Sermon Tone Analysis
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Scripture Reading
Intro
Opening: We have come here today to celebrate the home-going of Janeen Cook.
Janeen was born in Norfolk, VA, and she passed from this life on Tuesday, April 30.
We are here to remember her life and her legacy.
In this moment we are joyful because we know, based on Janeen’s confession of Faith, that she in a better place.
She is in the arms of Jesus.
No longer is she suffering from Cancer or diabetes or any other disease.
She is now whole.
For this, we are thankful, and joyful.
But we are also sad today.
We are sad because we will miss Janeen.
We are sad because we wanted more time with her.
In moments like this we are reminded that all is not right with the world.
We are reminded that we live in a fallen, sinful world where we are all susceptible to disease, age and eventually death.
In moments like these we often have questions.
Questions such as why?
There is much about this that we do not understand.
Some time ago, I was thinking about these types of questions and I was reminded of my grandmother.
She was a saint.
When I was a child I would go to her house and spend the night from time to time.
I remember coming by her room and seeing her praying early in the morning and late at night.
As she prayed she would often weep.
I got a picture in my mind from then on that people who are really praying often cry.
But I also wonder - The Bible tells us that Jesus is praying for us right now.
Could it be that he cries as well?
I don’t know theological how all that plays out, but I do know scripture tells us that he is moved and touched by our troubles and our pain.
I think he sees us here at this moment, with all of our questions, and our sadness and I think he empathizes with us.
He feels what we are facing.
This is the beauty of our faith - that we serve a God who feels our pain and our loss.
This afternoon we might not have all the answers - But we have a God who is present with us giving us comfort and peace.
Illustration: I remember a few years ago Janeen called me and wanted to come by the church and just talk.
I remember being a bit nervous because I didn’t know if I would have any answers for her.
It ended up that she came by and just talked and talked.
I think I said about 4 words.
I felt bad at first because I didn’t think I had helped her much, but then I realized that she didn’t need my answers she just needed my presence.
Today, more than answers, we have the presence of Jesus.
Another question we often ask ourselves at moments such as this is - What makes a good life?
This is the core of what I want to talk about this afternoon.
Many people spend their life in search of meaning
Many look for meaning in money and things - Only to come up empty
Transition to the Text: In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, who is considered to be the wisest man who ever live, lays out an experiment for us.
He wants to figure out what Makes a good life.
What makes life worth living?
Many look for meaning in pleasure and fun - Only to come up empty
He tries wealth and asks if money makes a meaningful life
Many look for meaning in hard work and education - Only to come up empty
He tries romance and sex and asks if that makes a meaningful life
He tries to eduction and wisdom and asks if that makes a meaningful life
We look for meaning in all sorts of places, but many of us still feel as we’ve come up empty.
He tries hard work and asks if that makes a meaningful life
The words of Ecclesiastes ring true - “Meaningless, everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
He tries pleasure and indulgence and asks if that makes a meaningful life.
After searching in all of these places, he keeps coming up short.
Something still alludes him.
He says it’s all “meaningless, like a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13
He keeps asking and searching for - What makes life meaningful?
Transition to points: A few days ago, probably the last day that Janeen was up and coherent, my wife and I went to see her. Mike had commented to me that they had been married for 39 years.
So my wife and I mentioned how incredible that was.
We joked about how she was a 39yr survivor.
Then, always, the teacher, Janeen said, “You know what makes a good relationship?”
And as she listed off her list, I was struck by her wisdom.
The list she gave, I don’t think it was simply the key to a good relationship, I think she gave advice for a meaningful life.
I think these were principles that Janeen lived by.
So today, I want to briefly give you some advice from Janeen about what makes a meaningful life.
For a moment, lets all move into Janeen’s classroom one last time and hear the lesson that I believe she wants to teach us.
You see Janeen knew a secret.
The secret was that life is about relationships or what I would call connections.
When you get the relationships or the connections right, you have a meaningful and whole life.
Points
A meaningful life is one that is connected to God
Prayer is the means by which we connect with God.
The Christian life starts and is sustained by prayer.
The book of Psalms that we often turn to in moments like this, is really a book of worship and prayer.
Jesus modeled this and taught this.
In we see that
Jesus taught
Prayer is really an exercise in trust.
It’s admitting that we don’t have all the answers.
That we don’t have it all together.
That we need strength.
Psalm
David says in Psalm 34
If Jesus needed to spend time in prayer to connect with his father, how much more should we be people of prayer?
This was the first piece of advice Janeen gave - Pray.
This was the foundation for Janeen and it should be the foundation for us.
Prayer is our connection with God.
Our relationship with God is to be the foundation of everything else in our lives.
We find meaning when we are connected to our creator
You cannot be connected or be in right relationship with someone that you never really talk with or communicate with.
Solomon puts it this way -
Illustration: Those of you who are married in the room know that your marriage lives and dies on good communication.
When someone shuts up and shuts down, things don’t go well.
Likewise, if we want a relationship or a connection with God, we must talk to him and he must talk to us - we call this prayer.
Solomon gets to the end and he gives us a clue into what really matters - How we relate to God.
Janeen knew how to connect with God through prayer.
Janeen prayed.
She prayed often.
She prayed hard.
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