Funeral—James Campbell

Grace and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We gather today in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection,

To give thanks to God for the life of James Campbell,

To receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit and to proclaim the 

Good news  of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

In his baptism James put on Christ; in the day of Christ’s coming He shall be clothed with glory.

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Those who believe in me shall live,

Even though they die, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

I died and behold I am alive for evermore; and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Because I live, you will live also.

CALL TO WORSHIP

One Voice:   If we live, we live unto the Lord. If we die, we die unto  the Lord. Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. In life and in death, we belong to God!

All Voices:   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so we can comfort others in their sorrow, with the consolation we have received from God.

One Voice:    Fear not, says the Lord, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.  

All Voices:   We are certain that neither death, nor life, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the  love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Bow with me to pray:

Eternal God, we bless you for the great company of all those who have kept the faith, finished their race, and who now rest from their labor. We praise you for those dear to us whom we name in our hearts before you now…..We especially thank you for Jim, whom you have now received into your presence. Help us to believe where we have not seen, trusting you to lead us through our years. Bring us at last with all your saints into the joy of your home, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

*CALL TO CONFESSION (ONE VOICE)

     Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though that one dies, yet that one will live; and whosoever  lives and believes in me, will never die. Come to me, all you who  labor and carry heavy burdens. I will give you rest, says the Lord. 

 Together, let us ask God to cleanse our hearts, to redeem our memories, and to renew our confidence in the goodness of God. Together, let us pray.  

*UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION

     Gracious God, guardian of our lives: we confess our sin, our unworthiness in the presence of your holiness. We have not loved as we ought to love, nor have we lived as you command. Our years are soon gone. Father in heaven, have mercy on us. Forgive our sin; raise us to new life, so that as long as we live we may serve you well, until dying, we enter the joy of your presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for forgiving us, redeeming us, and calling us by name to be your children. And As we get ready Lord to read your word, calm the troubled waters of our hearts,

And still all other voices but your own, that we may hear and obey what you tell us in your Word, through the power of your Spirit.

Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[d] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens

Reflection of James’s Life—By Son John Campbell and Nephew Michael Miller

IS there anyone else who would like to share something about James Campbell?

John 3:16

16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I John 4:7-12

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Sermon/message

My name is Pastor Ben Claypool. I have done several funerals now and This may be the hardest one I have ever done.

James Campbell was like a father to me growing up. He was my second dad, as John and I used to call each other's parents. As I thought back on all the memories I have of him, one word kept coming to mind: love.

Mr. Campbell knew how to love. He loved everyone who was in his circle, and he welcomed everyone into that circle. I felt so welcomed that when I was studying in Scotland, I bought the Campbell family clan tartan as a souvenir kilt. I have always felt like I was part of the Campbell clan because of him.

A few years ago, on a whim, I emailed him to thank him for everything he had done for me while I was growing up. I told him that I am who I am today, in many ways, because of him. I wanted him to know that, and I am so thankful I sent that email when I did. I shared a little about my life, and he replied, "I know. I've been watching you on Facebook."

There are so many treasured memories. My first Penguins game with him stands out. He asked what I wanted, and jokingly I rattled off a long list of food. He bought every single thing on the list. I remember sitting there before the game with a lap full of food and a drink so large that I could barely stand up for the national anthem.

Then there were so many more memories: Penguins games, Steelers games, Pirates games, the MLB All-Star Game, a World Cup match in Detroit, playing pinball at two in the morning at some bowling alley, and trips to Cook Forest with pizza at the Forest Nook.

In every one of those memories was love.

Jim loved his wife. He loved his children and their spouses. He loved his grandchildren. And he loved anyone who came along with them. Not many people in this world truly love the way he did.

Today is about Jim. It's still hard for me to call him "Jim," even now that I'm fifty years old.

But today is also about Jesus.

I don't believe Jim could have loved the way he did if he had not first known the love of God. The passages we read earlier immediately came to mind when I heard of his passing. We cannot truly love unless we have first experienced God's love. And God's love has been shown to us perfectly through Jesus Christ.

So today is about Jim and Jesus—two J's.

In 2 Corinthians we are told not to lose heart. Jesus says something remarkably similar in John 14:1: "Let not your hearts be troubled."

Those words are for us today, especially in this season of grief. Let not your hearts be troubled.

Paul goes on to tell us that though our outer selves are wasting away, our inner selves are being renewed day by day, and that what awaits us is infinitely greater than anything we experience here.

Jim's body had grown weak. It had wasted away. But today he is with the Lord, experiencing a glory beyond anything we can imagine.

C. S. Lewis once wrote that we have never met a mere mortal. Every person we have ever known has an eternal destiny so magnificent that, if we were to see them in their glorified state today, we would be tempted to bow down in awe.

If we could see Jim as he is now, we would be overwhelmed by the glory God has given him. Not because Jim deserves worship, but because Jesus has completed the work He began in him. The beauty we would see would not be Jim's own—it would be the beauty of Christ shining through him.

Jim is more alive today than he has ever been. He is more whole than he has ever been. He is more glorious than he has ever been.

And that is only true because of Jesus.

So we do not let our hearts be troubled because we know where Jim is. He is in the presence of Almighty God. We do not lose heart because Jesus has gone before us, conquered death, and promises never to leave us.

That is exactly what Psalm 23 reminds us. The Good Shepherd never abandons His sheep.

But all of this is true only because of Jesus.

Outside of Jesus, our hearts will remain troubled. In John 14, after telling His disciples not to let their hearts be troubled, Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for them. Then He made it clear that the way to that place is through Him—and only through Him.

That is where our hope comes from. Our hope is not found in memories, good deeds, or even in the remarkable love Jim showed. Our hope is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Because we belong to Jesus, we have the promise that one day we will all be reunited in the resurrection.

I like to imagine Jim, now in the place Jesus prepared for him, sitting around telling terrible dad jokes with the greatest Father of all—the heavenly Father—and maybe even playing a little pinball with the Son.

That seems fitting.

Another image always comes to mind when I think of Jim. I think of the father in the parable of the prodigal son—the father sitting on the porch, watching the road, waiting for his child to come home, and then running to embrace them.

That parable is about God the Father and us.

Jim reflected something of that love. He embodied what it means to welcome people, to encourage them, and to make them feel like family. That kind of love ultimately comes from God.

Jim wasn't perfect. None of us are. We all need Jesus.

But he loved well.

And now he rests.

So let not your hearts be troubled.

The coming weeks, months, and years will be hard. The "firsts" will come—the first birthday, the first holiday, the first family gathering—and those are often the hardest.

It's okay to cry.

It's okay to be angry.

It's okay to laugh.

Do all of those things.

Tell the stories. Share the memories. Keep talking about Jim.

And above all, love one another.

Love like Jim loved.

Even more importantly, love the way God has loved us in Jesus Christ.

In doing so, Jim's legacy will continue to live on.

I want to leave you with lyrics from a song that will forever remind me of Jim:

Ever since I was a young boy I've played the silver ball From Soho down to Brighton I must have played 'em all But I ain't seen nothing like him In any amusement hall That deaf, dumb and blind kid

Let us pray:

O God, 

Before whom generations rise and pass away, we praise you for all your servants who, having lived this life in faith, now live eternally with you. Especially we thank you for your servant James, whose baptism is now complete in death. We praise you for the gift of his life, for all in him that was good and kind and faithful, for that grace you gave him, that kindled in him the love of your dear name, and enabled him to serve you faithfully. We thank you for the gift of giving that was in James, the love he had for everyone, especially his family. Thank you for the many years that they had to share with one another though it seems like it was too short we know that you were working through it all. We thank you now that James has now entered the joy you have prepared through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Committal:

Jesus says: Do not be afraid

I am the first and the last, and the living one. 

I was dead, and behold I am alive for forever and ever.

Because I live, you will also live.

If we live, we live to the Lord,

And if we die, we die to the Lord;

So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life,

Through our Lord Jesus Christ,  We commend to almighty God, James,

And we commit his body to the ground,

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Bow with me to pray:

Almighty God,

Father of the whole family in heaven and on earth:

Stand by those who sorrow, that, as they lean on your strength,

They may be upheld, And believe the good news of life beyond life;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,

And now, with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray. Our Father who…AMEN

You, O Lord, only are immortal, the creator and maker of all.

We are mortal, and formed of the earth, and to the earth shall we return.

This you ordained when you created us, saying,

“You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

All of us go down to the dust;

Yet even at the grave we make our song:

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with all your saints, where 

There is neither pain nor sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting. Amen.

May the peace of God,

Which passes all understanding,

Keep your hearts and minds

In the knowledge and love of God, And of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord

And the blessings of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, remain with you always. Let not your hearts be troubled, love ferociously, love courageously and above all love passionately just like James Edmund Campbell and show this world what the love of God looks like. Alleluia, Amen