cry out in our time of need and despair? We enter into his presence because Jesus made a way for us.

My dad understood the work of Jesus Christ was a finished and completed work so that he could be free from sin’s debt and he could live with confidence that no matter what difficulty and suffering comes his way, freedom and peace is found in Jesus Christ. Dad, heard this message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone and he repented of his sins and trusted in Jesus. He would want you to do the same. We found a prayer list my dad kept, it was front to back on sheet of paper, with people’s names and needs. Many of those name were him praying for their salvation in Jesus Christ.

If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, let me invite you today, to trust in Him today. As we reflect on my dad’s life lived fully as a follower of Jesus, we find hope in the words of the Apostle Paul

2 Timothy 4:7-8“7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”