John 14:1-6; Romans 5:1-11; Isaiah 43:1-3a, 25
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Some men will tell you that they love you. Other men will show you that they love you. Bill was the latter sort of man. It was rare that you would hear him say it – in fact, it was rare that Bill would say anything at all – but Bill showed you that he loved you in numerous ways, typically without words. If you needed help with anything mechanical or electrical, around the house, the farm, the garage, or whatever, Bill was your man. If he didn’t know how to fix it, he would find a way, nonetheless. He would help you, no matter what, because he loved you. Likewise, if you were taking a shower, Bill might turn on the hot water in the kitchen so that your shower went cold, or he might steal your bread right off your plate just after you finished buttering it because he loved you, and that was how he showed you that he loved you. Let’s face it, Bill was ornery. You could see it in his smile and in that glimmer in his eye. Bill was ornery, and Bill loved you.
Bill was a regular jack-of-all-trades and a Mr. Fix-It. There wasn’t anything broken he couldn’t fix, and there wasn’t anything that wasn’t broken that he couldn’t make better. He rigged ladders and tractors and pulleys and loaders and cherry-pickers and more so that he could do the job himself. He installed his own solar panels and even managed to lift, turn, and reposition a roof all by himself. He had a brilliant mind for engineering and regularly pushed things beyond what they were designed to do. Once he built a magnificent horse trailer, only the measurements were wrong, and it was too big to get out of the garage. Together Barb and Bill flipped homes, before it was called that. They lived in the homes, fixed them up, and then sold them for a profit. They did all the remodeling together; Barb was the interior decorator and Bill figured out how to do it. However, he did put the wrong spray on the lawn and killed it. Hey, nobody’s perfect, right?
Bill didn’t have to tell you that he loved you. You knew that he loved you. You could see his love in his ornery smile. You could see his love in his playful pranks and jokes. And you could see his love in the way he would help you with absolutely anything at any time. Bill didn’t talk about his love for you, he lived it, just like Jesus taught: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Bill also showed his love in service of his nation and its citizens in the United States Army. Bill served in the Korean War, near the front lines of the DMZ and the fiercest battles of that bloody war. When visiting the Korean War Memorial on an Honor Flight to our nation’s capital, Bill looked on silently for a few minutes and when he finally spoke, he said, “A lot of boys lost their lives. I gotta go,” and that’s all he had to say about that. Bill was a lifelong member of the V.F.W. where he drank beer with other veterans. A lot of boys lost their lives. Those veterans didn’t. That’s something to drink to, remember, and to love.
Bill was an honest and trustworthy man. Bill owned and operated Shell Rock Ford for twenty-one years where he stood behind his product, and he kept his word. His motto was, “If I can’t make it right then Ford will.” Honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity are rare and treasured values, particularly in a small town in Iowa. Even the hint of impropriety will spread like wildfire through dry grass. Bill had a good reputation in Shell Rock and beyond. He was a man of few words, but you knew you could trust him and that he would stand behind his word and promise.
Now, I’ve talked quite a bit about Bill so far. Everything I’ve said you already know. Maybe you are surprised that I’ve focused so much on Bill and his life and have said precious little about our God and our Savior Jesus Christ. I would beg to differ. Bill was baptized into Jesus Christ on January 14, 1933, just nine days after his birth. On that day Bill was born again of water and the Word. God the Father claimed and named Bill his own child, washed him in the blood of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, forgiving his sins, and blessed him with His own Holy Spirit to guide, protect, and to make Bill alive and fruitful with His spiritual fruits and good works all his life until February 25, 2022, the day the LORD called Bill home to rest in His love and peace.
Being a Christian is not so much about what you do as it is about what God has done for you and to you and ultimately through you in service of others. So, yes, what you do is extremely important, but that is because what you do is the result of, the fruit of, what has been done for you and to you, and now through you. In other words, all those good and loving things Bill did for others were the fruit of what God had done and was doing for Bill throughout the eighty-nine years of his long life. In his own quiet and often ornery way, Bill exhibited the love of God in Jesus Christ for you and for all in his life and deeds, if not in all too many words.
The kind of love Bill exhibited is called agape. Agape is a selfless and sacrificial love that thinks more of others than the self. Agape is the love that God is and has for the life of the world, the love He poured out in the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ for Bill, and for you and me, and for all the world. In that love, God called Bill by name in Holy Baptism so long ago and promised Bill, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. […] I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” While we were still sinners, Christ died for Bill, for you and for me, and for all the world, for God so loved the world in this way – He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Because of God’s love in Jesus our hearts need not be troubled. Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father in heaven to prepare a place for Bill in His many-roomed mansion. Because of God’s love in Jesus, Bill is there right now. Because of God’s love in Jesus, there is a place for you in heaven as well. Do you know the way? Follow Bill, who trusted in Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Good works will not get you there. Church attendance will not get you there. Only faith, faith in Jesus will get you there. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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