Eulogy for Jonathan Kennedy

Stepping Stones

In life we have stepping stones. Some steps are easy to step up to and some are quite difficult. One of the nastiest falls in life in when you fall down a flight of stairs. Primarily because stairs are built for walking, nonetheless we misjudge them, and because of their imminent danger usually their are rails by stairs.

One of the things Sister Jennifer shared with me was her dad’s bible, it let me know that he did have a relationship with God. despite hardships and despite struggles there was a relationship. She also showed me a card, this card showed completion of ministerial training. That amidst the struggles and trials, he did find this training important enough to finish it.

And the text that showed up where the card was in the bible was , it reads

16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.

20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.

One thing we gather from this text, is through pain, suffering, problems, God is our watchman. I’m not sure if you are familiar with a watchman but typically a watchman might stand at the top of a watch tower or a lighthouse, and all though it might be dark and dreary on the ground there is a watchman that is sitting up high surrounded by light to watch you as you travel along your way.

Our family die, loved ones do not live forever, but we have a watchman with God that makes sure that despite feeling alone, despite the road getting dark and our journey getting tough God is still watching out for us. Here’s the caveat that this text teaches us, it also brings us face to face with our conduct and our life, that our obedience to God is a must.

Considering the fact that we do not live forever, God has people here on earth that give us warnings to make sure our life is in line with God before it’s too late. God sends a messenger to warn us that we will surely die, and that if we do not turn from our iniquity our soul shall be condemned.

Nonetheless in this text God also informs us that we are not in this alone, verse 20 states, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning. Letting us know that we are not in this alone, one of the things about tough times is it should be a time that family binds together to support one another. This might be a sad time today, but it could be a stepping stone to a better relationship with family that is still here.

Today might be a stepping stone to comfort, today could be a stepping stone to faith, today could be a stepping stone to healing. Most of all it should be a stepping stone to live for God the best way you can, but tomorrow is not promised and life is short!