Jim Frasier Reflection

We often approach the Bible as if it were written about alien people in an alien time.

Now, I am not suggesting that we think the Bible was written by extraterrestrial aliens…

I leave that “interpretation” to the History Channel…

But alien as in foreign…

as if the Bible were written by foreigners in a time and place so far off that it can’t possibly bear much relevance in today’s time.

Yet, when read, the Bible proves to be profoundly relevant

and the lives of those who wrote it were struggling with the same human fears, losses and pains

They were seeking out the same kind of answers as we find ourselves seeking today.

In the Gospel reading, we find Jesus assuring his disciples that they should not be worried…

that their hearts should not be troubled.

But, let’s be honest, how could their hearts not be troubled?

Seriously!

How could their hearts not be troubled when Jesus just told them that he was going to be handed over to the Romans

and put to a humiliating death on the cross?

How could their hearts not be troubled when they’d been following him for three years,

after leaving their families and friends behind, their hopes and dreams, their livelihoods,

their very futures behind with the hope that Jesus was the Messiah who would kick the Romans out of Israel?

How could their hearts not be troubled…

when everything they had done up to that fateful night seemed to be utterly and tragically in vain?

Yet, Jesus’ words echoed out into the silence…

Let not your hearts be troubled…

With such confidence, Jesus uttered words that seem to fly into the face of everything we know.

Yet, Jesus uttered his words boldly…why?

Because Jesus knew that God was with him in his hour of darkness…and that God is with us in ours too.

The one promise that God consistently gives us throughout the scriptures is this…

FEAR NOT for I am with you.

I will not abandon you, forsake you nor fail you.

Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Fortunately, I got to know Jim as Pastor here of First United Methodist Church of Newton.

Jim, was a wonderful wo/man...

and, truth be told, Jim was not one who took his faith or his Bible lightly.

But more on that in a minute.

Jim was a quiet person, in my knowing him, a quiet soul...

However, he had plenty to say.

Throughout his whole life he showed his love through far more than mere words….

I can say with certainty that behind every person is a story…

And every life is spent interconnected in the stories of countless people.

This was no doubt true of Jim H. Frasier.

A person who was born in a certain time, lived his life, had his triumphs and challenges, and touched the lives of those who met him.

I bring this up because the events of Jim’s life no doubt affected him and his family, like so many others,

and they no doubt shaped Jim into the family-oriented, loving son, friend, husband, father, grandfather, and great -grandfather.

But Jim was more than those things.

He was a man who knew who he was…and WHOSE he was.

Jim, again, was a person of profound Christian faith…

He was a man who deeply LOVED his family.

If there was one thing that that I know about Jim,

it was how much his family meant to him…and how much he meant to his family.

Jim was born on January 31, 1934 in Springfield, MA but was raised in Moorsetown, NJ.

On that very day, Italy announced its support for negotiations that would allow rearmament for Germany, expressing confidence that Germany was not thinking of "war-like moves outside her borders" and that guarantees would be provided that the increased armaments would not be used to infringe upon the security of other nations

We all now know what a mistake that turned out to be.

In February, King Leopold III became king of Belgium...

I just know you were all dying to know that.

The infamous John Dillinger stole $52,000 from First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa.

The "surgeon's photograph" of the Loch Ness Monster, later admitted to be a fake in 1994,

was published in the Daily Mail London national newspaper.

And, finally, PERSIA…that’s right…PERSIA…became IRAN...

As the world was teetering on the brink of another world war...

as one of the greatest crimes against humanity was being staged...

And into THAT world came a baby boy…who would grow up to be a calm...

unwavering beacon of life, of faith, of love, of family!

Like so many others who were born at such a desperate and cruel time...

Jim chose to be a man of service…of selflessness…

and Jim chose to be a man of honor, integrity, love, and compassion.

After serving his country, and gaining an education as an electrical engineer, Jim married the love of his life, Laura…only a mere 61 years ago…no biggie…right!?!?!

And together they carved a life out together...

and built their family on the love and faith that were so much a part of their lives and their marriage.

I could read you the obituary, but I didn’t know Jim for most of those years.

I didn’t know him as an engineer…as a father…as a Cub Pack leader, a Big Brother or as a Sunday School teacher.

No, I knew JIm as the quiet husband of Laura...

Who loved singing and praising God so much that he would never fail to be in that loft behind me…even if his legs weren’t cooperating.

I knew Jim as the man who would humbly and thankfully smile at me as I served him…communion...

A man who could have found plenty to complain about…but he was to darn busy being singing and worshiping.

That is the Jim I knew…that is the Jim I was sad to see go to MA…though I knew that was the best move for he and Laura...

That was the man I knew…the humble yet talented singer…who was happy to just sing in the chor...

But as Kathleen shared, loved coming early on Christmas Eve to sing a solo.

So, here we find ourselves remembering the life of James H. Frasier,

a man whose life is a story that is interconnected with so many other stories.

Here we find ourselves remembering a life that was interconnected with, and touched, so many lives.

In the midst of the uncertainty of death, we have this hope...

GOD is greater than death…

In death there is an end; however,

In God, there is no end…for God is eternal.

Amid the uncertainty of life and death, we have THIS GREAT HOPE…

That God conquered death through our Lord Jesus Christ…

And that victory, in Jesus Christ, has been given to us…

Our Lord does not give, as the world does, only to take what was given away...

Rather, Jesus has given us eternal life and never-ending LOVE.

God loves Jim so very much and, it is my strong conviction,

that Jim is experiencing the fullness of that LOVE and that LIFE

right now in the care and presence of God.

What’s more, GOD LOVES YOU TOO…and will not leave you alone, or abandoned

But will fill your hearts with the assurance of the ETERNAL LIFE awaiting you ...

All you must do is KEEP YOUR EYES SET ONN CHRIST

And KEEP YOUR HEART SET ON LOVE.

LOVE is God’s essence.

LOVE is where we find Wilson’s legacy,

and LOVE is the foundation you can build your legacy upon too…

So do not let your hearts be troubled…do not let them be afraid.

For GOD is with you, and LOVE will guide you. Amen.