Pete Brooks Funeral

Among the Greatest

In Matthew 20, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to let her sons have the positions of greatness in his kingdom. Jesus answered, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.” That is, greatness in God’s kingdom comes the exact opposite way that James and John and many of us are pursuing it. True greatness doesn’t come through self-promotion, but self-sacrifice, self-denial. Today, Pete Brooks must be among the very greatest in heaven. This is among the easiest funerals that I’ve ever had the honor to preach, and it’s not because I’m not sorrowful. It’s because Pete was really that great. I guess the last person that Pete ever thought about was Pete. The easiest way to embarrass him was to compliment him.

Consistent Character

That’s what made Pete so easy to be around. To know Pete was to love him. He was always hanging in there ‘like a hair on a biscuit.’ He was funny and easy to talk to. He had a way of bringing calm and encouragement to you every time you were around him. On Mondays, he would take Sylvia up to the Angel ministry. On a few lucky Mondays he would get lucky and make his escape before the ladies could find him a job to do. And, on those Mondays, he would always stop by my office just to cut up and to tell me how the sermon had helped him the day before. You see, no matter where he was or who he was with or what he was doing, Pete was the same. His character was consistent. He was living for the glory of God and the good of others. It was that simple.

A Life Offered

For Pete, the gospel wasn’t a part of his life; it was his whole life. It defined everything that he did. This is exactly Paul’s point in Romans 12:1 when he says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.” The audience that Paul wrote that to was accustomed to taking animals, laying them upon altars, and cutting their necks in worship. They would burn every remnant of the sacrificed animal so that it would be totally consumed and the aroma would be pleasing to God. And, you see, that’s what makes the crucifixion of Jesus such a powerful picture. They had to keep offering those animals because the continued to sin and they continued to require atonement for those sins, and the animals were just inadequate. But then, Jesus puts flesh on the promises of God, and the eternal God takes on a human nature, and as the great High Priest, Jesus doesn’t place animals on the altar to die. He places himself. He is the first and only adequate substitution for us. So, He is sacrificed upon the cross as one who was perfectly obedient and righteous on our behalf, as a pleasing aroma to the Father.

And so, Paul’s point is that if we are going to actually worship God, if we are going to give him the honor that He is due, then we must live in the way that Jesus died. We must place ourselves upon the altar as ‘living sacrifices’ and say to God, “Here is my life. Take me where you want me to go. Do with me what you want to do. Make me who you want me to be.” The right and reasonable response to Jesus’ offer himself for you is for you to offer yourself to him. For a life that is offered up to the glory of God, everything is worship. The gospel isn’t part of life; the gospel defines all of life. So, worship isn’t just when I sing songs. That’s the assumed overflow. That’s the necessary response of a heart filled with passion. But, that’s not the whole of worship. Worship is the composite of everything you do being lived for the glory of God. Being a faithful husband is worship and being a compassionate dad is worship and being a joyful granddad is worship and being a patient boss is worship. Because behind all of those things, holding them up, is a desire to bring God glory, a desire to offer yourself to him as a ‘living sacrifice.’

“His life was an offering of worship”

That’s why Pete served like he did. If you take Jesus away from his life, it doesn’t make any sense. He sacrificed too much for his country, too much for others, too much for his church. But, his life was an offering of worship. It’s the most important thing in the world to me this morning to make sure that you understand why Pete lived the way that he did. I was able to tell Sylvia this on Monday, but, as best as I can remember, Pete and Sylvia were the very first missionaries that I ever knew. It would have been 23 or 24 years ago, and we had been studying about missionaries in RA’s. I thought it sounded like the most incredible and adventurous life in the world. That’s when our pastor told us about how Pete and Sylvia went to Mexico and would be talking with the church about it. I can remember as a 10 or 11 year old thinking these must be the coolest people I knew.

Serve Yourself Tired

But, for Pete, missions wasn’t a trip that he went on; it was his way of life. You see, that’s why Paul says to ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice.’ It’s not enough to think about it or to encourage it or to support it. It requires your body. It requires that you physically act. It requires you to get tired. The Christian life is not some abstract philosophy. It’s a real, actionable call to lay down your life with Jesus. The body encompasses all of who we are. It encompasses our mind, body, and spirit. It includes our thoughts and our passions and our strength, or lack thereof. How many want to give Jesus their souls while keeping everything else for themselves? But, this isn’t the Christian life, and this wasn’t Pete’s life. At the end, Pete’s body was tired. It had been well presented, sacrificed as a pleasing aroma for the Lord. But, today, Pete’s not tired any more. You see, Jesus didn’t just sacrifice himself upon a cross; He was raised. And so, all those, who like Pete, offer their bodies as ‘living sacrifices’ will be raised on the Last Day and given a new body that never gets tired. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”