John 10:11-16; Romans 8:31-39; Job 19:21-27
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
I think it’s fair to say that Al was a simple man. I’m not speaking of his intelligence, for Al was whip-smart and nobody’s fool, but his lifestyle, his interests, his dreams were fairly simple. Al was content, at peace, happy with what he had and with what he could do. Sadly, longing and desiring for things we don’t or can’t have, or can’t do, is what often make us so miserable. Most of us, I imagine, could learn a thing or two from a guy like Al and be a lot happier for it.
Al was born in Florida but lived most of his life in Pennsylvania where he worked as a bakery assistant and as a car wash attendant. It was much later in life that he reconnected with his high school sweetheart Robyn. Robyn was living in Texas at the time, and Al was living in Pennsylvania, but Al’s sister Kathy hooked them up. Robyn traveled to Pennsylvania to see her high school sweetheart, and thirty-three years after high school, Al and Robyn were married on April 23, 2016. Together they lived in Pennsylvania for a while, then Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania again, and finally they moved to Waverly, Iowa in May of 2023 to be closer to their daughter Michelle. Though Al was not her biological father, Michelle said that Al was a better dad and was that he was there for her from day one. Al and Robyn would have celebrated their ninth anniversary in April.
Al and Robyn enjoyed everything together, especially watching TV and playing the Wii. They regularly joined us here at St. John for fellowship dinners and for cards and games at 5-C. However, Al was the cook at home, and the dishwasher too! His favorite dishes to make were meatloaf and spaghetti, and Michelle enjoyed cooking with Al from time to time.
Al and Robyn began attending St. John in the Fall of 2023. They immediately became a part of our family of faith and appear in countless photos of fellowship dinners and events. Al was always so happy and smiling in those photos. He was funny, easy going, and positive. We will all miss him, along with you his family and friends.
On August 25 last year Al suffered a debilitating stroke. Life would never be the same. Al was life-flighted to Iowa City where he spent a month or more in the surgical ICU at the University of Iowa Hospital. It was touch and go most of that time, but Al pulled through and he and Robyn had to adjust to a new way of living that involved a long stay at Mercy One Rehabilitation for inpatient physical rehabilitation, and then later, an indefinite stay at Harmony House in Waterloo. The damage from the stroke, however, was truly debilitating and the recovery was long and slow and frustrating for Al. I truly believe that it began to wear down his contentment, peace, and patience, and to rob him of some of his lighthearted joy and spirit. Al put up a strong fight, perhaps all that he had, but in the end, the Lord took him that he might find rest in Him.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” says Jesus. There is rest and peace and comfort and joy in the presence of Jesus. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep by name; He calls them, and they follow Him. He leads them to cool waters. He guides them and protects them. And He feeds them in the presence of their enemies. In Jesus, there is no want, for every need is met and all desires are fulfilled. Jesus’ sheep are like a cup, a chalice, filled to overflowing with His love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest. All who trust in Him find rest and comfort, through good times and through bad times. Job was a man blessed richly with family, wealth, possessions, the admiration of men, and personal health. Though the LORD permitted all these blessings to be taken from him, Job still trusted in the LORD confessing, “The LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away; blessed by the Name of the LORD.” And 2000 years before the birth of Jesus, in his suffering, Job confessed his belief in an already living Redeemer and in the resurrection of his own body saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, [and He is!] who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? […] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Robyn, Michelle, family, friends, take comfort, find peace, and have hope in the promises of the LORD: “Nothing can separate you from my love.” “I will never leave you or forsake you.” “I am with you always.” Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on, for they are with Him. Though we grieve their passing, and we miss them, we truly do not wish them back, but our wish is to be with them where they are in the presence of our Lord, Savior, and Good Shepherd Jesus. That promise has been kept for Al and for all who trust in Him, and that promise will be kept for you if you trust in Him as well.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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