John Stadt Funeral Meditation
Notes
Transcript
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
Scripture: Psalm 139:1-10
John Stadt Funeral Meditation
Brothers and sisters, John lived quite the life. I was told he was a storyteller. If you gave him a piece of information or something that you were going through, he could launch into an experience from his own life that you just had to hear. I heard how behind the wheel, he was an aggressive driver. That’s a fancy way of mentioning his driving a car through the back of a garage and if you were in his car, you wanted to be a safe seat with a seat belt on. Hearing how he moved from the Netherlands to Canada and ending up in Baldwin, Wisconsin in the U.S.A. and the different occupations and commitments he had shows a person who could adapt well.
Everyone I’ve talked to, though, has mentioned his passion for the Christian faith. He served well on Council here. He cared deeply about seeing the faith being nurtured through the generations, especially knowing that youth were being discipled well. He had a special relationship with Pastor Anson before me, regularly spending time with him and time in prayer. He was a friend and someone people enjoyed visiting with. I’m sure there are other things which could be shared, other memories—both good and perhaps not so pleasant memories, too.
In looking at John’s life, though, the message at the beginning of Psalm 139, and where God is for someone who is active and moving seems fitting. “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise…You discern my going out and my lying down…You are familiar with all my ways…You know [my every word] completely [beforehand]. You hem in—behind and before…Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens…in the depths…the wings of the dawn…the far side of the sea [in every place God is there, guiding, and steadfastly holding me.]”
We could say, and I don’t doubt it’d be true, that John lived his life in such a way that he wanted to be near to God. He wanted to be near to the Lord. Yet as humans, as people, we are broken. We’re all sinners. There are times in our lives, long and short, when we get away from God whether intentionally or unintentionally, times where we might want to hide from him, try and not let him see what we do or say or think. At all times though, we have a God who desires and who makes himself near to us. Both with his word and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, God is never far away from the believer. God desires to be in close communion with those he loves.
In John 17, as Jesus was teaching his disciples just before his betrayal, we find this prayer: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Quite often we can look at this prayer and focus on the unity of Christians, the unity of the church that God desires. But we also see here Jesus describing the relationship that he has with those who believe and with those who will one day come to faith. It’s a relationship, according to verse 23, that Jesus is in us, he was sent for us, and just as God loves his Son, so he loves his people. As we think about the relationships that we enter into with one another, those are relationships which can become strained and even fade over time, whether due to distance or circumstances. Yet knowing exactly who we are, knowing what we will do, sins and all, our Savior remains committed to us who believe and offers the same commitment to those who will seek him.
Throughout his Word, God gives commands that are to be obeyed—from the command in the Garden of Eden to not eat from the one tree to the 10 Commandments and a multitude of other rules that Israel was to follow to the summary of the law—love God and love your neighbor as yourself—to the command Jesus gave his disciples at the last supper, love one another. The commands aren’t given simply to see whether we’re rule keepers or breakers; no, Jesus says in John 14 verse 15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” It’s a matter of love. How can we do that, though? How can we who are sinners love and grow in obedience? Right after he says that, Jesus promises, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
This is what it means for God to be near to his people, for God to know us, to be present and everywhere with us. This is what it means that not only did John seek to live near to God, but that God was near to and with and dwelling in him. We have the guarantee of these promises through Jesus allowing himself, though perfect in terms of sin and innocent in regards to the charges brought against him, he willingly allowed himself to be killed. He died, and on the cross, he took our punishment, our waywardness, our sins, our going astray from God, and he promises that he’s taken the whole penalty of those who turn to him, who confess their sins, and who seek after him. John and all who believe hold the guarantee of eternal life because Jesus died and then defeated death by rising again. God’s continued nearness to us is because he is a living God. He is there to “guide me [and] hold me fast.”
The nearness of God doesn’t mean we can’t be sad when a loved one dies, that we have to put on a happy face and move on as soon as possible. It doesn’t mean that we can’t be angry and frustrated when we see someone struggling with a disease or an ailment that devastates the mind and body. God knows our thoughts, he knows our joys and struggles, and he is present with us through them, reminding us that this is not how things are supposed to be. He also reminds us of the far greater story of redemption. Though our lives here are brief, we are part of the eternal salvation plan that God has. So, let us seek him while he may be found, call on him while he is near, and let us enjoy his redeeming love. Amen.