Memorial Service for Zeke Able Lopez
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Prayer:
O Lord, God. How long O Lord will you hide your face. We pray as we lament Zeke’s passing and the brokenness of this world, we pray you would provide comfort in the midst of such grief and tragedy.
I pray specifically for Charles and Kristine, as they feel the crushing weight of grief, help them not to rely on themselves, but on you who would strengthen and comfort them with the hope of the gospel. Would you lift the grief with your promises and comfort found only in Christ.
We long for your return O Lord where you will make all things new and restore the brokenness of our hearts as we await for the resurrection and renewal of all things.
Introduction:
I believe that this is one of the hardest messages I have ever given as a pastor. I appreciate that the Bible has the language of lament where we cry out to God when it feels as if He is not there and wonder why God allow tragedies like this to happen.
It is not within our knowledge to know the mysterious ways of God. William Cowper, a hymn writer who battled depression, wrote
Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
As Christians, we believe that life begins in the womb. So although Zeke did not take his first breath outside the womb, Zeke lived a full 35 weeks within the womb. Only a mother understands this bond as the baby moves and kicks within the womb.
Zeke was a precious and beautiful baby made in the image of God. One of the things Helen told Kristine was that Zeke had Kristine’s ears. He was a precious and beautiful baby boy.
Where is Zeke?
Although Zeke did not take his first breath on this earth, I believe Zeke’s first breath was in the loving presence of our risen Savior.
I believe babies are safe in the arms of Jesus when their life on earth is taken from them.
Why do I believe this?
The Character of God
God never does what is unjust.
You will forever have Zeke not in your arms, but in your memories. Not on earth, but in heaven.
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
God is good.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1;
Zeke was a precious gift from God. God only gives good gifts and He does not change.
He is good and does not change. Jesus says to us.
And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
2. The Promises of Scripture
For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
1 Samuel
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him
Jesus loved children and rebuked his disciples. He is a defender of the helpless. And who is most helpless than precious a child made in his image.
but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
M
We do inherit a sin nature, but that sin nature does not get expressed to revelation. Therefore, an infant cannot be judged for rejecting God’s revelation.
I believe Zeke is safe in the arms of God. And to find comfort, I want to turn our attention to today where Jesus confronts death head on.
Zeke was a precious baby made in God’s image. Helen said that Zeke had Kristine’s ears. I want to turn our attention to today where Jesus confronts death head on.
Background:
Jesus meets a two sisters grieving because Jesus did not arrive in time with the passing of their brother Lazarus. But Jesus teaches them as well as us important lessons about grief and death.
Jesus cares.
Jesus is in control.
Jesus will make things right.
I. Jesus Cares
I. Jesus Cares
Jesus wept. He wept over the brokenness of this world. I believe he wept at death as an intruder to God’s good creation.
Death is a universal experience we will have to face because we live in a fallen world where things do not go as planned or tragedies such as this happens.
The temptation is to think that God doesn’t care for allowing this to happen.
But God did allow it to happen in the case of Lazarus. And he said that he allowed it to happen so that:
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Jesus loved them. And because He loved them, he delayed. Why? To show forth the glory of God.
So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
And he heard the news he went with them.
After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
And he heard the news he went with them.
John 11:12
John 11:11-1
And Jesus arrives at the tomb where he had already been there four days.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
John 11:
News gets to Mary. People were trying to comfort her. She says the same thing to Jesus.
John 11:2=
Jesus wept.
Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
Jesus was moved. He was pained in his heart that something like this had happened. And we see the compassion of God as the Son of God sheds tears.
God crying.
I believe he was shedding tears over the brokenness of this world. Death is not a friend in Scripture, but called the last enemy. And death was introduced into the the world through man’s sin.
Psalms tell us that God keeps every tear.
All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
And because of man’s sin, we live in a fallen world where things go terribly wrong. In this case, Lazarus was sick and he died. A precious friend that Jesus loved. And Jesus was there. And he wept.
“In our post-fall world, sin and death affect every facet of our lives. This terrible reality means that many pregnancies will end in sorrow rather than joy.” 11
The death of Zeke was horrific. There are no words to explain the death of this precious child. He was born in a fallen world where things do not go right.
Weeping is appropriate. One writer says, “To cry is human. To lament is Christian.”
II. Jesus is in control
II. Jesus is in control
Why did Jesus delay? He could have prevented Lazurus from dying. But he didn’t.
Jesus delayed to show forth the purposes of God.
“God is always doing more than we could possibly imagine in ways we could never anticipate. His plan to take something altogether awful, like miscarriage, and use it for our good and his glory is beyond our understanding.” 18
And we don’t know why God would allow this, and only the purposes of God will be know in the next. But He was in control of the situation.
If He wasn’t he would not be God.
And I think one of the reasons why He delayed was to elicit faith in Jesus from Martha and Mary.
Jesus said to her, “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?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
III. Jesus will make all things right
III. Jesus will make all things right
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
John 11:38-
Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave to show forth the power of God. And he too will raise us from the grave for those of us who have repented and trusted in the Son of God.
Does God care?
We must remember that he too had a Son. And that God lost a Son. And He lost a son so that our sons and daughters, those who did not have the opportunity to even take a first breath on the earth, would live eternally with our maker.
The fallenness of this world make us long for heaven where He will away every tear.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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.”
Susannah Spurgeon
“In our post-fall world, sin and death affect every facet of our lives. This terrible reality means that many pregnancies will end in sorrow rather than joy.” 11
Every heart knows its own bitterness, and every heart has bitterness to know. Sin must bring sorrow, tears are the inheritance of earth’s children; but in the city to which we are going, ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there by any more pain; for the former things are passed away. Blessed be your dear name, O Lord, for this strong consolation this good hope through grace. Tears may, and must come, but if they gather in the eyes that are constantly looking up to you and heaven, they will glisten with the brightness of the coming glory.
Conclusion:
Zeke’s was named after the Hebrew name meaning “God strengthens” Or “May God Strengthen” us in this time of grief. And may our God strengthen us in Jesus Christ who was punished for our sin and raised from the grave to ensure that we will see Zeke again and where He will wipe away every tear and make all things right.
Oh! When a mother meets on high!
The babe she lost in infancy,
Hath she not then, for pains and fears,
The day of woe, the watchful night,
For all her sorrows, all her tears,
An over-payment of delight!
Bryan Chapell. The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach: Help from Trusted Preachers for Tragic Times . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Another Christian says,
You may have Zeke not in your arms, but in your memories. Not in your home, but forever in your heart. Not on earth, but in heaven safe in the arms of Jesus.
“As Christians, God’s affections for us are not contingent upon our good performance; they are eternally and irrevocably secured by Jesus’ perfect life and substitutionary death.” pg. 25
Why?
Some answers will never going to be given on this side of heaven. We are not to attempt to play the role of God and try to give reasons for why God allowed this.
“Though his sovereign ability to answer our prayers demands that we ask for the godly desires of our heart, it is his infinite goodness that demands we trust him when he doesn’t fulfill those desires.” pg. 37
Death is called an enemy.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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.”
Revelation 21:1-4
“Though his sovereign ability to answer our prayers demands that we ask for the godly desires of our heart, it is his infinite goodness that demands we trust him when he doesn’t fulfill those desires.” pg. 37
What about children?
Babies have no ability to willfully sin and thus have nothing for our holy God to judge. pg. 94
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
I believe Zeke’s first breath was in the presence of our Savior.
but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
The key is not to esape the grief that miscarriage brings, but to drive our souls into the shelter of Jesus’ gospel during that sorrow. pg. 100
The fallenness of this world make us long for heaven where He will away every tear.
Every heart knows its own bitterness, and every heart has bitterness to know. Sin must bring sorrow, tears are the inheritance of earth’s children; but in the city to which we are going, ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there by any more pain; for the former things are passed away. Blessed be your dear name, O Lord, for this strong consolation this good hope through grace. Tears may, and must come, but if they gather in the eyes that are constantly looking up to you and heaven, they will glisten with the brightness of the coming glory.
Zeke’s was named after the Hebrew name meaning “God strengthens” Or “May God Strengthen” us in this time of grief. And may our God strengthen us in Jesus Christ who was punished for our sin and raised from the grave to ensure that we will see Zeke again and where He will wipe away every tear.
The babe she lost in infancy,
Hath she not then, for pains and fears,
The day of woe, the watchful night,
For all her sorrows, all her tears,
An over-payment of delight!
Bryan Chapell. The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach: Help from Trusted Preachers for Tragic Times . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
Bryan Chapell. The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach: Help from Trusted Preachers for Tragic Times . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm
“Faith is a footbridge that you don’t know will hold you up over the chasm until you’re forced to walk out onto it.” Lament for a Son, Nicolas Wolterstoff
This is not over, one day Jesus will make all things right and all things new.
Dark clouds can yield deep mercy as lament leads to Christ
Dark clouds can yield deep mercy as lament leads to Christ
I believe that babies of believers go to heaven.
God’s Character.
God’s Promises.