God's Wonderful Plans
Sermon
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
For a 21-year-old veteran killed in a motorcycle accident
God's Wonderful Plans
1 Corinthians 2:9
Sometimes death comes suddenly and unexpectedly. In the midst of life, with every joy of living near at hand, the one we love is taken from us. The tragic events of life remind us of the truth of those words uttered by the young man, David, long ago ... Death is, indeed, but a step away.
We are grateful for the life of our son in the faith, Duane. He just returned, not many weeks ago, from serving our country on our behalf, to help ensure the freedom that we hold as a Christian principle, for all people. He served for you and me, for God and country.
That makes it doubly hard for us to see such a tragic event happen here in the safety of our own land and community. And yet, this, too, is a fact of life that we must face. How shall we understand it?
To do so, we must review some of the basic tenets of our Christian faith. God has created us out of love. And such a love, which we aren't really able to understand, carries with it certain dangers. Because God loves us, he must allow certain freedoms to operate. He must give us the chance to respond out of free choice to all we do. He refuses to make us behave in any certain, given way. We must be able to reject him as well as accept his love and care.
That means that he must then create all things with that in mind. He created certain basic laws to govern his creation, laws which make all sorts of mistakes and dangers possible, mistakes in good judgment, evil intentions, and the hazards of the other people around us as well. It is, in that kind of an atmosphere, he shows us his love, and gives us an opportunity to grow in a real, joyous way.
But then you see how all sorts of misfortunes and evils can happen, too. Tragedies are possible every moment of every day. And as David said so very wisely, death is but a step away from any of us.
Yet, what a joy it is to know a good son. That is part of our created freedom, too. God has given us the joy of sharing in his creation through the giving of life to a son. He has given us the joy of watching that personality grow, of giving of our love to him, of sacrificing for his good, of knowing the same kind of a relationship with our children as God has with us. As we go through the joys and sorrows of helping our children to grow, so God goes through the joys and sorrows of helping us to grow, in freedom; freedom to accept or reject his love.
If we were to leave our analysis here, it would be only selfish, for certainly our sorrow is for our own personal loss, and that's all right, too. It's right that we should know that personal sorrow.
But the overwhelming truth of the matter is that such a God, who is so great a God to allow all the freedoms he does, and to give us such a marvelous gift of life that he has, such a God does not leave us out in the cold because of tragedy. He has built into us the desire to preserve life with every ounce of know-how that he gives us; but, knowing how great our God is, we also know that, through the tragedies of life, he will never for a moment forsake us, or our loved ones. We can rest assured that he sees us through the valley of the shadow of death.
And all we have to do is look at all the things he has told us in his marvelous Word. Everything he did while he was here on this earth speaks to us of the assurance of the truth that we believe in. This is why we say Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life. He didn't tell us about it; he demonstrated it always. He demonstrated his power over nature, mind, and body. He sealed it with his own resurrection. And he promised he would always be with us to be our source of strength.
And that power is still a reality for us, today. Our experience of tragedy and loss is still the same. Our tears flow just as easily even after knowing this. But the Christ is still with us, and we face the time of sorrow in the strength that we receive from faith in him.
There are only three incidents recorded in the scriptures of Jesus raising someone from the dead. Jesus couldn't go around doing this all the time. In fact, those people did finally die again. But, you see, the whole purpose was to tell us the truth of the fact that he is God; and God is love; so he created; and he will raise us again as he has promised. He overcomes our grief, for he reminds us that death is not an ending to existence, but rather the beginning of a new kind of life. "Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, what wonderful things God has planned for those who love him." Amen.
-- Frank L. Starkey
(Reprinted from "Through The Valley Of The Shadow," CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio 45804, © 1976.)
God's Wonderful Plans
1 Corinthians 2:9
Sometimes death comes suddenly and unexpectedly. In the midst of life, with every joy of living near at hand, the one we love is taken from us. The tragic events of life remind us of the truth of those words uttered by the young man, David, long ago ... Death is, indeed, but a step away.
We are grateful for the life of our son in the faith, Duane. He just returned, not many weeks ago, from serving our country on our behalf, to help ensure the freedom that we hold as a Christian principle, for all people. He served for you and me, for God and country.
That makes it doubly hard for us to see such a tragic event happen here in the safety of our own land and community. And yet, this, too, is a fact of life that we must face. How shall we understand it?
To do so, we must review some of the basic tenets of our Christian faith. God has created us out of love. And such a love, which we aren't really able to understand, carries with it certain dangers. Because God loves us, he must allow certain freedoms to operate. He must give us the chance to respond out of free choice to all we do. He refuses to make us behave in any certain, given way. We must be able to reject him as well as accept his love and care.
That means that he must then create all things with that in mind. He created certain basic laws to govern his creation, laws which make all sorts of mistakes and dangers possible, mistakes in good judgment, evil intentions, and the hazards of the other people around us as well. It is, in that kind of an atmosphere, he shows us his love, and gives us an opportunity to grow in a real, joyous way.
But then you see how all sorts of misfortunes and evils can happen, too. Tragedies are possible every moment of every day. And as David said so very wisely, death is but a step away from any of us.
Yet, what a joy it is to know a good son. That is part of our created freedom, too. God has given us the joy of sharing in his creation through the giving of life to a son. He has given us the joy of watching that personality grow, of giving of our love to him, of sacrificing for his good, of knowing the same kind of a relationship with our children as God has with us. As we go through the joys and sorrows of helping our children to grow, so God goes through the joys and sorrows of helping us to grow, in freedom; freedom to accept or reject his love.
If we were to leave our analysis here, it would be only selfish, for certainly our sorrow is for our own personal loss, and that's all right, too. It's right that we should know that personal sorrow.
But the overwhelming truth of the matter is that such a God, who is so great a God to allow all the freedoms he does, and to give us such a marvelous gift of life that he has, such a God does not leave us out in the cold because of tragedy. He has built into us the desire to preserve life with every ounce of know-how that he gives us; but, knowing how great our God is, we also know that, through the tragedies of life, he will never for a moment forsake us, or our loved ones. We can rest assured that he sees us through the valley of the shadow of death.
And all we have to do is look at all the things he has told us in his marvelous Word. Everything he did while he was here on this earth speaks to us of the assurance of the truth that we believe in. This is why we say Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life. He didn't tell us about it; he demonstrated it always. He demonstrated his power over nature, mind, and body. He sealed it with his own resurrection. And he promised he would always be with us to be our source of strength.
And that power is still a reality for us, today. Our experience of tragedy and loss is still the same. Our tears flow just as easily even after knowing this. But the Christ is still with us, and we face the time of sorrow in the strength that we receive from faith in him.
There are only three incidents recorded in the scriptures of Jesus raising someone from the dead. Jesus couldn't go around doing this all the time. In fact, those people did finally die again. But, you see, the whole purpose was to tell us the truth of the fact that he is God; and God is love; so he created; and he will raise us again as he has promised. He overcomes our grief, for he reminds us that death is not an ending to existence, but rather the beginning of a new kind of life. "Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, what wonderful things God has planned for those who love him." Amen.
-- Frank L. Starkey
(Reprinted from "Through The Valley Of The Shadow," CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio 45804, © 1976.)
