Scott Martin - 3/27/21

We are here this morning to celebrate and thank God for the life of Dr. L. Scott Martin. We also gather to comfort one another in our loss.

Scott had some specific desires for this service. He wanted to praise God and give Him thanks.

Since the book of Psalms is the Bible’s hymnbook, Scott’s favorite passages were primarily located there. One of Scott’s favorite was Psalm 30 we read

1 I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.

You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,

and you restored my health.

3 You brought me up from the grave, O Lord.

You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

4 Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!

Praise his holy name.

5 For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime!

Weeping may last through the night,

but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:1-5)

Let’s pray together,

Lord, we are grateful for this day to stop and reflect on and give you thanks for the life of Scott Martin. To try to sum up a person’s life in a few minutes is a futile and foolish task. All we really want to do is turn our sorrow from loss into gratitude for a life that blessed us and honored you. Help us to this end.

Help us also to remind ourselves of your promise of life beyond the grave for those who put their hope and trust in you. Renew our faith and our confidence that this life is not all there is. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Be Thou My Vision]

Dr. L. Scott Martin was a gifted musician. He started singing when he was 4 years old and sang right up to the end of his life. He was an accomplished pianist and a very gifted teacher. He taught high school music, private piano, vocal lessons, was a vocal coach at recording studies, worked with athletes on breathing techniques, and worked with patients and medical professionals recovering from throat and oral cancers. Scott loved passing on what he had learned to others.

He loved going to recording sessions or the Red Rocks Amphitheater to watch his students perform.

Scott believed there was value in working on musical pieces until you had them perfect, without any mistakes. Once an elderly woman started taking lessons with Scott. One week he told her she needed to take some time and work on the music some more striving for no mistakes before he assigned her more music. She said she didn’t have time left in life to get it perfect. He gave her new music.

Scott loved beautiful sounds and melodies. Perhaps this is why he had an expansive collection of windchimes hanging on the back decks on all three levels of his condo as well as the front deck. Some of these were four feet long! I’m sure Scott heard music in those chimes. We aren’t sure that is what the neighbors heard (especially at night).

Scott used music to get him through many tough times. He had spinal meningitis, was in a bad car accident that kept him in the hospital for weeks and a long recovery, and a bad hip which stayed with him for the rest of his life. He had two bouts with cancer, a broken hip, three strokes, and other health issues. Apart from that, he was in great health! Yet, he continued to teach up until two days before he died.

After his stroke Dean gave Scott his messages from his students. Scott was tearful and said he wasn’t sure why they said all of those nice things because he didn’t think he was all that special. He was wrong.

Scott loved to cook and eat. Because of that he had bookcases full of cookbooks. I was told if you would like a cookbook, the family may have one for you as a keepsake.

With Dean and Lori he enjoyed going to Winchels for donuts and coffee , brunches with bloody Mary’s, and celebrating Dean and Mark’s birthday together with special oyster soup or going out to the fish company. They also enjoyed going out on New Year’s Eve to the comedy works or heritage square for a dinner, play, and dance party afterwards, and all their Sunday brunches.

Scott had a crazy sense of humor and loved puns and loved cherry pie, root beer (he went through 6 2 Liter bottles a week!). He loved Jazz and most of all he loved his students.

Scott believed his musical gifts were from God and he loved to praise and serve God with his music. Scott said,

"My life's passion has been to always glorify God with the gift of music that he bestowed in my heart and soul and to encourage others to share their gift in excellence to exalt His name."

It sounds like that is exactly what he did.

In Psalm 150 we read these familiar words.

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heaven!

2 Praise him for his mighty works;

praise his unequaled greatness!

3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;

praise him with the lyre and harp!

4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;

praise him with strings and flutes!

5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;

praise him with loud clanging cymbals.

6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

It seems only fitting that we honor Scott’s wishes and his memory by singing Amazing Grace.

[Amazing Grace]

One of Scott’s directives for his funeral was he didn’t want a sermon preached. He wanted us to celebrate his life. Since he wanted me to do his service, I think he also wanted the context for the celebration explained.

Scott was raised by godly parents. He understood that we are saved by the grace of God. The gospel message is pretty simple yet wonderfully profound. God made us, we rebelled against His rule in our lives which meant we deserved to face His wrath. Instead, God became man in Christ, and took the penalty for all who would believe in Him. Instead of the wrath we deserve, God extended mercy.

In one more week we will celebrate Easter, which commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This one-of-a-kind miracle was proof that Jesus was who He said He was, and could deliver on His promise that those who believe in Him would “live even though they die.”

Since Scott put his trust in Christ this means this is not the end of Scott Martin. In fact, for Scott it is the apex of his life. Now He gets to sing in the heavenly choir and enjoy music that is more beautiful than anything the world can produce. This music will all be directed to praising the Lord and celebrating His mercy and His grace.

In Revelation 14 we read.

And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together.

3 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders.

That is just a foretaste of the glory of Heaven! But this we know, Scott will enjoy every minute.

I suspect Scott had many opportunities to think about this as he wrestled with various health issues. I wonder if every time he heard those wind chimes it reminded Him of that day to come in the future when he would hear the music of Heaven.

This is a day to remember and to celebrate. It is a day to remember that this life is not all there is . . . it is just the prelude to a life that is to come and that makes any suffering endured in this life, worth it all.

It is also a day to examine our own hearts and lives to make sure we too have put our trust and faith in the Lord who extends mercy and grace.

As we approach another Easter, I hope we can view it with music in our heart, rejoicing that this life is just the first part of the journey. It is like a trip to our vacation site. The trip is what we need to do to get to where we want to be. It is good to enjoy the journey, but it is not our destination.

As you reflect on Scott’s life remember,

Music is a gift to cherish and to share.

Life has its challenges, but those challenges defeat us only if we surrender to them.

Life is filled with humor and blessing, if you look for it.

God gives each of us gifts and it is up to us to use them for His glory.

It is good to strive for perfection, but we also need to be realistic and keep life fresh.

You should always celebrate anything you can in life.

If you enjoy giving yourself to others, you will change people’s lives without even realizing it.

A person who understands the hope of eternity will surround themselves with music . . . even if it drives your neighbors crazy.

As per Scott’s request, we have a recording of America the Beautiful.

Let’s pray together.

Father, we thank for music and the way it synchs our heart with yours. Thank you for the gifts you gave to Scott. Lord, we ask that you now grant him entry into your heavenly choir because of the grace you have given to us in Christ. Thank you for the lives you touched through Scott’s life. Help us to be as faithful as he was throughout life.

Father, grant us a fervent confidence of life beyond the grave. Grant that our faith in Christ might continue to grow and that our faith might be strengthened by the thought of seeing Scott again and of being able to add our voices to that of the great choir of Heaven. For we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.