I wish these were my words; they are the mortuary's & the pastor's sentences. Both said they used our words our stories that we told.
"Neil ___, age 69, of C_____________, Real Estate Investor & retired Boeing Jig Builder, passed away Thursday, December 13, 2007.
Neil was born December 23, 1937 in Hutchinson. He was one of six children born to his parents Lester & Corine ____. ....
In the 4th grade, he moved to Milan, where Neil fell in love with the little girl in braids. He married Carla on November 27, 1957 in Wichita. He worked as a Jig builder at Boeing from 1957-1993. He also worked as a Real Estate Investor. One summer, right out of high school, he drove a cement truck to help build the Turnpike. He enjoyed woodworking, building & remodeling houses, trigonometry, playing checkers, riding motorcycles and traveling. He loved reading Louis Lamour & Zane Grey books. He had a pilot's license for small aircraft. When it came to his love of chocolate chip cookies, he was known as "The Cookie Monster." Neil was a member of the C___________ United Methodist Church, a past youth leader and a member of various church and civic boards."
_____________________
From Pastor Amy________:
We have come today to remember Neil and to celebrate his life. Carla would like to thank you for being here to honor him and to stand by her. We come to shoulder our grief together and to let the Lord do some of His healing work in our hearts.
Of course, we come with mixed feelings this afternoon.... We feel grief and loss, but we also feel gratitude and relief.Neil lived an active and fruitful life! He also suffered much as a result of the strokes he has experienced, and so we are relieved and grateful that the Lord has now made his healing complete.
There's no need to choose between grief and gratitude... between sorrow and joy~ even though they seem to be opposite emotions. All of these things are needed so that God can make our healing complete. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn because they will be comforted." The Apostle Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always."How are we supposed to make heads or tails of our emotions when we have both joy and sorrow churning inside of us? When our emotions are confused like this, we sometimes don't know how to pray.
Jesus has given all of His followers a prayer to help us when we do not know how or what to pray. Could we pray it together... our Lord's Prayer? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
If we all took a moment to tell of our experiences with Neil, some of you might call him a jokester, and others would mention how it seems he best related to people by teasing them. He knew how to make people laugh, and some would remember him as an excellent storyteller. Some would tell of riding motorcycles or playing checkers with him. Still others would tell of his ingenuity as he worked for Boeing and in other of life's situations: like needing to do some roofing wile also caring for your three-year-old daughter. How long do you suppose it took him to come up with the idea to build a playpen out of stacks of shingles, put her favorite doll in one hand and her truck in the other and nail her dress to the roof as extra security? Neil was ingenious! He mananged to get the beams (3"x 12" by almost 20 feet) up in the house that Carla still lives in while everyone was gone for the day, and he refused to tell how he got it done. Maybe on that great day when we are all together again, he'll finally have mercy on us and tell us how. His ingenuity was not stopped by the strokes he experienced. About two hears ago he began to tell me about a neighbor of his at the Village for whom he was concerned. He wanted to see this man come to faith in the Lord and to have the hope that Neil himself had. We prayed for him together and through friendship, and I'm sure a little teasing, he saw his neighbor begin to come to worship and to faith... something that continues to this very day even in Neil's absence.
Neil came to faith at the age of 15 and has participated in the life of God's family ever since. He served as youth leader and on various committees as a member of the C__________ United Methodist Church and has faithfully worshipped with us, both at the Village and at the Manor. You could also find him at the seasonal singspirations when all the C________ churches gathered as one. He wasn't very outspoken about his love of God, but it was evident if you took the time to look behind the scenes. Neil's faith became sight last Thursday, December 13, when he went to be with the Lord he loved and served and trusted even in his suffering.
Message:
Jesus was no stranger to suffering, and he didn't just suffer on the old rugged cross. In the gospels we read about two occasions when He also lost loved ones to death. The two losses we can read about are that of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, and Jesus' dear friend Lazarus.
Jesus spent a lot of time at Lazarus' house with Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha. Lazarus became very sick and was dying, and Mary and Martha knew just what to do: ...
they sent word to Jesus knowing that He would come and heal their brother.The fact that Jesus did not arrive in time to heal Lazarus from His sickness and that Lazarus died:... this caused great paing and confusion for all who loved him.In John 11 we are allowed to see what happened when Jesus finally came: (Read John 11:32-44)
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" He asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"...
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance."Take away the stone, " he said....
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
The circumstances of Lazarus' death allowed Jesus to demonstrate the power of God's love in yet another way.It wasn't that He didn't care.In fact, we see a sign of Jesus' deep-love in verse 35: "Jesus wept."
He didn't just shed a tear... He WEPT.Why?... He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.Wouldn't we expect Him to say, "Everybody stop crying and watch this"?No... In Jesus' weeping we get a look into the heart of God.
God enters into our grief. What we feel touches Him.He is not callous and uncaring. He is compassionate and loving.If you weep today, be comforted, for Jesus also weeps.He cares about our hurt and He wants to enter into it with us.Jesus' had a cousin named John;
...
he was a fiery preacher and one of the few people who understood Jesus' mission....what God was doing through Christ to save all mankind.It must have been comforting to Jesus to know that some one out there understood Him.Well.... Matthew's Gospel tells us that John was imprisoned and execusted because he spoke courageously abot what-was-right and what-was- wrong.His senseless death was a blow to Jesus.Verse 13 of Chapter 14 says,
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick (Mt 14.13-14)
Jesus healed lots of people and we often call Him the Great Physician.
But, in this event, the Great Physician gives us a prescription for our grief;
...
He prescribes medicine for our hurt, the same medicine he takes after both Lazarus and John died:... let yourself mourn;
but have compassion on others who are suffering and give of yourself to help them.
If Jesus mourned, we can feel free to mourn... You have lost some one precious.But God does not want us to become consumed by our grief.Hear-again the hope of Jesus' words in John 11:25:
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."
Just as He called Lazarus' name, He has called Neil's name... called him to a new life.
Thanks be to God!
PAUSE
The fact that Neil has now left this world and crossed the threshold of death merely means that he has stepped into eternity~ .... welcomed home by his Lord!And he would hope that all his children and grandchildren and friends and neighbors and acquainteances~... he would hope that all of us would have this same hope in us: the hope that comes through faith in Christ Jesus.The Apostle John was given a vision of what awaits God's children once we cross death's threshold.It is not jus a vision that a man experienced long-ago. It is the reality of which Neil has become a part!I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holdin palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: 'Amen! Praise and glory and wisdome and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!'...
'Never agian will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' (Rev 7:9-13, 16-17)
Give rest, O Christ to your servant Neil, along with all the saints who have preceded him... where sorrow and pain are no more.
You alone are immortal, the creator and maker of humanity; and we are mortal, formed of earth and unto earth we return.
We give Neil, O merciful Savior, to you. Receive him, we humbly ask you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the company of the saints of light.
In sure and certain hope of the resurrection t oeternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our brother Neil; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him, the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him, the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace.
Father,
we thank you for Neil and for the memories we share of our time here with him. We rest on Your promise to be here with us. We need You this afternoon.We rest in your promise of eternal life.We come with hearts that are broken and flooded with what seem to be conflicting emotions.Give us grace for our grief.Give us strength for the demands of this day and for the days to come.We confess that we cannon bear our burdens alone, and we thank you for our friends and family through whom Your comfort comes.Help us go from this place in the awareness of your presence, in the warmth of your understanding, and in the assurance of your care. We pray especially today for Carla, C___ and D____, O Lord. Give them peace and let us be givers of Your comfort. Comfort our hearts through the words we have heard today; strengthen us now with your presence as we go, help us cherish fond memories...holding them close to our hearts for many years to come, and may Your grace and peace be ours, both now and forever. In the strong and compassionate name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
