Last week I trek'd across three states just in time to make the funeral visitation for a treasured friend's mother. After scrambling to change my weekday plans, reschedule and cancel some appointments I hit the road winding through Atlanta, onto Chattanooga, up to Nashville and over to West Kentucky. When I got to to the funeral home and hugged my friend, it was overwhelmingly clear to me why I had gone and why I wanted to be there. As much as I love to write and read, there are some life experiences and moments that are beyond description. This was one of them.
I served on a pastoral team with my friend, David and years ago while serving a state denomination office in Kentucky, he was also my pastor. One thing I remember about the time he served as my pastor-----He was always there for us! Whether to hold my hand, cry together, share a meal together and a laugh, or just let me vent, he was there. In my view that's the mark of a great shepherd and pastor. Someone who opens the window of their soul and lets you peer in, as you open your own window. This mutual vulnerability is what separates those who want to "look" like a pastor from those who really do have the heart of a pastor. There is a connection and when you connect it makes their preaching and teaching come alive because they are speaking out of a relationship, not like some "hired gun" preacher who rolls in town to offer you his greatest hits and then hits the road, never letting you get to know the real person. Through the years my friend and I have opened the window so many times that we don't have to say anything at times because we simply know what the other is experiencing, feeling or thinking. You see, I trust him and he trusts me.
David is deeply passionate about helping people develop a biblical worldview. He is equally passionate about his own walk with God. He is a musician, soul poet, writer, teacher, mentor, and confidant to those who've really taken the time to get to know him over meals or long conversations outside the church facilities. He does not "cut and run" either. David's sense of humor is so very large, a testimony to his mother, but it also explains how he can be a friend t o someone like me. He doesn't take himself too seriously, and has never had to be seen or viewed as "the pastor," as some in ministry do. He's authentic. He also knows how to speak the truth in love, which makes some people extremely nervous because they can't "play the game" with David. I have watched him weep and ache in private over the soul condition of many people, couples and church members. That is the mark of an authentic shepherd. Like me, he's a narrative kind of guy, but when you hear him preach/teach you can look back over the notes in your bible and see he's left you with more than a cute story and a joke. He's broken the Bread of Life and invited you to feast on the living Word! And before I finish, no he's not perfect, and he's never claimed to be. He is able to share his own struggles as well as his victories. I don't know about you, but I don't want a shepherd who has the need to always be right or perfect.
I met David's mom a few times over the years, but was never close to her. I didn't have to be. I had her son. People don't just grow up and fall in love with Christ and His church over night. They don't instinctively decide to serve others and invest their lives in ministry while many others choose to chase the Golden Goose and material wealth. Somewhere along the way, God uses His first choice instrument (people) to communicate and model the Gospel. In Acts we find God using Peter, John and Paul. God used Peggy to show David and his brother the way. Her life was a roadmap to God. She and David's Dad faithfully served God in their church and poured Jesus into their boys without shoving. Their simple and quiet lives of servanthood modeled something that neither of the boys could capture on screen or by reading.
Peggy's servant heart, joy in the Lord and passion for worship were so evident in her funeral. As a pastor, I've done many funerals over the years and most of them for Christ-followers. Very few, have had the celebratory, praise and passion to giving God glory in the midst of profound grief and pain like Peggy's. Her funeral did not dismiss grief, loss and pain, but like the writer in Lamentations, recognized and celebrated the powerful presence of God in the middle of such pain:
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lam. 3:22-23)
After attending the funeral, the psalmists words in Psalm 116:15 kept ringing in my head over and over: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." How precious last week must have been to the Lord when Peggy Head came home!
Mrs. Head thank you for your service, passion and a life of faithfulness. But most of all, thank you for your gift to the church, the cause of the Gospel, the world and to me, your son, David. You enriched and blessed my life with his presence. What a gift!
No comments:
Post a Comment