Albert Fuller - Memorial
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We are not here to celebrate, though we can affirm that Albert lived a life of substance and worth. We are not here to mourn, though our hearts are sick and our minds are full with all that could have been if Al had continued on with life. We enjoyed Al, and we will miss him. We can tell those stories and dream those dreams, but that is not the primary reason we are here.
The reason we have gathered is to plant our faith firmly on the word of God and remind our hearts of God’s promises. So, let’s take a short journey through Scripture.
In Romans 14:8 Paul told the church that he was pretty sure his life would be spared because he had a work to do for God, but then he said this:
…whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
This fundamental truth is the bedrock of our existence. Al belonged to God.
He lived a life that every human must lived, but he did so with the grace of God. And so, like Paul, Al could say,
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth 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.
Paul’s confidence that there was something waiting for him was based on Jesus’ own words. When a friend of Jesus’ had died and everyone was weeping around him, Jesus told them,
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus promise wasn’t that we would never experience the first death of sleep that all humanity must face at some point. His point was that we would be awaken from that sleep to live with Him eternally.
In John 14 he explains what he meant:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 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? 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.
Knowing these promises Pauls tells us believers that our mourning should not be like those who don’t have the hope of the resurrection. He explained to the Theselonnian church that when we who lived in Christ die, that won’t be the end. Because when Jesus comes again, he’s going to raise them up:
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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Together. That’s an important idea for the Christian. Together with those we love. Together with Al.
Today we have tears, and we suffer with loss. But Jesus says, no promises, that there will be a day when our tears will be done:
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.”
In the time between when our loved ones fall asleep and when they are raised back to life, we lean on a different togetherness: together with Jesus.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
God is with us, and in times like this He must be our dependence. Though our friends are a shoulder to lean on and presence to share our grief, our healing depends on God.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
The reason we are here is to seek comfort from the Holy Spirit. When we affirm His promises and lean into His faithful hands, there we find comfort and there we find healing.
None of us can know the heart of Al. Even those who lived with him and knew him best only saw bits and pieces of the Al that God knows so intimately. But we do know God. He promises that His hand is not shortened that it cannot save. His love is not self-seeking or impatient. And so, we trust Al to the hands of His creator, Redeemer, and friend.
We do not say, goodbye. We say, we’ll meet you at the resurrection, and join you at the feet of Jesus.
