Terry Reece
It is an interesting process to look back on someone’s life. Most often we see all the wonderful things and the aspects of that person that we will sorely miss. We can often also realize all those things we still don’t know. Before a funeral, it is my role to look back at someone’s faith life, not to judge it in any way, but to find where God’s light and hope shined through. To be honest, it usually isn’t that hard. God has created everyone so unique and special in their interests and ability to share his love, even when we can’t define their faith.
Terry is no different. I could look at any number of things in his life. Like how his gentleman's sensibility worked to honour all of those around him as the image of God. Or how his willingness to serve others, first family and then otherwise, went to show God’s humility and loving service for others. We could look at how his dedication to the church and work in it, was the work of building up God’s great family. We could talk about how his love for nature, spoke of his ability to see and work God’s glory and beauty in creation. There is a lot, but the two things that spoke to me as I prayed over his story were his trust and wisdom.
So Terry’s wisdom. It was interesting that in the majority of the examples I heard, his wisdom wasn’t expressed through some great argument, his being right, or some amazing fact - though I don’t doubt there were these. His wisdom was expressed through making space for other people. He was a man of few words, he was quiet and would listen. This is a big part of the wisdom that God tells us to hold in the book of Proverbs. To listen, to watch, and to respond simply. This is all about making space for one another and ultimately for God. The other thing he did in wisdom to make space was to listen and affirm others, especially his kids. Rather than recognizing what is wrong with what someone was saying he acknowledged what was right. In this, he would point the way forward to what is good.
Secondly, I wanted to talk about his trust. Not unlike our passage from Matthew, Terry would consistently say, “It will all work out”. We might say to Terry as we would say to our Matthew reading, “How do you know that? Why should I believe that?” Jesus and Terry both know things will go wrong, food will run out, people will get sick, hurt or die, but what they both knew that there was someone watching over all of it guiding it for good. It will all work, we don’t have to worry, because we can trust in the one who is making it work out, the one who is trustworthy and who loves us so much. I believe Terry had immense trust even if we or it's possible he didn’t completely understand it.
Today, we have a great need for that trust and today God is challenging us to trust in something so foundational, so good, and so lasting: Him. At any moment in our lives, it is easy to worry, stress and become anxious because there are very real things around us. Today, when we come face to face with death it can feel overwhelming, inevitable, and tragic. This is all real, but Jesus in whom we put our trust is far greater than any of this. It is he who lovingly entered into the chaotic lives of humanity and brought order, life, and hope. It was he who pointed the way through serving and caring for others. It was he who died, in trust, knowing that he would rise again. Jesus forever defeated fear, pain, and death, so that we too might overcome it with him. Jesus leaves us space to find the good, but it is Jesus that offers us a way forward when we can’t see it on our own.
I will close by leaving you a question. At all times, but especially in this time of grief, where do you put your trust, on what do you stand? Stuff is fickle, Jobs will come and go, and even friends and family will fall short, leave and/or die. As the song, my hope is built on nothing else says, “On Christ, the solid rock I stand, everything else is sinking sand, everything else is sinking stand. AMEN
