Earl Lefers-Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Earl Lefers Prayer Service
Brothers and sisters, from what we have heard here tonight, from the memories that many of you hold of Earl, and from what I witnessed in the past couple of years, Earl was a sharp man. He was intelligent, witty. He thought deeply, was well-read, and whether in humor or in more serious conversations, his words meant something; they weren’t wasted.
He was a caring man too. People and relationships meant a great deal. As family and friends who knew him for much longer than I have and before the struggles of the last several years, I’m sure you witnessed that side of him. You’ve seen compassion in his character, whether in the things that he did or simply who he was. He lived his life in a manner that had value; he made the most of it. That includes his marriage and family, his work on the farm, his service to the church, and many other aspects of his life.
When I visited with Earl and Darlene, at least once in our conversation, he would utter a phrase in Dutch, a phrase which I haven’t been able to perfectly nail down. But he knew that I didn’t know Dutch, and so he would tell me that it meant, “Something to talk about,” or “Something worth talking about.” Maybe he was just being polite and recognizing that conversation was going on, but I sense that it meant more sometimes. That the subject of conversation was more than small talk; it really was something of value.
As we look at God’s word here in 1 Corinthians 15 tonight and we will look farther into the chapter tomorrow, I believe we find a message that Earl would echo—“This is something to talk about; this is valuable.” At the core, it’s the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The apostle Paul reminds the church of these things that he had already preached to them in person. This person who is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed Savior, he died and was buried, he arose from the grave, and living again he appeared to many. These are events that you have witnessed in person or have heard the news of. Don’t forget it!
Yet Paul’s intent, his purpose in bringing this up was not just that they would remember these events like we might remember reading a story on the front page of a newspaper, or watching on TV, or that we would recall seeing on Facebook. No, what’s valuable here is what Paul prefaces the message with. Verses 1 and 2, he says, “[This is the gospel] I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.”
Earl did not just know that Jesus died and rose again, but he believed in God. He trusted in him as his Lord and Savior. The most precious gift he ever received was the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. The reason why this evening can be about more than grieving and more than simply remembering facts about our loved one’s life, is that we know God saved Earl. He saved him from his sins, he saved him from the debt and punishment that each of us rightfully deserve by our actions. He saved him and offered him an eternal home, and God has now taken him to himself. The good news of what Jesus has accomplished and promised to sinners, this is something to talk about.
Later in chapter 15, Paul speaks about the promised resurrection of us. Not only did Jesus rise, but we will too. As we think about the good news and the comfort of salvation tonight, it is important for us to hold on to the truth of eternal life. The truth is that the life that is beyond this life is more than just a reality, it is the good life. Eternal life that each of us can have if we believe in Jesus, if we put our trust and hope in him and not ourselves—eternal life is more than just something we say exists, it is the life that God holds for us. Each one of us will die unless Christ comes again, and yet that is not the end of our living. He has saved us for a life with him that is far greater—Paul says stand on that truth.
Much of what I have said tonight probably isn’t new to a lot of us. Like Paul’s words, this message is a reminder to many of us of the gospel we have heard. Whether it was because of Earl or a pastor or someone else, someone knew this good news was worth talking to you about. It changes how we live our lives, it’s the foundation of why we do things and how we do things. Our actions, our motives are to give glory to God—he is what’s most valuable. As we live on remembering Earl and his legacy, may this good news be what we hold onto and share it as something to talk about. Amen.