[This was shared with mourners at a funeral for Goldie, a 100 year-old. The funeral was held earlier today.]
Psalm 46
John 3:1-18
When Goldie Flood was born on May 26, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt still had ten months remaining in his term of office as president. The Wright Brothers had taken their first powered flight less than four-and-a-half years earlier. The Spanish-American War had ended just twelve years before her birth. World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War, the War in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and the conflicts in which our country currently finds itself were all in the future. The first Moon landing, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, and the invention of Hula Hoops, Frisbees, and the Internet were all far-off future events.
The point is: A lot of things have happened during the course of Goldie McDaniel’s life. Presidents, wars, recessions, and a great depression have come and gone. The maps of the world have been erased, re-written, and erased again.
But some things have never changed.
The Bible says: “The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him…” [Psalm 103:17]
It also tells us about God, Who took on human flesh in Jesus Christ, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
No matter what changes have happened in the past one-hundred years or will happen in the next one-hundred years or for however long there are descendants of the Flood, McDaniel, McCartney, or Schenk families walking this earth, God will remain unchanging and will always be available to those who dare to turn from sin and separation from God, toward forgiveness and life with God.
Jesus was visited one night by a religious leader, an old and respected man named Nicodemus. If their meeting took place today, Nicodemus would probably arrive in a stretch limo, attended by guards, and he would be wearing expensively tailored ecclesiastical clothes, festooned with shiny jewels. Yet Nicodemus, this powerful man, was troubled and strangely drawn to the simple carpenter from Nazareth who would eventually prove to be God come to earth.
Jesus could see the old man’s yearning. He told Nicodemus that to be right with God and with his own heart, to live with certainty in the midst of all the world’s changes, and to look beyond death with hope, he needed to be born from above.
“How can I possibly be born all over again at my age?” Nicodemus wondered. He wanted to know how he could achieve something so impossible. A few lines later, Jesus told Nicodemus that Nicodemus didn't have to do anything. It was a matter of trust. “For God so loved the world,” Jesus said, “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
One hundred years is a long time for us. In fact, in nearly twenty-five years of pastoral ministry, I don’t remember having the funeral of another 100 year old. But one hundred years is less than the blink of an eye to God. The strength that it takes to make it through our days, to make decisions, to provide for our families, to simply live at all, comes from this changeless, strong fortress of a God.
And the possibility of having our sins forgiven, of being right with God for all eternity, of living with renewed bodies and minds without waning strength, ill health, or suffering, of living forever in the presence of God…all these possibilities become realities for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
The everlasting God Who wants to befriend all people for all eternity can be our strength even when we feel weak, or defeated, when we grieve and when our plates are full and we feel happy. The Bible tells us that, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.” (Psalm 46:1-3)
As you who knew and loved Goldie McDaniel best take her earthly remains to be buried, remember that God can do more than comfort you. The God we know in Jesus Christ can also give you life beyond the grave and fill you with a life truly living today, no matter how long you live on this earth. Amen
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