Doris Hall
Notes
Transcript
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Scripture: Philippians 3:17-4:1
Doris Hall Funeral Meditation
Brothers and sisters, what is the pattern of your life? Who has set an example that you imitate in how you live? What are you pursuing? When we look at the society around us today, just as the case was in the apostle Paul’s day, there are a variety of ways people can answer. Some people are pursuing wealth. They want to accumulate riches and buy or attain everything they want. Some are pursuing a particular social status. Perhaps you’ve heard in the news about this college entrance scandal with cheating on tests and bribes that wealthy parents paid to get their children into certain schools—it seems they wanted a certain social scene or clout. We also hear about individualism—many people trying to strike out on their own, do things their way, bucking all tradition. Yet as we mature, we find that we need others or at least can’t escape other people.
None of these are how Doris lived her life though. I’m grateful that I’ve gotten to know her quite a bit more through Neil and some of the family. She was a woman who was satisfied rather easily—if she had her family and her needs were accommodated, what more was needed? Yet she did have things that she enjoyed, that her and Neil, their kids, grandkids, and others would do together. She liked clothes. She like to decorate the house according to her tastes. I got to hear more about her and Neil’s enjoyment of polka and the fun that brought into her life and their life together. Even as I’ve known her, she had a lovely smile, a smile that was telling of the love she offered. For her family and loved ones, there is a lot to miss in Doris’ death, and yet I encourage you to hold onto the memories and stories that you do have.
Something that kept coming out in conversation I had with family, though, was the mentality of life as a journey. I think that’s fitting given the message of our passage. Paul is setting before believers the hope that we have, but he also wants to be clear of the opposite. It’s with sadness that he recognizes in verses 18 and 19, that for those who are not saved, it’s not just that they don’t believe—but they “live as enemies of the cross of Christ.” There’s a strong understanding there that those who aren’t walking with Jesus in faith, in love, in obedience are against him. What is the pattern for those people? It’s sin. It’s destruction, selfish fulfillment, shame, a focus on earthly things only.
I said the mentality or the idea of life as a journey is fitting, because it’s important for believers to remember that we were once in that same camp. Whether we remember those days, whether we feel like we were ever adamantly against Jesus or God, Paul says in Romans 5 that “Christ died for the ungodly…While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to [God] through the death of his Son.” It’s not that those of us who saved are perfect from day we were born. The believer’s life is not that we’ve never struggled with doubt or unbelief or any sins. and everyone else is an absolutely horrible person. No, we used to be there. We came into this life needing to be saved by Jesus. He puts us on a journey in our lives, a journey on which we are pursuing him and an eternal, heavenly citizenship.
That’s not to say that our lives or our journey is earning salvation, earning a place in heaven. No, not at all! It is solely the grace of God, because of the sacrifice Jesus offered on the cross, that God has mercifully given those who turn to him the hope of resurrection. Our sins can be forgiven and we look forward to eternal life with God once this life is done. Our journey is one in which we are to humbly deny ourselves, put away selfishness, and accept Christ, and follow his mission including discipling others and loving God and our neighbors. It’s a journey that God walks beside us on, but he’s also given us the Holy Spirit to live in us.
The Christian life is not one that declares that you can’t have fun, that you can’t enjoy people or things. I don’t believe that Doris was a greater sinner because she liked to dance and chose to go to basketball games and spend time with her husband. No, God has created us, in part, to enjoy his creation, to enjoy the gifts he’s given and the people we are here with. But we must recognize that what we have here on earth, here in these bodies, here in this country, our states and communities, everything that we consider good or great or wonderful or love in our lives, it’s all just a glimpse of what is to come!
Paul reminds us in verses 20 and 21, “Our citizenship,” that is to say, what matters most, “is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, [he] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” We eagerly await the heavenly Savior. Brothers and sisters, if you are walking with the Lord, if you’re on this Christian journey, then what you ought to anticipate, what should get you excited, what wakes you up in the morning, is that Jesus is going to return and make all things new and perfect.
In the mourning of a loved one, we often look forward to eternity because we hope it means reuniting with our loved ones. We hope that one day we can be with our spouse, with our parents, our grandparents, our friends again. That’s not bad or wrong to desire that, but God gives us a greater hope to look forward, which is that we get to meet and live with the one who has saved us. The one who was willing to die on our behalf even though we didn’t deserve it. That you get to meet and be with Jesus, that is what our faith affords and what Doris’ faith has afforded her.
As we are on this journey of life and faith, hold onto that—stand firm in the Lord and look forward to meeting him one day. If this is a journey that you feel you’re very early on the path of or perhaps wanting to pursue, seek God in prayer and in his Word and with his people. Let us remember, Christians, that our pursuit, what brings about greatest joy, is found in no one but the one who saves. In our sadness and grief of what is lost from this life, may we remember that there is much more to come, and it is ours because of Christ. Amen.