Funeral - She Pointed Us to the Light
Notes
Transcript
Let us now seek encouragement by reading from the Old Testament, Proverbs 4:10-19 which will be the passage we will be reflecting upon today,
10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. 11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. 16 For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble. 17 They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. 18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
May the Lord comfort us with His words...
Pause
A while back, a group of us pastors were seating around and talking about our time when we were serving our National Service, and talking about how challenging and trying those days were… and were grateful how the Lord brought us through those challenging and difficult days...
I forgot most of the stories shared that day, but one story stuck in my mind...
you see, this particular pastor served his time in the national service as a boatman, where he was trained to transport troops on what is called a rigid hull boat...
one particular pre-dawn period, he was doing what was supposed to be a routine training exercise, where he dropped off a bunch of divers into the waters and after some time, because of impending bad weather, the training was terminated and he was given permission to return to shore...
however, at that point of time, when he tried to look for the shore, he realised that he couldn’t because the rain was so heavy, together with the fog, he couldn’t find his bearings, and was basically lost...
He couldn’t just steer the boat randomly in any direction because that may bring him into the open sea where the big ships that ply the area may endanger him, or he may run into some rocks or other hazards that may cause him to overturn and be dragged into the open sea or hurt...
he was very stuck and was in a very precarious position...
at that time, they didn’t have GPS nor compasses in those boats that could help him.. he was stuck...
without any hope and utterly lost, and afraid… he prayed...
and as he was praying, he saw a light… just a single spot of light shining through the darkness and the rain, which he immediately recognised as one of the beacons on dock on mainland, and immediately throttled up the engine and steered the boat towards that single source and light and eventually, managed to reach the shore, safe and sound...
that single source of light opened up a pathway and guided my friend towards safety… where a hot meal and shower awaited him...
without it, he would still be lost in the waters, vulnerable and exposed to the elements...
friends, this idea of light that forms a pathway that leads us towards safety is present in our passage for reflection today as well...
and this idea is present in v18-19 of the passage that tells us that
18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
here, the writer is comparing and contrasting between two pathways, one that leads to life and one that leads to destruction…
and the way that leads to life is characterized by the presence of wisdom that the person embarking on this path possesses...
and this wisdom is like light of the morning son that illuminates the path so that the person walking along that path will be able to avoid the pitfalls of life, and stopping oneself from engaging in behaviour and making decisions that are destructive or self-mutilating in nature...
and the analogy in this passage continues to describes this wisdom as becoming ever increasing in its positive influence in one’s life which if you think about it, is true for as one grows in wisdom, accumulated through experience, he is able to avoid pitfalls more effectively...
But how does one find wisdom?
Wisdom is not simply the accumulation of knowledge, but
having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgement.
it is not something that is simply acquired through the opening a textbook or searching on the internet, but it is something that is either obtained through experience, or by nurture by someone...
and if we were to obtain wisdom through experience, it may come at a cost… opportunity cost or otherwise… which makes wisdom through nurture so much more valuable...
and this is through someone who takes time to be with someone else, being patient enough to guide someone through the possible pitfalls in life, standing there at all times guiding someone and pulling them out of the potholes when we fall into them...
someone who, like the source of light in my friend’s experience, equip us with the ability to steer ourselves to safety, and allowing us to go on the path of safety...
and today, we are gathered to acknowledge that source of light for many of us here in this room...
Mdm Oon who chose to walk on this path of righteousness, being a devout Christian constantly seating at the feet of Jesus, and embracing the wisdom from him...
and thereafter imparting into the lives of so many people that she came into interaction with...
in turn, being that source of light to the many, pointing them towards a path of wisdom and righteousness, tirelessly nurturing and building into the lives of the many who have the privilege of being able to interact with her and be influenced by her...
being guided by her light who she reflects from Jesus...
indeed we have heard many times that we can judge a tree from the fruit it produces and looking at Mdm Oon’s children and grandchildren as well as the many foster children gathered here today in honour of her, we can confidently say that indeed Mdm Oon had been a wonderful and powerful source of light for many people here, and leaving a wonderful legacy, as we can see in her wonderful children and grandchildren, each loving God and being such active members of the community…
and i think many, if not all of us, can thank God for the source of light in our lives, Mdm Oon, who had such positive impact in our lives, we wouldn’t be here today if not for her light in our lives
pause
the other thing about the light though is that as I alluded to earlier, while Mdm Oon was a light to many of us in this room, there is a greater light whom Mdm Oon is reflecting from, and that is Christ who is described to be lux mundi, light of the world...
and we who are Christians understand that this light of the world is like the source of light that my boatman friend experienced, pointing us and showing us the way to safety...
and the reason why we need to go towards this place of safety is because our world is broken and this we know is true because of the natural and manmade disasters we experience and know about...
and part of this brokenness is because man has rejected God and his ways, and in other words, rejected this source of light and just like a boatman in the storm is unable to find his way to safety...
But because of what Jesus did on the cross, the guideing light had been restored for those of us who accepted this gift of life, and this life doesn’t end when our earthly body fails, but is described in the Bible as eternal life...
Through Christ’s work on the cross, where his body was broken, humanity had been impacted by this action,
And all of us have received the grace, that prevenient grace, that came from him,
Death had lost its sting because Christ our conqueror had conquered our ancient enemy, death itself…
and the light shone through the darkness to save us from death...
So this morning, the source of light who is Christ Himself shines through this ancient enemy death, and will guide Mdm Oon to an place that is no longer bounded by earthly limitation...
pause
because of the true source of light,
our fate beyond our earthly life is not marked by uncertainty,
but a hope with great certainty...
and because of that great source of light who is Christ,
even though Mdm Oon may be separated from us now,
we can look forward to the future in which we will be reunited once again…
In other words, we can celebrate because this separation we are experiencing now from Mdm Oon is not a permanent goodbye or farewell…
But more of a see you later…
It is the understanding of the truth that Mdm Oon has already received Christ into her life and because of that is alive, in God’s presence,
where there is no more tubes, no more pain, no more sickness...
Described in Rev 21:4 as a place in which had no more tears, no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and because of that we can rejoice with Mdm Oon
that gives us hope and something to look forward to in the future… which is reunion with her once again...
and because of that, even though we are sad, we can be comforted and rejoice because we have that one true source of light who will never leave us nor forsake us…
and let that be the light right now, for us who feel like it’s darkness all around, because we feel a sense a lost, because Mdm Oon is no longer with us,
but let the knowledge that Mdm Oon is now in the arms of our heavenly father who can take care of her much better than we can…
and also with the knowledge that we will meet her again one day… encourage us....
and though Mdm Oon’s journey on earth has ended,
She will continue to live on in our memories, and we will remember how she has impacted our lives,
And we will continue to do so until the day we are reunited on the other shore, guided by the true light who is Christ... Amen.