Licensed Local Pastor Class Assignment 2

Here is the second funeral message. Again the names have been reduced to initials.

 

Today we gather to thank God for the life of E. F..  We all knew him as N.. N. left us too soon. Yes, we say that about so many people, but N. was just into his first year of college. We will never understand exactly what was going through his mind that day. We will never agree with his choice to end his life as he did.  We can start to find forgiveness in our hearts for the feelings we have of being deprived of N.’s quiet spirit and easy laughter.  I must confess my first thoughts were more selfish than loving. I will miss him.  I have had time to work through those thoughts about my feelings to focus on N. and his life.

Before we turn to the Scripture to help make some sense of this, let me tell you a story about N.. One of his friends from high school told me of the time he and his lab partner, N., brought home an experiment from biology class, two live chickens! They had raised the chicks from the hatchling stage in class as part of an experiment on growth.  I cannot begin to tell you why the teacher let they take the chickens from the school.  His friend told me they thought they could raise the chickens, for what reason he could not remember.  After a month or two, they drove the animals out to the Boy’s Ranch and found some willing students to share in their experiment.  I have no idea how they explained the chickens to the house parents at the Ranch.

Before I read the text for today, I need to ask you to set aside the traditional interpretations, and give me some room to find hope and peace in this section from Matthew, chapter 13. 

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”  Matthew 13:24-30

Let’s get rid of the first thought I do not want you to take away.  I do not believe even for a moment that N.’s choices have resulted in him landing in any kind of fire. Nor do I think that some spiritual enemy had it out for N.. I know as a child of God, God will welcome N. based on the grace given freely to all.  I do want to ponder the phrase “An enemy has done this.”  Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. The chicken story did not have any lasting consequences, but think about our own lives.  I know when I look at mine, I can see choices I have made that did not have constructive consequences. Let’s call this the poor quality seed I have sown.  Like the weeds sown in the field, my unproductive choices compete for soil, sun, and water with the wheat, the productive choices.  Some translations use the word “tares” rather than simply “weeds.”  Tares are a specific kind of weed that strongly resembles the wheat it grows among.  You could not even tell the difference until the tares were big enough to be rooted in with the wheat.  Choices can be like that too.  Yes, N. made a bad choice at the wrong time, but we are here today to honor the productive choices we remember.  I know this may sound harsh, but some would rather the bad choice had been at a stop sign or a red light.  Why would that make any difference; the result is the same. Some would rather harvest the tares from N.’s life today and focus on the choices from that last week.  I will choose to focus on the fullness of N.’s life here in this fellowship of faith.  I know the pain is sharp today. I know the thorns from the tares are digging into some of our hearts today.  Over time, the memories of today’s pain will soften and the memories of N.’s life of faith and courage will rise to the top.

As well leave today, how can we honor N.’s short life? The wheat and the tares cannot change from one to another.  Our lives on the other hand can change. We can take a look at past choices we have made that turned out to be tares instead of wheat.  We can take control of those choices and allow God to transform our lives, to redeem the consequences.  We can grant one another the privilege of access to allow someone to look into our fields and help us see the wheat from the tares.  Like the servants, though, we have to guard against the temptation to pull the weeds too soon. Sometimes we need to be patient. Sometimes we need to wait on God’s leading before we can deal with the tares.  We go forth today to remember the joy N. brought to our lives and to remember to bring our choices before the master gardener.  Go in peace in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.