Funeral | Jorge Garcia

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

A few days ago, Betty sent me a few paintings by Jorge, including flowers in a field, beach chairs by calm ocean waters, and a blazing orange and crimson sunset.

As I prayed through this verse, I thought about Jorge’s paintings. He glimpsed with his imagination and colored in brushstroke the promises of God in this passage.

The Lord is our shepherd. The Lord is Jorge’s shepherd, and now on the other side of this life, he lacks nothing and wants for nothing. He is contented in the arms of his Savior, who loves him and calls him his son.

The Lord guides us along rocky paths and smooth paths, alike, and his guidance never fails. Wherever we follow him, he places our feet on sure footing. Even if the whole world gives way, he is our solid ground.

The Psalmist continues…

Even though I walk through the darkest valley [some translations say, ‘the shadow of death], I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

A shepherd’s rod would guard the sheep from predators. The staff of our Shepherd Lord guards us from evil; The hook draws the sheep close when they wander. The Lord does the same with us. He draws us close when we wander, leading us away from what may hurt us toward his peace. As our Good Shepherd, the Lord guides and protects us and comforts and draws us close during times of pain and heartache. The Psalmist continues…

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

The Lord provides in all circumstances and makes us victorious by the victory that He achieved on the cross. The Psalmist continues…

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

The Lord offers those who place their trust in him blessing upon blessing in abundance by the gift of his grace. The Psalmist concludes, saying…

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Our Lord is our peace in times of despair; our comfort in times of pain; our Father who restores us to his home and invites us to dwell with Him forever.

Psalm 23 is a psalm for moments like this when we experience death and need the presence of our Lord to assure us of his faithfulness and forever love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

1 Corinthians 13 reminds us of what truly matters in this life.

When the tidal waves of sorrow and pain feel overwhelming, sometimes all we can see is the water, but 1 Corinthians 13 lifts us above the waves so that we might fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote, And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

In times of sorrow, when all is said and done, Paul says, there are only 3 key ingredients to life that endure to the very end: faith, hope, and love.

Faith

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

We can’t see God, nor can we see Heaven. We can’t touch it or perceive it with our senses. Yet, our hearts long for it, don’t they?

Our hearts long for Heaven, even though we can’t see it. Faith is the confident hope that one day we will be made new and united with our Heavenly Father to experience new life, life beyond this life. In that life, God’s Word tells us, there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more strife and division, and no more death.

Rather, there will be pure and endless joy because we will be reconciled to our Heavenly Father and one another through the forgiveness that Christ Jesus made available to all of us on the cross.

Jesus said, “Behold, I am making all things new,” (Rev 21:5) and for those who place their faith in Jesus, we are made new.

Faith chooses to believe in this reality. Faith sees beyond what we can merely perceive with our eyes and touch with our hands.

Dare I say, faith sees more than what our eyes can see. It sees beyond the walls of this life to see forever with Jesus.

In speaking with Betty last week, she told me about an important conversation that she had with her dad a few years ago. She told me that he didn’t attend church much, but as Betty began to understand Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life for herself, she felt a growing sense of urgency to ensure that her dad also placed his faith in the life-saving grace of Jesus.

Before Jorge’s dementia became too severe, Betty and Marilyn visited with him in the hospital and asked him if he knew Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. They didn’t quite understand his response, so Betty asked again and then asked a third time. After the third question, Jorge said, you already asked me three times, and I said yes. :) I love that story!

His mind was clear, and Jorge understood Betty’s question. He publicly professed placed his faith in Jesus that day and secured his eternal future with his Savior.

Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Betty told me that whenever she recalls this conversation, the Lord gives her peace that Jorge is with his Him.

Jorge’s life wasn’t perfect. He was a man who did the best he could with what he had, but after all was said and done and the sun on his life was setting, faith is what remained for Jorge. Faith is what endures to the end. We can take great comfort and joy in the fact that right now, Jorge is with his Lord and Savior dancing - he loved to dance… and smiling… and living right now with his mind, body, heart, and soul fully redeemed and restored to his Savior.

This is our Hope.

The Apostle Paul wrote, Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21.

These bodies break down, and they eventually pass away. Nothing, nothing holds breath forever. This is a certainty, and yet, when it happens, our hearts fill with sadness because God never intended for death to exist in this world. Death resulted from sin, but for those who place our faith and hope in the one who forgives us and frees us from the stain of sin, then new bodies, eternal bodies in the Lord await us in Heaven!

Elsewhere, in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul also wrote, ‘absent in the body, present with the Lord.’ 2 Corinthians 5:8, KJV.

The hope of the Christian faith says ‘o, death where is your victory. O death, where is your sting?’ 1 Corinthians 15:55. It is not to be found in the life of a believer! Death has been defeated on the cross, and now every person who places their faith in Christ rises with him in victory.

In many ways, this is a profound mystery, but as we stand here in a cemetery, a place that holds the remains of the dead and symbolizes the final resting location for these mortal bodies, this is precisely the hope that leads us to the arms of Christ!

Love

Finally, love.

Of faith, hope, and love that remain until the very end, the greatest of these is love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Love is what moved God from heaven to earth to save us. Love is what sent Jesus to the cross. Love is why Jesus died.

Love is what holds all things together.

John wrote, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” So that we might live again forever with him.

During our conversation together, Betty shared stories with me about ways that Jorge loved his family. He grew close with Josie. In fact, I heard that Jorge walked you down the aisle on your wedding day. Mike, I am aware that he attended your parent deception at Christ Journey. Betty told me about how he supported you during Josie’s schooling years.

Later in his life, I heard about how much he enjoyed inviting people over for dinner on the weekends and getting together with his family.

For Jorge, the three things that remained for him at the end of his life were faith, hope, and love.

You know, for some people, especially men, sometimes the most important ingredients of life: faith, hope, and love, aren’t fully appreciated and valued until the latter seasons of life.

On the one hand, this might cause some heartache, which I want to encourage you to process and pray through as you grieve Jorge, but on the other hand, we give thanks to God for Jorge and his realization of what matters most because now his legacy continues through each one of you.

For Jorge, love endured to the very end, and now his life is made new and continues under the covering of his Savior’s love.

For us standing here now, faith, hope, and love are what remain, but the greatest of these is love.

One of the ways that we can remember Jorge and honor Christ who saved him is by stirring these ingredients to make sweet cake in our lives everyday and then share it with others.

Let me close with this:

Betty mentioned to me that Jorge loved his fruit plants, especially his mangoes.

Whenever you remember Jorge eating the sweet tasting fruit that he harvested from his plants, think about the fruits of the Spirit that Christ bears in you when you believe: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

These fruits harvest all year round, everyday, all the time, and they all point to a life to come, which John wrote:

And this is what he promised us—eternal life. 1 John 2:25

This verse is on Jorge’s card, and it is our faith, it is our hope, and this promise is rooted in love… Eternal life.

Don’t wait. Jesus is here, and by the power of his Spirit made alive in you when you believe, he gives you the inheritance of eternal life and the promise of freedom from sin.

Thank you, Lord, for Jorge’s life. Thank you for the legacy that continues in his family. And thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, who made this promise available to us. Let’s pray together…

Related Media

Related Sermons