Poem:

I do not ask that God shall always make
My pathway light;
I only pray that He will hold my hand
Throughout the night.
I do not hope to have the thorns removed
That pierce my feet;
I only ask to find his blessed arm
My safe retreat.
If He afflicts me, then in my distress
Witholds His hand –
If all His wisdom I can not conceive
Or understand,
I do not seek to always know His why
Or wherefore here;
But sometime He will take my hand, and make
His meaning clear.
If in His furnace He refines my heart
To make it pure,
I only ask for grace to trust His love –
Strength to endure.
And if fierce storms beat round me, and the heavens
Be overcast,
I know that He will give His weary one
Sweet peace at last.

-Lizzie Clark Hardy

Our heavenly Father, we have come before you today to remember and to reflect. There is sadness and sorrow among us at the loss of someone special. I pray for Your presence to be among us. I ask for Your strength, you help, and Your guidance to help us find our way to You. Help us understand the real issues of life. Give us your grace that we might find our peace with you and our way to you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

We come today to remember the life of Raymond _______ _________. Raymond, a resident of___________, passed away at his home this past Friday, March 5. He was 35. Ray was born in _______________on September 9, 1968, the son of _________________ and _______________.   He married Alicia ____ _________ on July 29, 1992 in ________________. The couple lived in ____________ for seven years after their marriage and then moved to ___________ and ___________. They have lived in ___________________ for the last five years. Raymond was a journeyman painter. He served seven years in the National Guard. He loved to spend time with his family four wheeling. He loved swimming and camping. He was an avid NASCAR fan. He was also a big fan of the St. Louis Cardinals – the team of his birth town.

Raymond is survived by his wife, Alicia, children _______, _______, ________, and ________, all of _______________, parents, ____________ and ____________ of _________________, brothers _______________, ________________, and _______________ and sister ________________ of _______________.

I’m sorry to say that I did not know Ray during his lifetime. But after having the opportunity to visit with his wife and children yesterday morning, I find that I wish I had known him. Alicia, _________, ___________, and ___________ were kind enough to invite me to their home where I asked them to tell me what he was like. I will be sharing some of those things with you as I speak this morning, then when I’m finished I’ll give a few of you the opportunity to share any memories you might like the rest of us to know. So please be thinking about anything you might like to say.

Someone has aptly said, "You cannot adequately measure a tree until it is down." While methods exist to estimate the size and worth of a tree while it still stands in the forest, it is true that the only accurate way is when it has fallen to the ground.

Life is that way, too. "We often do not think about the measure of a person’s life until that person is taken from us. This is as it should be, I suppose, for life looks forward, not back. But at times like this we do look back to remember a life and the way it was lived.

There are several measures that are applied to people’s lives today – some good, some not so good. There is first,

Society measures the worth of a person by the size of his bank account, the number of people who serve him, or how many people know his name. It looks at the big influences only. Is his name known by many? Does he have letters after his name? Is he in possession of the biggest or the best or the most or the greatest? What are his holdings? What does he know?

Such measures as these can seem very important when life is going on and we have not yet fully realized our mortality. Yet they don’t really deliver anything lasting in the end. The bank account always goes to someone else. Those who admire the famous will one day admire another. The name will be forgotten in time. Sooner or later someone else will hold the title of the biggest, the best, or the greatest.

Certainly society’s measure is common. But it is flawed because it sees only a tiny fraction of the things that make a person’s life worthwhile. I am glad that there are other ways to measure the worth of a person’s life.

Besides society’s measure, there is,

The family uses an entirely different means of appraisal. In the family, a person has worth just because he is family. A man’s loved ones and relatives notice and appreciate the things that society skips over. While society might only remember the great speeches or great accomplishments of the few, family remembers the little things and the milestones that make a person what he is.

As I spoke with Ray's family yesterday, the remembrances came in abundance. Soon the dining room table was covered with snapshots and photographs of their life together. As I listened there emerged a profile of a man with a focus on his family who loved to see them have good times. From spontaneous games of "egg baseball" (and yes, I asked, and yes, the kids told me that means playing baseball with an egg) to playful wrestling with the kids, going four wheeling in the mud, and camping at the coast, Ray was a man who loved his home and his family – one who almost always wanted to be in the middle of the people. Alicia told me he always worked to make people happy.

The kids mentioned how their dad loved to hug them and kiss them and jokingly give them "charlie horses" when they walked by. He loved to go to the beach. He loved dogs and goats – but hated cats and spiders. The kids got quite a kick out of telling me that their dad was afraid of spiders.

Alicia spoke of the day when  ___________ was born in the hospital. Ray   apparently grabbed up his new daughter and took her from room to room around the hospital to show her off.

Ray liked to cook. He even dreamed of becoming a professional chef. A favorite outlet for that gift was the barbecue. He also liked to make cakes, to which the kids added, that he liked to make them with "tubs of frosting."

They all said they never knew ahead of time what they were going to do on the weekend because he was such a pleasantly spontaneous person.

Ray didn’t like the rain, but did like movies and junk food and watching TV all day. Sunday was "family day" and it was usually spent watching sports or races on television if not in the outdoors.

He also liked to work on cars and loved to shop and didn’t like to leave home without his hat.

He didn’t like his picture taken, although judging from the number of photographs I saw; a lot of people must have managed to trick him or sneak up on him and get his picture anyway.

I saw pictures of a life in the midst of family. There was a picture of a very young Ray and Alicia standing, stomach to stomach, as he teased his very pregnant (with __________) wife. There were pictures of several classic cars, including a very special Dodge Dart that he had in high school.

I was also told that Ray really loved his dad and how they seldom ever went a single day without seeing or talking to one another. In fact, I don’t know you, _______, but what they told me was that he got his sense of humor from you.

When I began I said I would give some of you the opportunity to say anything you might want to add that is a special memory of Raymond. We’ll do that now. If you have something you would like to share, just raise your hand and I’ll call on you. I realize that might also be difficult, so if you cannot share, that’s OK.

(Sharing)

Thank you to those of you who have shared. I encourage you to keep your memories alive. Memories are the links that keep the generations of family together.

I’ve been talking about the measure of a man. I mentioned that there is societal measure and there is the familial measure. There is also,

In God’s measure, every person has tremendous worth. After God had created the earth and the cosmos, the plants and the animals, He created one being uniquely mad in His own image. He created man.

Imagine that I have in my hand a crisp new fifty dollar bill. How much it is worth? "Fifty dollars," you say. But is it really worth that much? It consists only of a bit of paper and ink, items that are, in themselves, perhaps worth only a few cents. Yet we say it is worth fifty dollars. What is it that makes a piece of paper and a little bit of ink worth fifty dollars? Of course, it’s the image printed on it. On the front is a picture of Ulysses S. Grant. On the back are the words, "In God We Trust." It’s worth fifty dollars because of the image stamped upon it and what that image represents.

Every man, woman, and child living on this earth bears the image of the Maker. This image gives us worth that is far beyond the value of the components of our physical bodies or our contributions to this life. Rich, poor, healthy, or handicapped - the worth is the same to God the Creator. And that worth is great because we all bear His image.

It is that worth, and God’s tremendous love for us, that caused Him to send His only Son to this earth so long ago to die for us so that we might have life beyond this life. All of us will come to this place, or one like it, again someday, only that time the memories and the service will be for us.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said this at the time of the death of one of His good friends, a man named Lazarus:

"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die." - John 11:25

I encourage everyone here to investigate the claims and teachings of Jesus, and to make your peace with God through Him. I would certainly be honored to help anyone here with that process if you feel the need. Shall we pray?

Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that the times and events of our lives are in your hands. You know the pain of losing Someone dear in death, just as we do. I ask for your comfort to be with these family members and friends in the coming day as they make the necessary adjustments that they must now make. I pray especially for Alicia and the children. Help them, Lord, and help us to know how we may help them as well. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been asked to inform you that a meal will be provided by the _________ Church (of which __________ and __________ are members) for the family and friends of Raymond at ___________ today.

Forasmuch as Almighty God has taken out of this world the spirit of Raymond ________, we commit his body to this place to await the day of the resurrection of all bodies everywhere. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. This is the way of all the living. We do well to take it to heart and prepare ourselves for it.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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