Eulogy

We gather here today to honor the memory and celebrate and remember the life of Mr. Donald "Don" Roberts. We also gather to comfort those of her family and friends by our words and by our presence. And finally, we are here to hear what God would say to us through His word about the realities of life, death, and eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.

You are all here today because your lives were touched in some way by the life of Don Roberts. You are family, or friends. You could share, if you were standing where I stand (and indeed some of you have, the many things that Don meant to you and the many ways he touched your life. Memories like those will continue to live on in your hearts — and those memories are very precious, and to be highly valued. Their worth is far more valuable than words can describe. And each of you gives testimony of how highly you thought of Don by your presence here today.

Don lived a good life, he lived a life where he lived the gospel he believed. Rarely did you hear from him an unkind word, or see in him an uncharitable act. Had he lived until his birthday in December he would have been 90 years old.

In that time Don Roberts touched many people with his life. He made a positive difference in the lives of those around him, and he did his best to live his life in a manner befitting his stature as a child of God.

He leaves behind his loving wife Thelma, and his daughter Elizabeth. He also leaves behind two great grandchildren.

These are the facts. Yet these facts don’t describe the life of Don Roberts. Don was a special man. He was soft spoken, and knew with surety what he believed. Don was at times an emotional man, not one to hide his feelings.

He loved his wife. I told Elizabeth a couple of weeks ago that sometimes they were like a couple of teenagers when they were together. She took care of him, and he took care of her.

Don came to this church many decades ago. In talking with others we think it was in the 70’s. He joined our church and was eventually made a deacon. Don truly fit the definition of a deacon. He served his Lord and his church faithfully. He was here every time the doors opened before his health began to fail. Don loved to sing. He was a faithful member of our choir, and was always willing to sing whenever the call was made.

He was also willing to lend a hand taking care of things that needed doing. I’ll never forget one day we had a church workday. He and Thelma came to the church and set up a couple of lawn chairs and watched. Some people were grumbling about it a little, then I went and talked to him. With a tear in his eye he said that his body had failed him, and he couldn’t do the work anymore, but he wanted to be a part of it, so if it was ok he would just sit in his chair and pray for those who were able to do the work. He will always be remembered in our hearts, and we will never be able to replace him. So farewell my brother, may you get the rewards in heaven that you deserved here on earth.

Deacon’s Memorial

1 Timothy 3 Read This Chapter

3:8

Deacons R107 likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, F29 or R108 F30 addicted to much wine or R109 F30 fond of sordid gain,

3:9

but R110 holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

3:10

These R111 men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

3:11

Women F31 must likewise be dignified, not R112 malicious gossips, but temperate, R113 faithful in all things.

3:12

Deacons R114 must be husbands R115 of only one wife, and good R116 F32 managers of their children and their own households.

3:13

For those who have served well as deacons obtain R117 for themselves a high F33 standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Don Roberts was a deacon in this church. He served his position well. These verses typify the kind of man that Don Roberts was. He truly had a servant’s heart.

Message of Hope

We may have hope this morning because of promises made in God’s Word.

John 14:1-3 says, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (KJV)

Listen to other words of Scripture that the Word of God may be a comfort in this time of need.

You have Psalm 23 printed in your memorial folder, but I’d like to read to you a different interpretation of it, one that I hope will allow you to find comfort.

Yahweh, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of Yahweh for the rest of my life.

Psalm 23 in Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: Psalms (NavPress, 1994)

The Holy Bible, King James Version

Isaiah 49:1 through Isaiah 49:2 (KJV)

1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Even one as strong as Jacob needed God's protection. And he received it. We will also.

Don died from a horrible disease. He was trapped in a body that was shutting down, and being destroyed from within.. Perhaps he didn’t feel much pain, but he suffered frustration because he was unable to do the things he once loved. Every time I was with him he expressed his desire to once again return to church. All through this he was also protected. Inside his frustration, on the insides of the insides of his frustration, He was held by God.

There is no time in history when we have not needed the shelter of an almighty God. Nor have the people ever been ready -- yet -- for God's good time. Don is with God now, in God's good time. We give thanks today that his time of suffering is over and that He need suffer no more.

When we try to understand why God allows terrible suffering, why God doesn't just use an almighty hand to prevent it, we come up against a pretty large problem. No one knows why God chose to let us be free, in creation, rather than to control us. No one knows why God "allows" suffering. We do know that God chose against certain kinds of omnipotence, on behalf of certain kinds of freedom.

If God were to choose only power, we could not be free. In a mighty act of love, instead of a mighty act of power, God created humanity freely. We are not puppets on a string. Don might have preferred to be controlled in this instance-- but God loved him and us and the world too much for that solution. Our suffering is the price we pay for our freedom.

Don would likely have understood that. He was an independent sort. He made his own way, and stood on his own two feet.

Let me tell you about some rabbits. They were picked up one day on a corner in Vermont. You can imagine the scene. A cardboard box. A hand-lettered sign: "Free Rabbits to Good Home." The "R" in "rabbits" was backward. The children were young. They saw the bunnies and began an immediate sit-down strike. The left Vermont with the bunnies. Their donor was asked how they would manage a hard winter. They would have to live outside, they said.

The donor explained how it is that God protects us. "They don't have what they need now to survive a winter. But their fur grows as it gets colder. They will have what they need when they need it."

Don, despite the depth of his suffering the past few years, got what He needed on the inside as He needed it. We will get the fur we need as we need it. We are not left alone. We are accompanied in our suffering by the love of God. We are held. We are not abandoned. We are protected. Even in deep suffering, God holds and protects us.

Jacob and the people of Israel found God's protection as they needed it. Manna came. Rainbows came. Jesus, the Christ, came.

We are no different. There will be days when we will be angry at a disappointing God. We will question the way God set up the universe. We will be sure we could have done a better job. We will cry out with Job against the way God has arranged the world.

And we will hear the same answer that came to Jacob and to Job. Is it not my world? asks God. Am I not allowed to protect you the way I want to protect you? In the shadow of my hand, in the shelter of my quiver. Am I not allowed to do what I will with what is mine?

What these imagined retorts from a mighty God mean is that God loves us well, that God protects us well. They also mean that God has refrained from controlling us. God had to leave us free for suffering if God was to love us.

Those of you who suffered with Don at the end have every right to bristle at these words of a loving God. You, too, have suffered deeply. You have had the long nights of the soul and the eyelids that go with the long nights of the soul. You have had to wonder about God.

But you never stopped loving Don. You joined God in protecting him. You were God's hands with him. You couldn't stop the suffering, or restore his strength even though, with all your hearts, that is what you wanted to do. Instead, you held him, you sat up with him, you made sure he ate. You used your hands and your hearts. He never doubted you.

Nor need you doubt God. God will accompany you, as well, and protect you as well. We are held in the hands of a mighty God. We are held in God's quiver. We need not be afraid. Love is stronger than power. Fur is stronger than winter. Don’s suffering is over, and ours will be also, when the time and season are right. Weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning. And joy will come. Don already knows it, and we will soon enough, as well.

We understand, firstly, that life is generous to some people.

We are also reminded that life is limited for all people.

But death is just a transition. Although the body ceases to function, the spirit lives on. Death, according to the Bible, is a change of status. That which perishes is exchanged for that which is imperishable. Death ushers us into the presence of the living God. Death brings us into eternity.

And Don Roberts knew the Lord! I don’t often feel such a strong sense of confidence when I utter those words about someone, but anyone who knew Don knew he was one of the Lord’s. I’m convinced beyond any doubt that today he is walking those streets of gold. I believe he is singing Amazing Grace right alongside the heavenly hosts.

What do those words mean for you, for us? They are words of encouragement. Can you own them for yourself?

The reality of death is that we all die. And death puts us face to face with God. This we cannot change. But we can do something about eternity. If we do not commit our life to Christ to serve Him, then to die is an eternal loss. The realities of heaven and hell confront us as we consider death. But the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can be forgiven for our sins and enjoy God’s presence forever. We do not have to fear death, for death is not death if it transports us to eternal life.

As we close, let me share with you the depth of faith that Don Roberts had by telling you this story told by the nurse who was caring for him. She was reading to him from the scripture, and she felt the Lord telling her that Don might appreciate some music. So she came up with a tape of the song we sang this morning "Amazing Grace" What she had no way of knowing, was that "Amazing Grace" was one of Don’s most favorite songs. As the end of the song came, she saw Don slip the surly bonds of this world to soar with the angels in heaven above. He died at peace, with the strains of a song that shares the powerful testimony of grace resounding in the room. He went to be with God.

They that love beyond the world can not be separated by it. Death can not kill what never dies. Nor can spirits ever be divided, that love and live in the same divine principle, the root and record, of their friendship .... Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still .... This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present because immortal.

-- William Penn

O Lord, grant us the grace to walk with you, to go from strength to strength in our service for Christ. Help us to faithfully live and, at the end, to peacefully die, as we hear your voice inviting us home to be with you forever. Through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.

Protect us, O God, from doubt and fear. Hold us. Give us what we need when we need it. Let us learn to count on your love and not just on your power. In the name of Jesus. Amen.