Funeral Message: Carl Woodrow (Woody) Hines

I learned he loved people well, whether is was his kids and grand kids (whom he treasured) or the person he welcomed in his house for a home cooked meal (I heard he was quite the cook.)

I learned there will be a lot to miss about Woody and though memories are sweet the reality is that Woody is gone and that hurts.

And as we face death today, there are somethings we can learn about death in God’s Word.

There is a reason Death Hurts

Romans 8:20–23 NLT

20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

Romans 8:20–21 ESV

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Romans 8:20 NLT

20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,

If you look back at the creation story in and 2 you won’t find a mention of death other than God’s warning to Adam that if he was to eat of the tree of knowledge (the only tree God forbade him to eat from) he would surely die.

The reason death hurts is that it was not a part of God’s plan for creation.

God designed us for life, not death.

In we learn that death is a result of sin.

It is a result of Adam and Eve disobeying God and choosing their own way.

There is a deep-seeded feeling inside every person in this room, everyone on this earth, that death is somehow wrong, an indication that something is broken.

Romans 8:21–23 NLT

21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

Romans 8:21–23 NLT

Actually Adam and Eve’s sin was rebelling against God.

The pain you feel today is the same pain all of creation feels, the groaning of the curse.

Death highlights the pain of sin and the longing for things to be made right.

God didn’t design us to die, and that is why it hurts to experience it as we are today.

Death is inevitable

Hebrews 9:27 NIV

27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Hebrews 9:27niv ESV

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 9:27 NLT

27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,

Heb

One of the realization we often come to at funerals like this is that death is inevitable

You can eat healthy, work out everyday, and avoid any thing that may be dangerous, but one day each of us will face death.

That is a sobering reality and it begs the question: Are you ready to die?

Hebrews 9:27 NIV

27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

I think we often face death like a job interview.

We go through all the things we accomplished and good that we did.

We list all of our good qualities and admit there were some areas we could have done better.

We hope that our resume would show enough good that God would be satisfied to let us into Heaven.

But Paul paints a very different picture in

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:1–3 NIV

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1–4 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Ephe 2 8

According to Paul

According to Paul your good deeds, good qualities, and accomplishments in life are not the thing that saves you and prepares you for death.

Rather, it is by grace and through faith that you are saved.

The grace of God shown to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

And the faith that we express as we trust in Jesus as savior and Lord.

It that you today?

Romans 10:13 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Does your faith rest in your own ability to earn favor with God

Or is your faith in the Jesus, the one who lived the perfect life you could never lived and died the death that you deserve?

Funerals remind us that Death is inevitable. Are you ready to die?

You have permission to Mourn

Psalm 34:18 NIV

18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:

There is a suddenness to death that is nearly impossible to prepare for.

Death and all that comes with it has been defeated in Jesus.

Regardless of how slowly or quickly someone dies, the realness and finality of it always seems to come on suddenly.

is a beautiful promise for those who have received Jesus as savior and Lord.

There is also a hastiness to the mourning process in our culture.

Revelation 21:1–4 NIV

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:1–14 ExpGT5 Grk

1 Καὶ εἶδον οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν· ὁ γὰρ πρῶτος οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ πρώτη γῆ ἀπῆλθαν, καὶ ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι. 2 καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινὴν εἶδον καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡτοιμασμένην ὡς νύμφην κεκοσμημένην τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς. 3 καὶ ἤκουσα φωνῆς μεγάλης ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου λεγούσης, “Ἰδοὺ ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ σκηνώσει μετʼ αὐτῶν· καὶ αὐτοὶ λαοὶ αὐτοῦ ἔσονται, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς μετʼ αὐτῶν ἔσται. 4 καὶ ἐξαλείψει πᾶν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι· οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγὴ οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι· ὅτι τὰ πρῶτα ἀπῆλθον.” 5 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ, “Ἰδοὺ, καινὰ ποιῶ πάντα.” καὶ λέγει “Γράψον· ὅτι οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί εἰσι.” 6 καὶ εἶπέ μοι, “Γέγοναν. ἐγὼ τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ, ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος. ἐγὼ τῷ διψῶντι δώσω αὐτῷ ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ζωῆς δωρεάν. 7 ὁ νικῶν κληρονομήσει ταῦτα, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ θεὸς, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι υἱός. 8 τοῖς δὲ δειλοῖς καὶ ἀπίστοις καὶ ἐβδελυγμένοις καὶ φονεῦσι καὶ πόρνοις καὶ φαρμακοῖς καὶ εἰδωλολάτραις καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ψευδέσι, τὸ μέρος αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ λίμνῃ τῇ καιομένῃ πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ, ὅ ἐστιν ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος. 9 καὶ ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς ἑπτὰ φιάλας, τῶν γεμόντων τῶν ἑπτὰ πληγῶν τῶν ἐσχάτων, καὶ ἐλάλησε μετʼ ἐμοῦ λέγων “Δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὴν νύμφην τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀρνίου.” 10 καὶ ἀπήνεγκέ με ἐν πνεύματι ἐπʼ ὄρος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, καὶ ἔδειξε μοι τὴν πόλιν, τὴν ἁγίαν Ἰερουσαλὴμ, καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, 11 ἔχουσαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ· ὁ φωστὴρ αὐτῆς ὅμοιος λίθῳ τιμιωτάτῳ, ὡς λίθῳ ἰάσπιδι κρυσταλλίζοντι· 12 ἔχουσα τεῖχος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, ἔχουσα πυλῶνας δώδεκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν ἀγγέλους δώδεκα, καὶ ὀνόματα ἐπιγεγραμμένα ἅ ἐστι τῶν δώδεκα φυλῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. 13 ἀπʼ ἀνατολῆς, πυλῶνες τρεῖς· καὶ ἀπὸ βορρᾶ, πυλῶνες τρεῖς· καὶ ἀπὸ νότου, πυλῶνες τρεῖς· καὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν, πυλῶνες τρεῖς. 14 καὶ τὸ τεῖχος τῆς πόλεως ἔχων θεμελίους δώδεκα, καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν δώδεκα ὀνόματα τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῦ ἀρνίου.

Hours after someone dies we begin planning services, choosing plots, and closing out accounts.

The groaning and pain we feel at the loss of a loved one is the longing we have for this day, when all things are made right in Jesus.

Once the funeral is over and the grave is covered, there is a bit of an unspoken expectation that life should go back to normal.

You have permission to mourn as you remember Woody’s life and grieve that you now only have those memories.

But for many here today life isn’t going back to normal. Woody is gone and that absence will be felt for years and years to come.

But know this truth, Jesus has overcome death, He has won the victory.

The reality is DEATH HURTS

So may the pain you feel today lead you to seek peace and rest in the promises of Christ and the hope found only in Him.

That is why is such a wonderful promise.

That

No one intentionally forgets that you have lost a loved one, but for them the hole you feel is just not there.

In the coming days, weeks, and months, as those around you go back to normal life, find rest in knowing that God is “close the the brokenhearted.”

As others go back to work,

Don’t loose hope

Pictures to

Know that you have permission to mourn and a God in Heaven who hears your cries.

And so we feel

Graveside

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 NIV

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

As we lay Woody to rest today hold on to the memories you have of him.

These are wise words to remember in the coming weeks.

Tell stories, look through pictures, and remind yourselves of the person Woody was to you.

Romans 8:20–23 NLT

The time has come to say goodbye and with this time comes a time for mourning as you get used to life without Woody.

But also give yourself permission to grieve.

And as you do, remember the promise of our Lord in

Psalm 34:18 NIV

18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Prayer

We commit Woody to you oh Lord.

We pray your peace would rest in the hearts of Woody’s family and friends here today.