Michael “Mike” Angus McDougal, November 16, 1946 - February 22, 2024

Funeral • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

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Welcome & Gathering

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of Michael Angus McDougal. We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss. May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow….hope, in death….resurrection.

Pray

Special Music - When I get where I’m Going - Debbie Glenn

Old Testament Scripture

Isaiah 40:28–31 NIV

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Lamentations 3:21–22 NIV

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

Pastoral Prayer

O God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Add prayer for family:

Amen.

Will you join me in the Lord’s prayer as you are able:

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, AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER AND EVER AMEN

Music - Amazing Grace, Bagpipes?

Celebration of Life

Chris McDougal, Ryan Mcdougal, Lindsey Kinzy, Travis Washburn, Ashley Washburn

New Testament Scripture

Revelation 21:4 NIV

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 NIV

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Message of Hope

It has been a deep honor of my life to be on this difficult journey with you and to get to know more of the Mike that has had such an impact on this world. It would be difficult to really add much more by way of testimony to Mike’s life than what has already been done, but I would like to try and bring it all together around the grounding hope of our faith.

Let’s talk about 1 Corinthians for a moment and see if anything jogs our memory of Mike. The wider context a fascinating rhetorical treatment of what it means to have freedom in Christ. It truly is remarkable. Paul is asking questions and answering them in one breath representing different possible arguments or objections to what he is presenting. Yall, Paul is a dadgum lawyer in chapter 9.

1 Corinthians 9:3 NIV

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.

In all seriousness Paul is likely responding to some objections of people financially supporting him as he travels and preaches. We really do not need to unpack all of that, haha. In the end though Paul tells the church in Corinth that he will not receive any gift from them because his great benefit is eternal and greater than anything else to boast about. Paul is driven by telling people about Jesus. He will sacrifice for it and because this is the driving force he will live a certain way and become a certain way to reach others.

let me remind you of the text again:

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 NIV

I think you could sum this mindset up with two phrases that Mike loved and lived by:

Do the right thing

Dare to be different

Do the right thing

Paul talks about the runner that wins the prize is the one who trains intently. They are disciplined. They do not run aimlessly. They are not the boxer swinging away at the air. Even loving others and loving God can be calculated.

I think this emulates Mike. Yes, a man of the law, there is or should be a high calling of ethics but Paul is not just talking about ethics here and I do not think that is all that Mike cared about. Don’t be fooled. All the costumes and and the charades, it was a mechanism of calculated love and sacrifice to people around him. Planning to pour into grandkids daily text messages. Saying no to good things so you could say yes to the right thing is tough.

Mike lived it.

“Without a life example that speaks louder than words, even the most persuasive leader will fail.” ― John Dickson, Humilitas: A Lost Key To Life, Love, and Leadership

Do the right thing.

Dare to be different

But also carried in the heart of this message is the courage to be different. Because everyone is running a race. There are runners in Paul’s metaphor. There are people that are chaotically moving through life and it is weird/peculiar/strange to live a life for the gospel.

It was not his costume when he delivered socks that made him different, it was that he would sacrifice greatly to serve others. That is scarce today. It is in short supply.

Mother Teresa famously said “A life not lived for others is not a life.” and I think because Mike lived for others …family and stranger, he had a full one.

But all of this great but to what end? I mean without any driving force, “doing the right thing” and “daring to be different” is motivational and philanthropic but what good is it? Why is this important.

We do it in response to the gospel of Jesus. Everything we can ever want, desire, seek after, pales in comparison to what is received in Christ.

We do it because the hope of Christ is different than the hope of this world. We do it because the hope has reached out and changed us and we will never be the same.

And the eternal crown is Mike’s forever and ever. That which is proclaimed in the waters of baptism is his forevermore.

Friends, family, we grieve this day. But not as those without hope. Mike’s legacy lives on in you because the best parts of him was from God.

Moment of silence? Lord’s prayer?

Benediction

The peace of God He which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

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